149.
Arising from my observations on this subject I have addressed the Deputy Financial Secretary on the desirability of conducting service-wide establishment reviews of Government departments in order to ensure as far as possible that there are no hidden surplus staff resources in departments as a result of changes in the activities or changes in the workload of the activities undertaken by departments. The Deputy Financial Secretary has informed me that the Finance Branch of the Government Secretariat has carried out establishment reviews in a number of departments in recent years but, in order to make the best use of his resources, he has under consideration a proposal to redeploy the resources available in the Finance Branch to enable the carrying out of an enhanced programme of value for money studies, as experience has shown that this latter approach is more effective in raising productivity and restraining growth in departmental establishments.
150.
Head 100 - Marine Department. Subhead 603. Plant, vehicles and equipment. In May 1978 the Director of Marine entered into a contract for the supply of four water-jet propelled launches at a cost of $650,000 for his Small Craft Licensing Section to be used for specific duties, including revenue collection duties, within typhoon shelters and congested anchorages. An essential requirement for the vessels was good manoeuvrability which would enable them to move close to the shore and to negotiate the confined areas in which they would be operating. The water-jet propulsion system was specified because this was thought to provide the required low-speed manoeuvrability and had the added advantage of eliminating the risk of damage from floating objects and grounding that is associated with propeller-driven craft. Recently, I carried out a review of the operational effectiveness of these launches which disclosed some weaknesses in the pre-contract evaluation of the water-jet propulsion system and in the arrangements for ensuring that the crew would be provided for the boats when they were delivered.
151.
The water-jet propulsion system is used in some Police launches and whilst the Director of Marine was aware of the numerous problems associated with the system, he underestimated and failed to fully investigate all of them before specifying a water-jet propulsion system for his own launches. Consequently, a number of modifications had to be made which delayed the delivery of the vessels for between two and four months. Furthermore, the Director of Marine did not take action to satisfy himself that the water-jet propulsion system would be suitable for the particular environment in which the launches were intended to operate. After the four boats were delivered between July and September 1979 it was found that the water-jet propulsion system was unsuitable for operating close inshore and in typhoon shelters because of the