By Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner WriterTHE HIRING of external public relations agencies will be a prime target for the government in its attempts to cut excess spending in the upcoming financial year, according to Senator Burchel Whiteman, Minister of Information.
"Ministries will have to be more vigilant in respect of their own budgets and the communications aspect of these budgets," he told The Gleaner.
"They need to talk to their agencies to ensure that they are getting best value for money and that their objectives are achieved at best cost."
Furthermore, he said, the administration at the ministerial level, would have to become involved in assessing the use of private sector services.
Mr. Whiteman conceded that there would not be a total elimination of private agencies in government public relations.
"Government does not want to crowd out the private sector entirely so we have to strike a balance between consolidating as much as we can within our system and engaging with the private sector," he said.
The government's strategy would be to consolidate more of the work within the agency that is responsible for government information the Jamaica Information Service he said.
"While I am not saying that there will not be room for private communication, it should be less."
Observers have pointed to the evolution of government communications over the years moving from reliance largely on the state's public information agency to each ministry and agency having its own internal public relations staff, to many now hiring private agencies to handle some of their communication needs. The hiring of private PR agencies has been highlighted by critics as one of the prime areas of overlap and excess expenditure.
While conceding that some of the criticism may be legitimate, Mr. Whiteman cautioned against total exclusion of the private sector.
"There will be some consolidation but not totally," he said. "Of course, the agencies will, from time to time, need the flexibility to engage a private PR firm to do some of the things which they feel would best be done by them. Government has to realise that it is not the only player in the market as far as communication and marketing is concerned."
The core business of the JIS is to serve the communication needs of government. As a result of the recent change of status of the JIS to that of an executive agency, Mr. Whiteman said, it is also required to earn some of its revenue through non-core business.
The JIS would therefore have to compete with private firms, he said. "They can also use their expertise to do advertising and they should be able to lessen the cost to the government of engaging private people to do it," said Senator Whiteman, who has portfolio responsibility for the JIS.
