Will Cutting Staff Increase Efficiency at DYS and NSC?

So, the 2024-2025 budget has highlighted some serious financial gaps in the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The big question now is, how are they planning to fix this in the new term? One idea on the table is to bump up the budget. But will that really plug the leaks? Another, more likely, proposal is to cut down the number of employees in the Department of Youth Services and the National Sports Council. The Public Service Union is clear about this: if job cuts are going to happen, there needs to be thorough consultations and a real understanding of how it will affect those who lose their jobs. News Five’s Paul Lopez has the details.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

The Department of Youth Services and the National Sports Council have been working with an eight-million-dollar budget, but ninety-five percent of that goes to recurring expenses like salaries. This leaves just five percent for youth and sports development, which Minister of State Devin Daly and youth advocates say is far from enough. One proposed solution is to increase the budget allocation for the new fiscal year to better support these crucial programs.

 

Devin Daly, Minister of State, Ministry of Youth and Sports (File: April 8^th, 2025)                                  

“Before we look at an increase in budget, we have to look at the reality of what we can do with this money and the only thing that I can say at this time is more monies need to go into facilities development and also sports and youth development , and I know that is something that both directors believe and agree with. So, if the ministers and both directors agree then the necessary changes need to be made.”

 

According to the Public Service Union, these changes will likely result in a thirty percent staff cut between the two entities. PSU President Dean Flowers acknowledges the reasoning behind this move but emphasizes the need for transparency throughout the process.

 

Dean Flowers, President, P.S.U.

“What prompted our response was led first and foremost by the concerns brought to our attention by affected staff members who called into a meeting and informed that some of them will be without a job in the coming days. We do have members particularly in the Department of Youth Services. We do recognize the rationale. I think that it is no secret that across the public service there is great inefficiencies, inefficiencies created by the very politicians that we elect each and every election cycle. So if it is there will be an attempt to fix those, it has to be done comprehensively. It has to be done recognizing we are dealing with people.”

 

The union argues that letting go of a hundred employees without first tackling the long-standing inefficiencies, alleged corruption, and potential ‘ghost workers’ would be detrimental.

 

Dean Flowers

“The term ghost workers would have become famous, maybe eight years ago when we recognized that where the government payroll is concerned, a lot of people are on the payroll who have not worked a day within the public service. There are files in the public service that simply have an employment letter in there. These are files opened years ago, people who are on the payroll. It has an employment letter. That approval has been given for John X. He does not take vacation leave, does not take sick leave. There is absolutely nothing else in John X files other than approval that was given by the ministry of finance for him to be employed in an open vote capacity.”

 

According to Daly, the ministry’s approach is not simply about taking jobs away from people, but rather to create greater efficiency within the Department of Youth Services and the National Sports Council. Daly points out that many of these employees have been around since before the current administration took office.

 

Devin Daly

“We are about continuity and about finding the most effective unit and team to carry out the new mandate. When we look at the staff, a majority of these staff predates this administration. We have staff that is there for twenty something years, fifteen something years, and that is the majority at both of the organizations. So politics aside, which it is never aside, it is a problem that the precious administration never addressed.”

 

Dean Flowers

“You cannot have efficiency if you have a work force that is not contended or working under fear. So they must be a consultation. There must be inclusion in the decision making process so that you have buy in. But also there must be the safeguarding of people’s livelihood to the greatest extent that we possibly can preserve that. That is the angle we are coming from. We are not here to stop the necessary overhaul that is needed within these two department, or the wider public service on a whole but we believe the approach being taken is not inline with best human resource practices.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez