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Say goodbye to red tape
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| The Cut
Red Tape movement is a major part of the PS21 movement. |
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| Check out
www.cutredtape.gov.sg
to learn what different agencies are doing to reduce bureaucracy. |
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Unnecessary rules and procedures, or red tape, are a
form of waste. They can become a costly burden on
the public and businesses that government policies are
trying to help. It also takes resources to enforce these
regulations.
In a recent Global Competitiveness Report,
government red tape was flagged as an obstacle for
Singapore, which was otherwise ranked among the
forerunners in economic competitiveness.
Rules will always be needed. But as part of becoming
a more lean, efficient and customer-friendly Public
Service, we need to streamline procedures and discard
outdated rules all the time.
That’s what the Cut Red Tape movement is about.
By removing regulations that are no longer needed, it
reduces the burden on the customer, while making public
services more convenient and effective. Cutting red tape
is a major part of the PS21 effort.
The Cut Red Tape movement does its work through
the Pro-Enterprise Panel (PEP), Zero-In-Process (ZIP),
Public Officers Working to Eliminate Red-tape (POWER),
and the Rules Review Process (RRP) (see table below for more details).
Through these channels and through regular public
consultations, the Public Service finds many ways to
improve its regulations. Some of these involve simplifying,
dropping or relaxing rules. Others are about getting the
public or industries to regulate themselves, by giving
them sufficient information.
Agencies also avoid future red tape from building up
in the first place, for instance by setting “sunset clauses”
by which rules would automatically lapse after a certain
date, or by spelling out a list of don’ts rather than only
allowing a small list of dos.
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Too many rules can cause confusion —
to the public, who have to follow them, and to public officers, who
must apply and enforce them. By reducing the number of rules or by
improving them, we lower the chances for inconvenient bureaucracy
to occur in the future.
One convenience that has arisen from this effort
is the No Wrong Door policy, started in 2004. If an
agency receives feedback on an issue which is not
under its charge, it must redirect the feedback to the
right agency before replying to the suggestor. If the
feedback involves a few agencies, the receiving agency
should coordinate and provide an integrated reply.
Many agencies also use IT and e-services to integrate procedures,
so that complying with rules is a breeze, without having to run around
from department to department.
All of these efforts ask us to be clear about our policies and agency
goals, and to always find better ways to achieve them.
Under PS21, the Public Service will continue to play an important
role as regulator. But it also wants to be a facilitator — helping,
and not hindering Singaporean businesses and citizens on the path
to success.
With the PS21 Cut Red Tape movement, the Public Service ensures that it is part of the solution, not part of the problem!
(Click to read more)
http://app.mti.gov.sg/default.asp?id=667
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Set
up in 2000, includes private sector
experts |
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Goal: Keep government
regulations pro-business |
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Gathers feedback
from businesses and the public to
keep government regulations more pro-business |
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Received over 1,400
suggestions, accepted more than half
of them |
Examples of red tape busted
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Streamlined
regulations for pubs and clubs, making
it much easier to provide entertainment
without additional hefty costs and
different licences |
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Introduced more
equitable fee structure for outdoor
advertisements |
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Needy persons now
allowed to sell newspapers and other
goods under a re-opened Street Hawking
Scheme |
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http://www.zip.gov.sg/
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Set
up in 2000 to resolve public issues
that cut across different agencies
or which do not fall under any one
agency |
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Goal: Resolve cross-agency
red tape and grey areas for the public |
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Sifted through more
than 10,000 suggestions and acted
on 108 cases, of which 105 have been
resolved by 21 inter-agency teams |
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Established No Wrong
Door policy in 2004, reducing need
for the public to be referred from
agency to agency |
Examples of red tape busted
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Freed
up land beneath MRT viaducts and over
canals for productive uses. This could
yield up to $11 billion worth of new
land! |
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Allowed residents
to choose between different combinations
of roads, drains and trees for a development
project |
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Developed Long Term
Social Visit Pass for foreigners seeking
employment in Singapore |
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Appointed lead agencies
to tackle issues such as noise pollution,
nuisance birds and living environment |
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| PUBLIC OFFICERS
WORKING TO ELIMINATE RED TAPE |
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http://app.intranet.mof.gov.sg/mfe/feedback.asp
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Set
up in 2000 as a channel for public
officers to suggest changes to internal
and external rules |
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Goal: Let public
officers propose ways to reduce bureaucracy |
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More than 300 suggestions
received, 75% accepted
or clarified |
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Mechanisms include
POWER feedback online, POWER sessions
and the $1,000 POWER Suggestion Award
for public officers who suggest ways
to cut red tape |
Examples of red tape busted
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Queenstown
Remand Prison inmates are now allowed
to bring in educational reading material
apart from textbooks |
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Funeral processions
no longer require a police permit |
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Housing and Development
Board household shelter building requirements
were reviewed, saving property developers
up to $363,300 per block |
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Requires
all government agencies to review
all their rules and regulations every
five years |
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Goal: Ensure all
Public Service regulations are reviewed
and streamlined regularly |
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Ensures policy and
operational rules are necessary and
meet their objectives |
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100% of public sector
rules have been reviewed, of which
some 13% have been removed and 25%
amended |
Examples of red tape busted
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At the
end of FY2004, 60 of the 173 statutory
declarations required by Government
were either removed or committed for
removal |
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The licences to
import, make and distribute videos
at each outlet have been combined
into one composite licence, saving
the video industry up to $2.6 million |
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Societies that are
unlikely to pose law and order or
safety and security concerns can be
fast-tracked for registration —
reducing the processing time from
two months to two weeks |
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Developers can now
build rainwater collection systems
and underground tanks for their own
non-potable uses, such as washing
and toilet flushing, without separate
approval from the Public Utilities
Board |
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