Salary Data for Child Protection Officers

9 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Social and Family Development for each year in the past five years, what is the mean and median salaries of Child Protection Officers.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Eric Chua) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): Mr Speaker, our Child Protection Officers (CPOs) are paid based on the civil service scheme of service, differentiated by demonstrated proficiencies and job levels. In recognition of the more demanding nature of child protection work, our CPOs also receive an additional social work field allowance.

Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Thank you, Sir. The Parliamentary Question (PQ) is to ask for the mean and median salaries of our CPOs for each year for the past five years. I would be grateful if we can have the data so that we could see whether there is an increase in the salaries of our officers over the last few years.

Second, I understand there is a review on the administrative workload of our CPOs. So, could I just ask when that review is expected to be completed?

And third, if I may, Sir, I know Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua has been doing his level best to try and support and help our CPOs, but could I just ask again on the manpower issue, and perhaps, in the last few months, how many new CPOs have we hired?

Mr Eric Chua: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. I share, as well as appreciate his concern for our CPOs. To his first question on mean and medians, it is not quite possible for us to look at exact numbers, exact salary points, because we are talking about a range of officers with different years in service, with different seniority levels in the Public Service. So, what I have answered in my main reply was really to demonstrate that there is a whole range of officers with different levels of proficiencies. That is to the first point that he made.

On the second point about review that was mentioned earlier, I think what Mr Louis Ng was trying to allude to was, what kind of support more broadly, are we offering to our CPOs. We understand that, as I have mentioned before in a previous Sitting in a reply to Mr Ng as well, we should look at the entire stream of both recruitment as well as retention, and in the retention phase, the training that we can provide to each CPO, as well as the support, in terms of the wellness services that we can provide to each officer.

If I can just take this opportunity to reiterate some of the initiatives that we have put in place. To support the growth and the wellness of our CPOs, I mentioned before, that they undergo a comprehensive training programme. They also receive professional support on mental wellness and development, through structured supervisions, coaching, as well as peer support.

I know Mr Louis Ng is also very concerned about workload. And I think this is a point that he has mentioned a number of times in this Chamber. To address the workload of our CPOs, to help them work more effectively and more efficiently, we have also tried our level best to implement solutions, including technology, such as data analytics, robotic process automation. These tools are really meant to optimise our operations, so that they can focus on the core mission – and that is, child protection – and less so on the more mundane tasks of administration. He asked about endpoint. I do not see an endpoint in sight, because it has got to be an ongoing process.

With regard to the last point – if we can just ask the Member to repeat the last point that he made.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: The number of new officers hired.

Mr Eric Chua: The number of new officers. I do not have the numbers on hand, but what I can share is that, what the Member is concerned about is caseload. Previously, in previous Sittings, we were talking about whether 40 is the right number, and 40 is too high. I remember agreeing with Mr Louis Ng that 40 is a number that is too high. We are trying to bring that number down by making sure that we can recruit, as well as retain good CPOs. Mr Louis Ng would perhaps be heartened to know that for newer CPOs who join us in the service, the supervisors would take a very caring approach to make sure that they do not immediately go to the level of workload and the level of complexity, in terms of the cases that they handle.

Again, I thank the Member for his concern for our CPOs; we in the Ministry of Social and Family Development share them as well. And we want to help in every way possible, for them to succeed as well.

Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: Thank you, Sir. I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary again for the reply. I think we have agreed at 40 is too high. My concern is that more CPOs have contacted me to say they have a higher caseload than 40 and that is what is worrying.

I know they are not doing this for money, but I think salary it is an important factor. Could I ask at least whether the median and mean salaries of the starting salaries of our new CPOs have increased over the last few years? And again, whether there is a concrete plan to increase the manpower at our Child Protective Service (CPS)?

Mr Eric Chua: Again, I thank the Member for his supplementary question. I think there is a plan for us to recruit more officers. In terms of remuneration, again, I share that this is one of several components that we need to look at, in order to make sure that we can better support our officers in child protection so that they can succeed in their work.

I would be happy to share more details if I can, but I think off the top of my head, I have checked in with the CPS before coming to this Sitting and the average caseload that each officer handles is 40 or less. I think that I can confirm. There may be some officers who are more experienced who are more senior in terms of years in service, who are handling more than this average number, but I think those will be fewer and in between.