Settling Down, Public Service & Role of Women

Over four months ago, newly-appointed Deputy Governor, Mark Capes, arrived in Anguilla to take up his post and was followed later by Mrs. Capes. He was delighted to have been selected for the job as he very much wanted to serve in Anguilla.

One of the other things he is happy about is that he and his wife have settled in very quickly. “I think the reason for that is primarily because we have been made very welcome by not just the people I work with in the Public Service and my colleagues in Executive Council, but also by the people of Anguilla and especially by the Island Harbour community where we enjoy living,” Mr. Capes told The Anguillian.

Cross section of invited guests

The interview was arranged at his rented sea-side residence on January 2nd, 2003.There he, his wife and their two visiting daughters, hosted a New Year’s reception attended by a large number of Anguillians in the public and private sectors and members of the expatriate community. The interview began with the Deputy Governor extending best wishes to all Anguillians for a happy and healthy 2003 and recalling the highlights he enjoyed during the first Christmas he and his family have spent on Anguilla. He spoke of the uplifting service on Christmas Day conducted by Bishop Brooks at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Island Harbour, and the special cantata performed by the Choir at St. Augustine’s Church, East End.

Mr. Capes is the first Deputy Governor to live away from the Old Ta/North Hill area and the vicinity of his office. “Living in Island Harbour means I have to drive 20 minutes to the office. But it is worth it. I think being part of the community in Island Harbour gives me a different perspective…than if I had been living in The Valley,” he explained. Living close to his place of work would have also made him feel that he was never leaving the office – perhaps a natural feeling of most people.

Now that he has settled in Mr. Capes, who knows the Caribbean very well from his previous jobs in the British Diplomatic Service, thinks his years of experience and the months of preparation in London for his appointment in Anguilla have served him well for his present post. “I think I bring to the job skills that will be of use to the people of Anguilla,” he commented.

He was asked what his main area of work was. “Most of my time is taken up by the Public Service because the Governor has delegated his responsibility for that to me,” he stated. “While the Public Service has many capable and experienced people in it the service does need reform. It needs change like all organisations if it is going to progress. You have to keep up with technology and methods in the changing environment around us. I think the main challenge I have will be to make the Public Service more productive, more modern in its thinking in its approach to work and to ensure a professional, customer oriented organisation. Of course, I work closely with the Governor, and I also need to keep up to speed on those areas for which he is responsible.”

Questioned about the reform undertaken in the Public Service a few years ago, Mr. Capes replied: “A lot of work has been done in the past but I am really inclined to have a look at it afresh. I think it can be a disadvantage in looking back too much because time has moved on. I am looking now at areas where I can see for myself issues that need addressing. For example, I think it will be important to have proper management training at the middle level of the Public Service.

“This is because some of our Permanent Secretaries will be moving on to retirement over the next few years and we need to make sure that we have a good number of competent people coming through to replace them. What has been lacking I think in the service is adequate management training; so in the coming year, especially, I am going to try and do what I can to bring more exposure to modern management training techniques. That may take the form of workshops or other training methods.”

Cross section of invited guests

Mr. Capes said that while there were very capable civil servants, the areas of need also included decision-making. “In some cases there is a reluctance to make a decision and it tends to drift upwards all the time to Heads of Department, Permanent Secretaries or to me,” the Deputy Governor went on. “I want to encourage people to make decisions. If they are being paid a salary commensurate with it [decision-making], they should be taking decisions. Making decisions is a way of learning. You may make a wrong decision, but it is better to make a decision than none at all. And, of course, you may make the right decision which is marvellous. To make a wrong decision – well, we all make mistakes but you learn from those mistakes. You cannot progress if you defer forever the hard decisions, so that is something we need to look at carefully.”

Noting that the Permanent Secretary, Public Administration, is responsible to him for the day to day management of the service, Mr. Capes said: “I want to get away from the small details of civil service management so that I can get more involved in a strategic approach to improving the quality of the service.”

One of the things he would like to see is more women in the upper ranks of the service. “It is something that I have commented on to my colleagues,” he disclosed. “I would like to see women in the most senior levels of the Civil Service. I don’t know why at present there is an all-male Permanent Secretary line-up, but there are lots of very capable women in Anguilla. I would like to see sooner than later women reaching the top levels of the service and equally you can argue – and it is not for me to say so – that perhaps there should be women in the House of Assembly.

“Women play a very strong role in society. They contribute greatly to the economic activity. They look after their household; bring up their children and work hard in all areas. I think there needs to be a representative Civil Service with women at the top levels. I certainly would like to see it.”

Asked what were his thoughts about civil servants retiring at 55 years in Anguilla when some may wish to continue, Mr. Capes had this to say: “It is a very topical question. “At 55 people still have many years when they are able to contribute in various ways to society and people are living longer. Only recently in the UK a Green Paper, which is a discussion document published by the Government, proposed that civil servants should not retire at 60, but should be able to work at 65 or beyond that age. That is a recognition of a couple of things:

- People are still capable of doing a very good job of work at 55, 60 and 65;

- That people are living longer and very often want to work longer; and

- That there is also a problem with funding pensions because people are living longer and persons are being paid longer. Governments across the world are having to address that issue and Anguilla is no exception.”

Mr. Capes continued: “At 55 it is early [to retire] in today’s world and there is a non-contributory pension scheme here so Government is having to bear the cost of paying those pensions for a long time. It is a question which I haven’t looked at in any depth yet but certainly it is one that is being examined around the world from rich to poor countries. It is a big issue and Anguilla will certainly have to look at these questions sooner or later.”

The Deputy Governor was asked whether he had any comments on the possibility of senior civil servants contesting elections for political office and on failure of being elected to be re-admitted to the service. His reply was a cautious one. “I think that sort of question is best aired in the public forum of the constitutional reform process,” he said. Speaking generally, he added: “It is an important reform process to which everyone should give some serious thought because it is their constitution. It is the people of Anguilla who will be living with this constitution so they should shape it in the way they would like it to be formed.”

Asked what message he wished to convey to the Public Service through The Anguillian, Mr. Capes said: “Remember that we are working for the people of Anguilla. Civil Servants are serving the people and the development of the country. If we have that in mind, then that should be a good enough motivation to do a good job.”

Deputy Governor Hon. Mark Capes and Mrs. Capes along with their two daughters

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