Chancellery to slash staff

RIGA - The Latvian State Chancellery has proposed radical and swift cuts in the public administration, reducing the number of employees in the sector to 8-10 percent of the total number of employees in the country from current 14 percent.

State Chancellery director Gunta Veismane and Policy Coordination Department head Martins Krievins on Thursday presented to the press the main ideas under the plan for optimization of the public administration system and civil service which has been in principle approved by the government. Now the plan is open for public discussion until May 1, and people can post their comments on a special website accessible through the homepage of the Cabinet.

Veismane said the purpose of the plan was to create a small, compact, professional and motivated public administration. The solutions proposed under the plan are to be included in the amendments to the 2009 national budget expected to be adopted in June.

The plan comprises short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions but the State Chancellery does not yet have any specific figures about the likely economy and layoffs of the staff under the plan as the Finance Ministry is still working on them.