United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

In the last 40 years, Singapore has enjoyed prosperity and economic growth. It has grown from a US$500 per capita economy to that of US$30,000. Over 90% of our population live in their own homes. However, globalization has intensified competition resulting in widening wage gap.

Being a small country without any natural resources, Singapore must continue to keep our economy open and competitive, while finding creative ways to promote equity and help low wage and vulnerable Singaporeans progress together with the rest of society. There is also a need to prepare for the challenges of an aging population including rising healthcare spending and ensuring that physical infrastructure are adapted to meet the needs of the senior citizens.

Building capabilities for the future, strengthening the social security system and providing for the needs of older Singaporeans will require Government to spend more in future. However, raising revenue from higher personal and corporate taxes is not a viable option for Singapore to remain economically competitive. Therefore, revenue has to be raised through higher indirect taxes with the increase in the goods and services tax (GST). But to mitigate the GST increase on the lower income, the Government has decided to redistribute some of the revenue collected to the lower income.

The last increase in GST from 3% to 5% took place in 2003. Although there was a GST offset scheme called Economic Restructuring Shares (ERS) then, the scheme was complex & administratively cumbersome for the public. The ERS took the form of shares and were allotted to the public in three separate lots over 3 years; 2003, 2004 and 2005. Singaporeans had to perform multiple transactions to convert their shares into cash and their qualification for ERS was also contingent on them making cash contributions to their individual pension accounts i.e. the Central Provident Fund account. This led to many lower-income Singaporeans missing out on the schemes. The ERS was also less targeted in terms of their allotment of monies to Singaporeans. Allotments tended to depend on single-dimensional proxies of wealth, e.g. the rental value of one’s place of residence, leading to a rather crude assessment of one’s financial situation. From this, the Government received feedback that we should have a more refined means-test to better benefit lower income Singaporeans.

In view of the problems in the previous scheme, the Government set out to fundamentally re-design the GST offset scheme in a way that would address and redefine the way monies are to be shared with citizens. Our priorities for the GST Offset Package 2007 were to: (i) introduce a new concept to offset GST increases: one that will benefit all Singaporeans, promotes equity and ensures that lower-income and older Singaporeans receive more from the exercise; (ii) transform administration: simplify the sign-up process and find a more efficient means of distributing monies to Singaporeans; (iii) promote social inclusion and equity: provide targeted help to vulnerable Singaporeans so that they would be able to sign-up for their benefits; and (iv) promote accountability: publish clear information on scheme and qualifying criteria, and provide appeal channels for Singaporeans.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The success of the GST Offset Package was overwhelming. Our efforts at improving service delivery and increasing public accountability resulted in a sign-up rate of 96% -- which far exceeded the Government’s initial target of 90%. In total, over 2 million people benefited from the scheme. The GST Offset Package enabled the Government to embark on a new mode of e-service delivery, improving our means of public administration. Although 3 forms of sign-up options were available (ATMs, the Internet and hard copy forms), we extensively pushed for e-sign ups through the ATMs and the Internet. Internet kiosks are also available at Community Centres and Government offices to facilitate the e-sign up. As a result, nearly 91% of Singaporeans who signed up did so electronically and were able to get their package within a service standard of 4 working days in a completely paperless exercise. In terms of the sign-up process, the public appreciated the service provided at Community Centres/Community Development Councils, CPF Service Centres and CPF hotline. 350,000 people benefited from these services. There was also a positive and immediate impact on the lives of Singaporeans, by promoting equity and social inclusion. This is evident through the positive coverage of the Package and the articles published in the mass media. In all, the GST Offset Package reaped numerous intangible social benefits. Positive feedback from the general public, media and community grassroots leaders showed the public’s awareness and understanding of the schemes, high satisfaction with the significantly enhanced delivery of services and approval of the increased outreach to vulnerable groups of Singaporeans.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The Ministry of Finance conceived the GST Offset Package, which comprised 6 schemes targeted at different groups. They are means-tested so that all citizens would receive some assistance, but lower-income and older citizens would receive more: • GST Credits - cash payout to all adult Singaporeans; • Senior Citizens’ Bonus – helps the elderly meet retirement and healthcare needs; • Top-Ups to Post Secondary Education Accounts - helps families with costs of their children’s Post-Secondary education; • Utilities, Service & Conservancy Charges and Rental Rebates - helps lower-income households with living expenses; • Property Tax Rebate - helps property owners with cost of living; and • Assistance for Low-Income Families - helps defray public transport costs, daily living costs, pre-school education for young children. Structure of GST Credits (GSTC) A Singaporean with: • Assessable Income (AI) of up to $24,000 and Annual Value (AV) of home of up to $5,000 gets $250 of GSTC. • AI of more than $24,000 and up to $100,000, and AV of home up to $10,000 gets $200 of GSTC. • AI of up to $100,000 and AV of home of more than $10,000 gets $100 of GSTC. • AI of more than $100,000 gets a one-off $100 of GSTC. • An additional one-time GSTC of $100 for National Service men. Structure of Senior Citizens’ Bonus (SCB) A Singaporean aged 55 to 59: • AI of up to $24,000 and AV of home of up to $5,000 gets $150 of SCB. Those aged 60 and above will get $250. • AI of more than $24,000 and up to $100,000, and AV of home up to $10,000 gets $100 of SCB. Those aged 60 and above will get $200. • AI of up to $100,000 and AV of home of more than $10,000 gets $50 of SCB. Those aged 60 and above will get $100. The Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB) implemented the Package. CPFB received data from different government agencies including the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA)/Immigration & Checkpoint Authority (ICA), the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and the Housing & Development Board (HDB), tested and checked the integrity of the data and accuracy of the allotment. Management of the data had to be done under strict privacy conditions. CPFB also ensured that all Singaporeans who signed up for their GST Offset Package received their monies in their bank accounts or through cheques according to published service standards. Thus far, S$625million had been accurately disbursed to citizens. CPFB also set up an Online Donation portal to allow Singaporeans to easily donate their GSTC/SCB through seamless link-ups with banks and charity organizations. Implementation was also made possible through link-ups with a myriad of other agencies/stakeholders. These included community grassroots leaders who personally visited 30,000 lower-income families to explain the Package and guide them on the sign-up process. CPFB also worked with staff from nursing homes/senior citizens’ homes, prisons and charitable organizations, to facilitate sign ups for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, prisoners, lower-income and disabled.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The Government adopted a four-pronged strategy of value creation in policy, product, service delivery and accountability. (i) “Policy”: A New Concept of GST Offset Sharing: More Targeted Benefits for the Lower Income and the Older Singaporeans First, a more targeted set of allotment criteria was developed. The GST Offset Package was designed to be relatively simple to administer and yet sufficiently targeted to provide more benefits for the lower-income. We introduced a new two-tiered structure of Annual Income (AI) and Annual Value (AV) for assessing one’s means. The AI establishes an individual's income, while the AV of his property is a proxy for wealth. Second, the Package should be simple for the public to understand, benefit and transact with the Government. Singaporeans will only need to sign up once to receive their GST payouts in cash over 4 years. Unlike past schemes, there is no need to make cash contributions to one’s individual pension accounts to qualify. (ii) “Product”: A Transformation of Administration from Six Schemes into One Package and One Government The Government transformed the administration of the GST Offset Package to make it easier and faster for citizens. It represents a major milestone in the Government’s efforts to work together to become “one-government” for citizen-government transactions -- Singaporeans only interacted with one Government agency (the Central Provident Fund Board or CPFB) to benefit from all the schemes. Each citizen received: • A single notification letter listing all his benefits under the various programmes. • A single sign-up application through one interface. For internet sign ups, the individual’s latest bank account information was extracted and displayed so that the person need not key in his bank account number. • A single sum credited into the bank account of his choice or a cheque. (iii) “Service”: A Socially Inclusive and Equitable Outreach to All Singaporeans The Government devised targeted outreach programmes so that no Singaporean would miss out on the scheme • We established service counters island wide at all 105 Community Centres to help the lower income and elderly Singaporeans understand and sign up for the GST Offset Package. • We prepared the benefits that each household would receive from the Package in a simple one-page leaflet and distributed to every household in the country • We worked with community grassroots leaders to reach out to poorer Singaporeans living in small rental flats; • We worked with staff from nursing homes/senior citizens’ homes and prisons, as well as charitable organization, to facilitate sign ups for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, prisoners, lower income and disabled. (iv) “Public Accountability”: A Fair and Transparent Communication & Appeals Process There has been widespread publicity on the features of the GST Offset Package. Information and FAQs were published in the mass media, website and printed in easy-to-read brochures placed at Community Centres/Clubs, Community Development Councils and Post offices islandwide. The benefits that an individual household would receive from the Package were also tabulated in a one-page leaflet and distributed to every household in the country. To ensure that feedback and appeals were handled in a fair and timely manner, the Government established a set of appeal guidelines covering a comprehensive set of categories. Replies to FAQs and service standards for government replies were posted on the website to provide transparency and accountability.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
Key implementation dates are shown below: February 2007: Announcement of GST Offset Package in Singapore Budget 2007 15 May 2007: Notification letters sent out to 2.4m Singaporeans 15 May 2007: Sign up for GST Offset Package begins. 1 July 2007: 93% of Singaporeans signed up for GST Offset Package. First payment of GST Credits and Senior Citizens’ Bonus made. 31 December 2007: Last date for sign-up. About 96% of Singaporeans have signed up for their GST Offset Package. Sign ups began on 15 May 2007 and: • In the first week, the sign-up rate hit 60% of the eligible population. • By the end of the first month, 89% of all eligible Singaporeans had already signed up for the package • Towards the end of the exercise in December 2007, 96% of all eligible Singaporeans or 2.2 million people have signed up, translating to more than S$625 million being disbursed accurately and expeditiously to the intended beneficiaries. The GST Offset has also encouraged wealthier Singaporeans to help less well-off members of society as they have donated about S$0.57 million to various charities through an online donation portal. In all, the GST Offset Package reaped numerous intangible social benefits. Positive feedback from the general public, media and community grassroots leaders showed the public’s awareness and understanding of the schemes, high satisfaction with the significantly enhanced delivery of services and approval of the increased outreach to vulnerable groups of Singaporeans.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Despite widely publishing the GST Offset Package in the mass media, website, individualized letters and printed brochures, there were segments of the population (e.g. illiterate and elderly) who remained unaware of the Package. To reach out to these vulnerable groups, we set up special helpdesks at all 105 Community Centres islandwide to guide Singaporeans especially the elderly ones sign up for their GST Credits. Hardcopy forms were made available there so that they could choose to sign up at the counter, or take the form back to complete at their convenience for posting at a later date. These HelpDesks served 83,000 Singaporeans and received nearly 61,000 hardcopy sign up forms. In addition, we worked tirelessly with community grassroots leaders who went from door to door of 100,000 lower income families to explain the Package and guide them on how to sign up for their GST Offset Package. We also worked with staff from nursing homes/senior citizens’ homes and prisons, as well as charitable organization, to facilitate sign ups for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, prisoners, lower income and disabled. The success of the outreach programmes was overwhelming. 96% of people staying in smaller homes had successfully signed up for their Package. 99% of prisoners and 96% of those staying in nursing homes/senior citizens’ homes were able to sign up to receive their benefits.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Sign up & Payment System & Facilities A robust IT system was developed to accurately determine the bonus amount for each Singaporean. Data which were received from the different government agencies were received by a single agency, tested and checked to ensure the integrity of the data and accuracy of the allotment. All Singaporeans who signed up for their GST Offset Package were able to receive their monies in their bank accounts or cheques according to published service standards. Thus far S$625million has been accurately disbursed to citizens. Through an Online Donation portal, Singaporeans donated S$570,000 of their GST Offset Package to various charities. This timely and accurate payment has been made possible because of the reliable and robust IT system that was developed and the seamless link-ups with banks and charity organizations. Simple Sign up, Quality and Accessible Service We provided three easy-to-access sign-up modes—the GST website, 1,600 bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATM) located islandwide and hardcopy sign-up forms which were available at 62 Post offices, 110 Community Centres/Clubs andent Councils. The ATM sign up processes were kept consistent across all banks. For internet sign ups, the individual’s latest bank account information was extracted and displayed so that the person need not key in his bank account number. This explains the high rate of electronic sign-ups i.e. 91% of Singaporeans signed up electronically i.e. ATM or the internet and 1 out of 2 Singaporeans sign up through the latter. Excellent and Accessible Service CPFB provided service to the public through its 5 Service Centres and single hotline. 60 Customers Service Officers successfully handled a total of 127,000 walk-in customers and 178,000 calls. Despite the crowd and influx of enquiries, the public continued to receive excellent service. Through the service counters located at the 105 Community Centres (CCs), Singaporeans could access the service and received on-the-spot help. The team of 40 Supervisors and 400 staff who were deployed at the CCs received nearly 61,000 sign up forms and ensured that the 82,600 customers were well served. Handling of enquiries and appeals within service standards There were voluminous e-mails and written enquiries and appeals from the public for higher allotment of GST payouts. 5,100 e-mails and written enquiries, and 9,000 appeals were successfully handled within published service standards.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
It took several months of extensive collaboration across various agencies to obtain the different types of data (income, housing, citizenship, age data) and done under strict privacy conditions to ensure that each Singaporean was allotted the amount of monies accurately. Foremost in our minds during the design process was efficiency, equity and accuracy. Eventually, we were able to produce one single notification letter, one website, one common sign-up deadline, one allotment system and one citizen-government transaction for the schemes in the Package. This has revolutionized the way the Government typically transacts with citizens for surplus sharing initiatives, reduced potential wastage, generated public sector efficiencies and established new inter-agency collaboration platforms. The GST Offset Package has become the model for future GST offset efforts and even other government delivery mechanisms for its ability to deliver multi-agency schemes through a single channel. In terms of the policy thinking behind allotment, the new three-tiered allotment system of the GST Offset Package has provided the Government with a simple and intuitive set of criteria for future schemes. The three-tiered structure is flexible and allows the AI and AV cut-offs to be modified depending on prevailing policy objectives and demographic changes. This is especially important in projects of such a national scale.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
First, in designing a good and sustainable means-testing framework, the degree of targeting of the scheme should always be balanced with the costs of administration, the practicality of obtaining the relevant allotment data, as well as simplicity in communication. In determining the wealth of a Singaporean for example, a line must be drawn as to how finely and definitively the scheme can approximate one’s wealth. Generally, a tiered system of AV, AI and age provides an adequate and fair assessment of one’s wealth, without being too complicated to administer. Although there were calls for the Government to better determine one’s exact wealth (e.g. including each individual’s savings, private wealth, insurance etc) would be a far too complex, intrusive and expensive exercise. Second, we learnt that it is possible to conduct a sign-up scheme which requires the entire population of Singaporeans to transact with the Government, as long as the operational risks are well managed. For instance, ATM sign-up processes should be kept consistent across all banks and the internet sign ups should be as simple as possible to minimize the possibility of system crashes, while hard copy sign up forms must be kept simple with just the minimal amount of information necessary to direct the sign up. Third, targeted outreach programmes are crucial in order to reach out to as many segments of the citizen population as possible. The collaboration with community grassroots, nursing homes, charitable organisations and prisons was key to achieving the high sign-up rate of 96%. The Government should engage these organizations at an early stage in the system design to encourage buy-in and provide sufficient time for organization of volunteers and sign up efforts. Finally, we learnt that it is always easy to adopt old ways of doing things, especially when such ways are tried, tested and proven. However, there is great value in challenging assumptions and devising novel ways of delivering the same service. Regular consultation is necessary to ensure the interests of the various agencies are aligned and processes are common, but yet inclusive of the requirements of each policy scheme. Time and effort must be taken to ensure that all the agencies understand and subscribe to the value proposition of the 2007 GST Offset Package as a positive innovation. This is the only way the innovations developed can be sustainable and transferable to future schemes.


Institution Name:		Minstry of Finance/Central Provident Fund Board
Institution Type:		Government Department
Contact Person:		Bing Hui Lee
Title:		Associate
Telephone/ Fax:		+6563324971
Institution's / Project's Website:		+6563323858
E-mail:		lee_bing_hui@mof.gov.sg
Address:		100 High Street, #10-01 The Treasury
Postal Code:		Singapore 179434
City:
State/Province:
Country:		Singapore

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information