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The government is ready to wean the first set of subvented agencies off its payroll. The Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Mr George Smith-Graham, said a sub-committee had met with all the agencies identified in the 2014 Budget. He explained that this followed the completion of work on weaning some subvented agencies off government funding. A report on the work done is to be presented by the end of this month. An effective performance management system in the public service and a targeted voluntary retirement scheme are some of the measures to be taken in efforts at making subvented government agencies productive and effective. The weaning of some 130 subvented agencies off the funding of government was one of the actions contained in a communiqu� issued at the end of the national forum on the pay policy held at Ho in August 2013. The measure is aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP). The sustainability of the pay policy has increasingly become a critical issue for the government in its efforts at ensuring a sustainable fiscal deficit and public debt. In line with that, the government, in its Economic and Financial Policies for the Medium Term, and also its report on the national economic forum held in Senchi, mentioned the weaning of subvented organisations off government payroll as key in the economic policy reforms. Work done Mr Smith-Graham said the sub-committee that met with the affected agencies discussed how they could stand on their own feet and become viable. He said while some of the agencies could immediately be weaned off, others could be weaned off with time, and for rest, that was not an option now. Modalities The CEO said measures to be taken would include the institution of effective performance management systems in the public service to ensure that workers were results- oriented. Those who were unable to meet requirements would be trained and retrained until they achieved the level of productivity required by the institution. Other workers had also been identified and placed in bands to whom the option of voluntary retirement was available. Mr Smith-Graham said retrenchment had not been discussed, adding that the option, in his view, was complicated. He said the education sector, for instance, was a sensitive area with regard to retrenchment, because although about 30 per cent of teaching staff were untrained, retrenching them would leave classrooms empty, unless there were equal numbers of trained teachers ready to fill the vacancies.