Mauritius - MU -Second Public Sector Performance DPL : P128140 - Implementation Status Results Report : Sequence 02

The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 Implementation Status & Results Mauritius MU -Second Public Sector Performance DPL (P128140) Public Disclosure Copy Project Name: MU -Second Public Sector Performance DPL (P128140) Program Stage: Implementation Seq.No: 2 Status: ARCHIVED Archive Date: 26-Jun-2014 Country: Mauritius Approval FY: 2013 Product Line: IBRD/IDA Region: AFRICA Lending Instrument: Development Policy Lending Implementing Agency(ies): Key Dates Board Approval Date 27-Mar-2013 Original Closing Date 30-Jun-2014 Planned Mid Term Review Date Last Archived ISR Date 28-Oct-2013 Effectiveness Date 12-Jul-2013 Revised Closing Date 30-Jun-2014 Actual Mid Term Review Date Program Development Objectives Program Development Objective (from Program Document) The development objective of the DPL programmatic series is to support improvements in the performance of the public sector in Mauritius by assisting the government to implement the following three reform pillars: (i) strengthening services to support and empowerthe most vulnerable; (ii) streamlining trade regulations and processes; and (iii) improving human resource management in the civil service and the monitoring of SOE performance. Has the Program Development Objective been changed since Board Approval of the Program? Yes No Overall Ratings Previous Rating Current Rating Progress towards achievement of PDO Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Satisfactory Satisfactory Implementation Status Overview This is the second and final ISR before the project closes in June 2014. The loan was fully disbursed in September 2013. Public Disclosure Copy Implementation of the project continues across most components, pending to receive updated information on 2013 annual performance report prepared by the OPSG. While progress to streamline the processes to amend the scheme of services has moved forward, consolidation of the total number of scheme of services has been delayed as consultations with all stakeholders continue. Implementation of the HRMIS also suffers delays. Also, substantial overhaul of the basic education system is taking place with adoption of 9 year basic education, which may result in dropping the prevocational stream. This might influence the sustainability of the reforms supported by the DPL. In the meantime, the Prevocational Education (PVE) system has extended the program duration from 3 years to 4 years. These changes require an amendment to the indicator “Percentage of students entering Year 1 and completing the pre-vocational education cycle”, which MoEHR propose to be “Percentage of students entering Year 1 and completing the pre-vocational education cycle (now referring to the fourth year of prevocational as the year of completion and not the third year as for the previous years”. The first cohort in Year IV will complete PVE in 2014 and not 2013 as previously measured. In addition, the Mauritius Single Window system has been extended by the development of a National Single Window-OGA portal, integrating other Government Agencies, which Page 1 of 11  The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 caters for the online application, processing and approval for permits/authorizations related to import and export. Twelve agencies involved in the processing and issue of trade- related permits/clearances have been identified to join the OGA Portal. The estimated date for the first agency to be operational, on a pilot basis, is July 2014. It is expected that other agencies will be linked as from October 2014. Public Disclosure Copy Based on the above delays, the overall rating of the project is downgraded from satisfactory to moderately satisfactory. As project closes June 30, government should ensure that (i) the 2013 annual performance report prepared by the OPSG is posted on the OPSG website; (ii) IT systems (i.e. enhanced single window and HRMIS) become total or at least partially operational; (iii) business facilitation continues and the number of regulations on which a decision is taken after review increases. An Implementation Completion Report will be prepared and approved before December 31, 2014 after consultations with the authorities. Social protection The Placement and Training is one of the three pillars under the National Empowerment Foundation (NEF). The program aims at enhancing the employability of unemployed persons in unskilled and semi-skilled jobs through the provision of training and placement services. To this end, the National Empowerment Foundation has been working with a number of organizations such as the Mauritius Institute of Training and Development, the National Computer Board, the Mauritius Institute of Education and the Fashion and Design Institute to dispense vocational and technical training to those below Secondary College (SC) Level with poor academic achievement so that they acquire technical knowledge and expertise to enhance their chances of employability and /or to start their own micro business. The Programme Based Budget (PBB) indicator of the NEF for 2013 based on the Budget item “Number of persons below the School Certificate level, placed and trained” was set at 1,200. This was also identified as the target indicator for the DPL. During 2013, several technical and vocational training relating to domestic workers, ICT, mechanics, welding and several ones for the hotel industry had been provided to some 2,932 unemployed below SC Level while 348 have been placed in different sectors of the economy. The total number for placed/trained is 3,280. There are substantial new social protection programs using the Social Registry of Mauritius for identifying beneficiaries, including the Housing scheme (10,535 beneficiaries), the casting of roof program (233 beneficiaries), the housing general and crèche programs of the NEF (480 beneficiaries), and NS and RI of the Ministry of Social Security (18,070 beneficiaries). A new cash transfer program (New Income Support Program) promoting the principle of mutual obligations (social contract) was announced in the 2014 Budget Speech. The program was introduced with the objective to expand social assistance to households that are poor but not currently entitled to social assistance. The budget allocated for the program in 2014 is MUR100 million and initially only existing beneficiaries of the Child Allowance Program, which is currently administered under the Social Register of Mauritius (SRM), will be considered for the NISP. Switching to the NISP for those who are already collecting benefits from the existing programs would be voluntary. In order to facilitate and coordinate the operationalization of the NISP, a steering committee was set up. The Steering Committee, comprising representatives of relevant government institutions, would meet regularly to monitor progress on the implementation of the NISP. In order to detail the design and operational aspects of the NISP, the following three technical working groups (TWG) were established: (i) TWG on income threshold and quantum for payment under the new income support program (chaired by MoFED); (ii) TWG on social contract (chaired by MSIEE); and, (iii) TWG on IT requirements for SRM. Public Disclosure Copy The NISP presents an opportunity towards a more modern social assistance system. The government has already taken steps towards modernizing its social assistance system by (i) establishing the SRM as the database for social assistance programs to gradually include an increasing number of existing programs; and (ii) introducing more objective eligibility criteria in the identification of beneficiaries through the use of a proxy means test under the SRM. The NISP presents an opportunity to further modernize the social assistance system by (i) potentially serving as the foundation for consolidation of fragmented social assistance programs under a unified register and though harmonized targeting; (ii) providing beneficiaries multi-dimensional support to help them move out of poverty and promote social inclusion through social contract; (iii) improving oversight and controls by strengthened monitoring using the unified register; and (iv) controlling spending through reduced fragmentation; improved oversight and controls and promoting graduation. In order to harness these opportunities, the Government ought to articulate a vision for the future of NISP that re-organizes and consolidates the existing fragmented social assistance programs. The NISP can potentially contribute to improved equity and enhanced pro-activity of social assistance in Mauritius. Expanding social protection to those who are poor but are not covered under the existing programs (in particular the Social Aid) due to the categorical filters applied before a means test would improve equity. The work-able poor that are currently excluded from the social aid mainly due to the concern of creating welfare dependency would be able to benefit from the NISP. Under the new program, the Government Page 2 of 11  The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 aims to address the risk of welfare dependency through a social contract that will be signed between the state and the beneficiary. This presents a mechanism to enhance the pro- activity of social assistance benefits to get beyond passive cash hand-outs. Currently, social assistance benefits in Mauritius are disconnected from employment services/programs. Enhancing the proactivity of social benefits programs by linking beneficiaries to incentives and services to promote employability and employment opportunities has become an important element of the social policy agenda in the EU and OECD countries. The Government intends to do this through a social contract to help work-able poor get into jobs while Public Disclosure Copy at the same time avoiding welfare dependency. As the institutions work towards operationalizing the NISP, it would be critical to pay particular attention to the below aspects to achieve the intended outcomes: Clear Institutional Roles and Responsibilities: There is a need to define clear roles and responsibilities for the institutions that will be involved in the implementation of the NISP. The understanding from the discussions with the government teams is that the MoSS will be responsible for intake and eligibility determination of the beneficiaries while the MSIEE/NEF will be responsible for the implementation of the social contract. Smooth coordination and collaboration between these institutions would be critical to success. The data and information acquired by the MoSS during intake, eligibility and home visits would help the MSIEE/NEF in the implementation of the social contract. Data sharing between these institutions would therefore be critical. Confidentiality issues that may apply for data sharing need to be determined and access to MoSS database by the NEF needs to be ensured. Since the NISP would aim to provide multi-dimensional support to the poor and therefore require the involvement of other institutions, it would be critical to define the roles and responsibilities of the institutions that will contribute to collective efforts to help beneficiaries move out of poverty. Case Management: As announced in the 2014 Budget Speech, beneficiaries can stay on the NISP for a maximum of two years. A time limit was introduced in order to control the fiscal burden on the government budget and to give the opportunity to other vulnerable households to join the NISP. The objective of case management would be to support a sustainable exit from the NISP by supporting the beneficiary households to reach a certain level of human, social and productive assets that would allow them to become self- sufficient. In order to achieve this, the social contract needs to be designed taking into account multi-dimensional poverty. Following signing of the social contract, addressing the many challenges the beneficiary households are facing requires strong case management. It requires close monitoring of beneficiary households, identifying the key constraints that they are facing and linking them to the necessary support to be provided by different institutions. As such, the social worker s under the NEF will need to identify the constraints facing beneficiaries and their goals in order to map out a set of actions that the beneficiary must comply with to reduce their barriers to work or address other social obstacles facing them. The social workers will then need to link beneficiaries to different institutions for services and do follow ups, monitoring, etc. All of these present a new definition of the role of the social worker in helping the beneficiaries. This new role would likely present a challenge for the NEF that currently works only in “pockets of poverty” while the new program would be implemented nationally. The NEF would need to have well equipped social workers to assume these new roles in the implementation of the social contract through case management. A performance based system for social workers to support improved quality of services may also be considered. Benefits Menu: Benefit design needs to be easy to implement (a simple benefit level for all households once they are deemed eligible for the benefit under the Proxy Means Test (PMT) may be a good option). One can also consider different benefit levels associated with different cut off scores under the PMT. The child allowance program benefit can be presented as a top-up benefit (to the basic benefit) for households with school-age children as an incentive for school attendance. Conditions for school performance could also be considered; e.g., bonuses for grade progression and/or graduation. The benefit can be designed such that it reduces the disincentives to exit with declining benefits over time. This would be particularly important for those households with a work-able member who can take up a job but would not do so with the concern that they would lose their entire benefit as soon as they get a job Public Disclosure Copy Links to Labor Market Programs: Labor market activation of NISP beneficiaries requires up-to-date labor market information and needs to rest on an electronic labor exchange (ELE). International experience suggests that an ELE requires dedicated personnel, authority over the MIS (including ability to update and maintain the system), and that an ELE could be more effective if implemented by the private sector. Existing efforts to develop an ELE in the Ministry of Labor were less than successful. The Youth Empowerment Exchange is developing and the NISP can benefit from this database. However, it would present limitations for the purposes of activation of the NISP beneficiaries as it is targeted to only a segment of potential beneficiaries requiring activation. A mobile labor market exchange office could be considered to ensure activation support is available island-wide. Public Information Campaign: The NISP brings a significant change in mindset in providing social protection. It is essential that these changes are communicated effectively to the population through a structured public information campaign. Reform of prevocational education Page 3 of 11  The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 Substantial overhaul of the basic education system is taking place with adoption of 9 year basic education, which may result in dropping the prevocational stream. This might influence the sustainability of the reforms supported by the DPL. In parallel, fundamental changes have been implemented in the Prevocational Education (PVE) system since the DPL was approved. The most relevant is the extension of programme duration. In the context of the implementation of the New Strategy for PVE in 2012, a new curriculum was introduced in Year I and gradually phased in for those who Public Disclosure Copy were attending Year II. This latter cohort has now reached Year IV which is being implemented for the first time in 2014. The new curriculum has been prepared for the four years of the cycle and is being taught in all schools. It is based on 5 key domains of learning. New adapted pedagogy has been also introduced and a Bridging the Gap programme for a smooth transition from primary to Prevocational education Year I has been introduced in 2014. New student workbooks based on the new curriculum have been prepared and are currently in schools. This is being complemented with ongoing capacity building and Training of Educators. Furthermore, a comprehensive training needs analysis exercise is to be conducted for the sector. While the quality assurance mechanism is being set up for the PVE sector at large, a monitoring mechanism has been set up at zone level and school visits are being carried out by PVE Inspectors, PVE Project Coordinators and Quality Assurance officers. These changes require an amendment to the indicator “Percentage of students entering Year 1 and completing the pre-vocational education cycle”, which MoEHR proposes to be “Percentage of students entering Year 1 and completing the pre-vocational education cycle (now referring to the fourth year of prevoc. as the year of completion and not the third year as for the previous years”. The first cohort in Year IV will complete PVE in 2014 and not 2013 as previously measured. Streamlining existing regulations and systematically ensuring that the design of new regulations is conducive to busine ss The authorities are working towards further streamlining regulations and further eliminating unnecessary permits, in addition to the 6 items delisted from Import Control with effect from 3 January 2013. The Ministry also delisted 3 items from Export Control with effect from 10 December 2013. Moreover as from 15 March 2014, samples of controlled goods bearing HSCode 10.06, 11.01, 17.01 and 25.23 weighing 10 kilograms or less exported for analysis or marketing purposes involving no transfer of funds do not require an import permit. The government commitment in this area is also reinvigorated with the up-coming Accelerated Program of Economic Integration (APEI) regional DPO. As a prior action, the Cabinet has taken a decision to reduce the number of products requiring import and export permits by the Agricultural Marketing Board from 21 to 6. Moving forward, the Government will eliminate as part of APEI DPO2 and DPO3 the following NTBs: (i) import approvals for fish to be done by only Ministry of Health and (ii) remove NTB on wheat flour. The Government will also eliminate as part of APEI DPO3 5 NTBs identified through the codification exercise. Promoting administrative efficiency in trade processes by using IT The specific reforms supported by the DPL series were: (i) Cabinet approval of a Memorandum detailing the establishment of a trade portal and (ii) adoption by the Steering Committee for Development and Implementation of a functional model for the single window. The authorities have operationalized the trade portal, which was launched in August 2013 and can be accessed at http://www.mauritiustrade.mu/en. The portal increases the transparency and accessibility to all regulations listed by national tariff line for importers and exporters, as well as information relating to import and export procedures in Mauritius, Public Disclosure Copy opportunities existing on the regional and international markets under various agreements Mauritius signed, among others. The Trade Portal: (i) improves predictability and transparency of import and export process in Mauritius which is in line with Mauritius commitment to regional and international bilateral agreements; (ii) provides online access to all import and export regulations and procedures; (iii) encourages overseas companies that trade with Mauritius and provides them market and regulatory information; and (iv) gives access to international trade agreements that Mauritius has signed and which provide Mauritian exporters with preferential market access to key markets such as SADC, COMESA, EU, USA among others. Since the launch of the Trade portal in August 2013 there have been 10,988 visits and 120,636 page views. The average time spent per visit amounts to 7.23 minutes. As at April 2014, there have been 251 validated profiles with 22 subscribers to ‘Business Alerts’. Over the past three months there has been: (i) 860 unique visitors/month; (ii) 1267 visits/month; (iii) 9006 pages view/month; (iv) 5.41 average time spent (minutes) per visit; and (v) 100 visits of the country profiles. Page 4 of 11  The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 The Mauritius Single Window system has been extended by the development of a National Single Window-OGA portal, integrating other Government Agencies, which caters for the online application, processing and approval for permits/authorizations related to import and export. Twelve agencies involved in the processing and issue of trade-related permits/ clearances have been identified to join the OGA Portal. The estimated date for the first agency to be operational, on a pilot basis, is July 2014. It is expected that other agencies will be linked as from October 2014. Public Disclosure Copy In order to optimize on the benefits of the Single Window, the business processes of the 12 agencies have been examined with a view to streamlining them. Furthermore, time limit for the issue of a permit has been fixed as from the effective date of receipt of the application. Further, legislative amendments required for the implementation of the Single Window have been included in the Economic and Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2013 and shall come into force on a date to be fixed by Proclamation. Additional Regulations have been prepared, to facilitate the implementation of OGA portal and the streamlined procedures. In addition, comprehensive and clear guidelines, which will be made available on websites to facilitate compliance by operators, are being finalized. The enhanced Single Window will also be linked to the Government e-payment gateway. The government commitment in this area is also reinvigorated with the up-coming Accelerated Program of Economic Integration (APEI) regional DPO. As a prior action for this year, the trade portal has been put in place, increasing transparency by presenting all relevant trade information. Moving forward, as part of APEI DPO2 establish the national single windo w. Enhancing the effectiveness of the Mauritius Customs administrative appeals and penalties The specific reforms supported by the DPL series were: (i) Formulation of policy paper (by MOFED) on the legal framework, institutional set-up and operation of an ap propriate internal appeal mechanism within MRA-Customs that would be consistent with the requirements of the Revised Kyoto Convention and (ii) the government adopts a prescribed schedule of administrative penalties for Customs. The internal appeal mechanism has been set up and the prescribed schedule of administrative penalties for Customs has been institutionalized. With regards to the Schedule of administrative penalties the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2012 amended Section 162 of the Customs Act 1988 to: (i) Enable the Director- General with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, to compound any offences committed by any person against any Customs Laws and is prescribed as a compoundable offence; and (ii) Regulations was made under Section 163 of the Customs Act for the introduction of the Customs (Compoundable Offence and Compounding Amount) Regulations 2012 which came into effect on 01.01.13. For the proper implementation of Section 162, an agreement has been made between the Mauritius Revenue Authority and the Director Public Prosecutions As a result of the enhancement in the compounding process more on the spot settlement for minor offences committed by passengers where the amount of duty, excise duty and taxes below the threshold of Rs 7,500 have taken place: They increased from 260 cases raised and 132 cases settled in 2012 to 623 cases raised and 408 cases settled in 2013. An increase in transparency, predictability, efficiency and effectiveness of the compounding mechanism is in line with the vision of the Mauritius Revenue Authority and has been accepted by the economic operators as there is rarely dispute with respect to the compounding terms. Moving forward, Section 162 of the Customs Act 1988 and the Customs (Compoundable Offence and Compounding Amount) Regulations 2012 are being reviewed based on representations made by Economic operators. In 2013, 1,073 Customs Offense Reports (COR’s) were filed and the time taken to settle the penalty is shown below: Public Disclosure Copy NO of COR’s Filed - 1,073 COR’s settled at Source- 408 (38%) COR’s settled within 2 weeks - 355 (33%) COR’s settled after 2 weeks - 137 (13%) Unsettled COR’s - 173 (16%) From the figures above, in 2013, 71% of the COR’s filed were settled within 2 weeks. The reason for COR’s being settled after two weeks is due to the fact that the offenders have responded to the agreement for compounding after two weeks. The unsettled COR’s are referred to the Legal Services Department of the Mauritius Revenue Authority for further inquiry due to the fact that the offenders are not agreeable to compounding or are agreeable to compound but have not yet settled the agreed amount. The offender is given a period of 28 days to respond to the agreement for compounding. A first letter is issued to the offender and if he does not respond within 14 days, a final reminder is sent to the offender. Page 5 of 11  The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 With regards to the internal appeals mechanism, the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2012 introduced the following changes in the respective Customs Laws: (i) Customs Act 1988, definition of the ‘Objection Directorate’ and introduction of appeal mechanism to the ‘Objection Directorate’ in Sections 15(2B), 19(3B), 20(3B), 23(7), 24(6) or 24A(5); (ii) Customs Tariff Act 1969, introduction of appeal mechanism to the ‘Objection Directorate’ in Section 5(2B) (c); and (iii) Excise Act 1994, introduction of appeal mechanism to the ‘Objection Directorate’ in Sections 5(5), 22(7) or 52(7). Public Disclosure Copy As a result of these changes, 123 objections were received since January 2013 by the Independent Directorate for internal appeal mechanism. Overall, the 1st level of appeal has been accepted by stakeholders. 91 determinations have been given, out of which 48 representations have been made to the Assessment Review Committee (ARC). Moving forward, the procedure to implement the initial objection is being reviewed in order to make it less cumbersome. Development of a Human Resources Management Information System project and streamlining of Schemes of Service Progress in the reforms supported continues albeit at a slow pace. The total number of schemes of service for civil servants has been reduced to about 2,300 by February 2014 and is expected to be further reduced to 2,156 by the end of the year. The duration of the amendment of schemes of services now stands at an average of 3-4 months, with some cases being amended in about a month. These measures are in line with the expected results anticipated in the DPO operation (i.e. gradual reduction of processing time relating to the prescription of schemes of service to four months). Also consolidation of schemes of service has been worked out on a pilot case by MCSAR for the various grades comprising the Human Resource Management Cadre which falls under the responsibility of the Ministry. The new model proposed constitutes a major change in the current practice in as much as it has been a long established practice to have a single scheme of service for each grade. The idea of having consolidated versions of schemes of service was mentioned to Federations of Unions and it is noted that they have shown reluctance with the new model. Moreover, following the recommendations of the Pay Research Bureau and Errors, Omissions and Anomalies Committee Reports 2013, a substantial number of grades have been created and this has resulted in an increase in the number of schemes of service: and a slow response from Ministries/Departments to rationalize the number of schemes of service has been noted. In view of the complexity of the issue, the implementation of this new measure will require sometime for MCSAR to achieve its strategic intent to reduce the number of schemes of service in the Public Service. In the given circumstances, the consolidation of schemes of service is not being pursued for the time being pending further consultation with all relevant stakeholders. The Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS) is being developed by the Mauritius State Informatics Ltd on Oracle-platform. Initially, the HRMIS was to be implemented on a pilot basis in only 5 or 6 selected Ministries/Departments. However, after reconsideration, it has been decided that all Ministries/Departments be involved in the implementation process right from the beginning of the implementation phase for, inter-alia, the following reasons: (i) sensitization on the project would be carried out in an effective manner; (ii) avoid duplication in terms of provision of training to officers in the Human Resources and Financial Operations Cadres; (iii) enable early identification of practical software related problems and early referral for settlement thereof; (iv) allow the supplier of the system, namely the State Informatics Ltd to take stock of all the specificities of the Civil Service before developing the system; (v) avoid practical difficulties through involvement of all Ministries/Departs at the same time in the different implementations phase – Requirement gathering; Data Capture/ Maintenance/Migration; and (vi) enable a full scale testing of the payroll and core Human Resources Modules. To facilitate the implementation process, all Ministries/Departments have designated their respective Coordinators, who are from the HR and Finance Cadres. Sensitization meetings have been held since November 2013 with all coordinators and Officers-in-Charge of the HR and Finance Divisions of Ministries/Departments. Given the size and complexity of the HRMIS project, a holistic and step-wise approach is being adopted by MCSAR so that they understand the intricacies of project as well as their additional roles and responsibilities Public Disclosure Copy during the implementation phase. It is envisaged as an integral system that handles all processes related to HR management, from hiring to retirement. The first module of the HRMIS, the payroll module is expected to go live by end 2014 and data migration phase, which comprises data capture, data cleansing and data input, has started in March and is expected to be complete in about 4 to 5 months. A brochure on the HRMIS been also developed in parallel. The full system, comprising five modules, is expected to be implemented in all Ministries/Departments by end 2016. The indicative implementation schedule (Module wise) being worked on for the time being is as follows: (a) Payroll Module (end 2014); (b) HR Module (2014 – 2016); (c) Self Service (2015); (d) Learning Management (2015 – 2016); and (e) Performance Management (2016). Page 6 of 11  The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 The HRMIS is indeed an unprecedented Civil Service Reforms project, involving the participation of partners and stakeholders from all Ministries/Departments. On certain technical or legal/policy matters, MCSAR has to rely on inputs/clearances of others to be able to move ahead. In view of the fact that every Ministry/Department has its own sectoral commitment, implementation of the HRMIS constitutes an additional workload to be attended to with the same amount of human resources. These are unpredictable constraints Public Disclosure Copy which arise in the course of the implementation process. Moving forward, on-going initiatives such as an electronic system that will be part of the HRMIS and a handbook for drafting schemes of service and related training on the matter, will help to reduce the process required to amend schemes of service, though not drastically. Without additional changes in current operation modalities, it will be difficult for MSCAR to further accelerate the amendment of schemes of service, particularly given the need to secure the collaboration with a large number of unions, grouped in three major federations. Monitoring of State Owned Enterprises (SOE) Performance Since 2012, the OPSG has focused on a total of 7 restructuring plans for SOEs, with 4 more to be completed in 2014. These restructuring plans include the milestone for achieving a 5 percent return on their capital investment. The plans have been approved by Cabinet and published on the SOE website, as agreed by both the Bank and the EU. During 2013, the EU has provided technical assistance to OPSG towards the upgrading of the reporting in the Performance Information Management System (PIMS). The PIMS database currently contains annual data for 20 SOEs for the past three years. The system is being upgraded to enable the graphical display of forecasts of indicators for the next five years from trends detected from three year historical data. These reports will be provided to the SOEs for self-assessment. As at date, the OPSG has not published its annual performance report, as was done in 2011 and 2012. While some gaps may be understandable as part of the upgrading of the PIMS system mentioned above, without a fully-fledged report on SOEs progress toward attaining the KPI (Number of SOEs included in the annual performance report prepared by the OPSG and published on the OPSG website) cannot be assessed. Results Results Indicators Indicator Name Core Unit of Measure Baseline Current End Target Number of people with less than a secondary Number Value 912.00 3280.00 1200.00 school certificate (SC) placed in Placement for Date 01-Jan-2012 31-Dec-2013 31-Dec-2013 Training Comments Technical and vocational training relating to domestic workers, ICT, mechanics, welding and several ones for the hotel industry hadbeen Public Disclosure Copy provided to some 2,932 unemployed below SC Level while 348 have been placed in different sectors of the economy. Number of households in the Social Regsiter of Number Value 0.00 29318.00 13000.00 Mauritius Date 01-Jan-2012 31-Dec-2013 31-Dec-2013 Comments Including the Housing scheme (10,535 beneficiaries), the Page 7 of 11  The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 casting of roof program (233 beneficiaries), the housing general and crèche programs of the NEF (480 Public Disclosure Copy beneficiaries), and NS and RI of the Ministry of Social Security (18,070 beneficiaries). Percentage of students entering Year 1 and Percentage Value 72.20 74.20 completing the pre-vocational education cycle Date 01-Jan-2012 31-Dec-2013 Comments The Prevocational Education system has extended the program duration from 3 years to 4 years. These changes require an amendment to the indicator which MoEHR propose to be “Percentage of students entering Year 1 and completing the pre-vocational education cycle(now referring to the fourth year of prevoc. as the year of completion and not the third year as for the previous years”. The firstcohort in Year IV will complete PVE in 2014 and not 2013 as previously measured. Number of regulations on which a decision is Number Value 0.00 25.00 30.00 taken after review Date 01-Jan-2012 28-May-2014 31-Dec-2013 Comments 6 items delisted from Import Control in January 2013. 3 Public Disclosure Copy items delisted from Export Control from December 2013. From March 2014, samples of controlled goods bearing HSCode 10.06, 11.01, 17.01 and 25.23 weighing 10 kilograms or less exported for analysis or marketing purposes involving no transfer of funds do not require an Page 8 of 11  The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 import permit. The Cabinet has also decided to reduce the number of products requiring import and export Public Disclosure Copy permits by the Agricultural Marketing Board from 21 to 6. All ministries involved in issuing certificates/ Yes/No Value No Yes permits/clearances connected with the national Date 01-Jan-2012 31-Dec-2013 single window Comments The Mauritius Single Window system has been extended by the development of a National Single Window-OGA portal, integrating other Government Agencies, which caters for the online application, processing and approval for permits/ authorizations related to import and export. Twelve agencies involved in the processing and issue of trade- related permits/clearances have been identified to join the OGA Portal. The estimated date for the first agency to be operational, on a pilot basis, is July 2014. It is expected that other agencies will be linked as from October 2014. The amount of time needed to settle the Weeks Value 6.00 2.00 3.00 Customs administrative penalty amount Date 01-Jan-2012 31-Dec-2013 31-Dec-2013 Comments 71% of the Customs Offense Reports (COR)’s filed were Public Disclosure Copy settled within 2 weeks. The reason for COR’s being settled after two weeks isdue to the fact that the offenders have responded to the agreement for compounding after two weeks. Gradual reduction of processing time relating to Months Value 6.00 3.50 4.00 the prescription of Schemes of Service Date 01-Jan-2012 31-Dec-2013 31-Dec-2013 Page 9 of 11  The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 Comments The duration of the amendment of schemes of services now stands at an average of 3-4 months, with Public Disclosure Copy some cases being amended in abouta month. Number of Schemes of Service Text Value Above 2,500 Total number of schemes of Consolidation of Schemes of Sub Type service for civil servants has Service extended to other been reduced to about 2,300 sectors of the civil service Supplemental by February 2014 and is expected to be further reduced to 2,156 by the end of the year. consolidation of schemes of service has been piloted in MCSAR and is also taking place inother ministries reducing the total amount of schemes of service by around 14 percent compared to the amount in 2011. Number of SOEs included in the quarterly Number Value 0.00 20.00 25.00 performance reports prepared by the OPSG Date 01-Jan-2012 28-May-2014 31-Dec-2013 and published on the OPSG website Comments The PIMS database currently contains annual data for 20 SOEs for the past three years. However, the annual performance report prepared by the OPSG is not yet published on the OPSG website and therefore this indicator cannot be fully Public Disclosure Copy assessed. Data on Financial Performance (as of 13-Sep-2013) Financial Agreement(s) Key Dates Project Ln/Cr/Tf Status Approval Date Signing Date Effectiveness Date Original Closing Date Revised Closing Date P128140 IBRD-82470 Effective 27-Mar-2013 19-Apr-2013 12-Jul-2013 30-Jun-2014 30-Jun-2014 Disbursements (in Millions) Page 10 of 11  The World Bank Report No: ISR14965 Project Ln/Cr/Tf Status Currency Original Revised Cancelled Disbursed Undisbursed % Disbursed P128140 IBRD-82470 Effective USD 20.00 20.00 0.00 20.00 0.00 100.00 Tranches Public Disclosure Copy Tranche 1 Amount (USD) Expected Release Date Actual Release Date Status 0 Pending Released Key Decisions Regarding Implementation This is the second and final ISR before the project closes in June 2014. The loan was fully disbursed in September 2013. Implementation of the project continues across most components, pending to receive updated information on 2013 annual performance report prepared by the OPSG. While progress to streamline the processes to amend the scheme of services has moved forward, consolidation of the total number of scheme of services has been delayed as consultations with all stakeholders continue. Implementation of the HRMIS also suffers delays. Also, substantial overhaul of the basic education system is taking place with adoption of 9 year basic education, which may result in dropping the prevocational stream. This might influence the sustainability of the reforms supported by the DPL. In the meantime, the Prevocational Education (PVE) system has extended the program duration from 3 years to 4 years. These changes require an amendment to the indicator “Percentage of students entering Year 1 and completing the pre-vocational education cycle”, which MoEHR propose to be “Percentage of students entering Year 1 and completing the pre-vocational education cycle (now referring to the fourth year of prevocational as the year of completion and not the third year as for the previous years”. The first cohort in Year IV will complete PVE in 2014 and not 2013 as previously measured. In addition, the Mauritius Single Window system has been extended by the development of a National Single Window-OGA portal, integrating other Government Agencies, which caters for the online application, processing and approval for permits/authorizations related to import and export. Twelve agencies involved in the processing and issue of trade- related permits/clearances have been identified to join the OGA Portal. The estimated date for the first agency to be operational, on a pilot basis, is July 2014. It is expected that other agencies will be linked as from October 2014. Based on the above delays, the overall rating of the project is downgraded from satisfactory to moderately satisfactory. As project closes June 30, government should ensure that (i) the 2013 annual performance report prepared by the OPSG is posted on the OPSG website; (ii) IT systems (i.e. enhanced single window and HRMIS) become total or at least partially operational; (iii) business facilitation continues and the number of regulations on which a decision is taken after review increases. An Implementation Completion Report will Public Disclosure Copy be prepared and approved before December 31, 2014 after consultations with the authorities. Restructuring History There has been no restructuring to date. Related Operations P125694-Mauritius First Public Sector Performance Development Policy Loan Page 11 of 11