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SEVENTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA

Assessment of the reforms in the functioning
of the International Labour Conference

Introduction

1. As part of the measures to reduce expenditure in 1996-97, at its 264th Session (November 1995) the Governing Body took the following decisions concerning the functioning of the International Labour Conference:

1. the Conference was shortened by one day;
2. the discussion of the reports of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and the Director-General in plenary sittings began on the Wednesday of the second week of the Conference and continued up to and including the Tuesday of the third week;
3. the time-limit for speeches in plenary sittings was reduced to five minutes;
4. the issues of the Provisional Record of the Conference covering the discussion of the reports of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and the Director-General were printed and dispatched after the conclusion of the Conference, while the present practice regarding Part II of the report of the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards was maintained.

2. In addition, based on a suggestion by the Employers' group, it was also decided to restrict the free distribution of Conference reports and, more specifically, not to provide them free of charge to non-governmental international organizations other than organizations of workers and employers.

3. At the outcome of the discussion that led to these decisions and that which took place at the 266th Session (June 1996) of the Governing Body on questions arising out of the International Labour Conference, it was understood that the Office would submit to the Governing Body at its present session an assessment of these measures together with relevant proposals for future sessions of the Conference. The purpose of this paper is to provide this assessment point by point, including information on the savings (in rounded figures) that have resulted from each of the measures.⁽¹⁾

Shortening of the Conference

4. As a result of this decision, the Conference was scheduled to complete its work by the end of the Thursday of the third week (instead of Friday previously) thereby enabling the Governing Body to meet on the following Friday (instead of Saturday previously). In fact the Conference completed its work by lunch-time on Thursday. The savings resulting from this measure amounted to some $69,000 (not counting savings for delegations whose members were able to leave Geneva earlier). It is therefore proposed that the decision to schedule the Conference up to Thursday of the third week be maintained.

Reduction in the time-limit for speeches to five minutes

5. This measure was accepted gracefully by all the speakers and there were no major complaints. However, some speakers delivered their speeches at a speed that rendered interpretation difficult, while a number of others exceeded the five-minute limit. As a result, the average length of speeches in 1996 turned out to be 65 per cent, instead of 50 per cent, that of the speeches delivered in 1995 when the time-limit was set at ten minutes. This nevertheless represents an economy in time of 35 per cent, which is not negligible. Significant savings resulted from this measure thanks to a reduction in the number of plenary sittings (some $144,000 in interpretation costs, rental of the Assembly Hall and miscellaneous expenditure) and in the volume of the Record of Proceedings produced after the Conference (some $193,000 in costs of editing, translation, typing and printing). It is therefore proposed that the restriction of five minutes in the time-limit for speeches be maintained.

6. It should be pointed out, however, that this restriction, which was implemented for statements in the discussion of the reports of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and the Director-General, did not apply to statements on the presentation and discussion of committee reports. Should time pressures make it necessary to extend the restriction to the latter, this can be done under the provision of article 14, paragraph 6 of the Standing Orders, which permits the President of the Conference, after consultation with the Vice-Presidents, to submit to the Conference for decision without debate a proposal to reduce the time-limit for speeches on a specific topic before opening the discussion on that topic.

Reduction to one calendar week of the duration of the
plenary discussion of the reports of the Chairperson of
the Governing Body and the Director-General

7. With speeches limited to five minutes, each plenary sitting of three hours could in theory accommodate 36 speeches. In practice, account taken of the inevitable short time lapses between speeches, of the fact that most speeches in fact exceed five minutes and of the requirement for other occasional brief items of business, experience at the last session of the Conference has shown that a three-hour sitting cannot accommodate more than a maximum of 30 speeches. This means that within five days up to 300 speeches could be accommodated. In 1996 there were 267 speakers (303 speakers in 1995) who were able to take the floor within the alloted time. It may therefore be concluded that the decision to shorten the duration of the plenary discussion to one calendar week is viable and should be continued. As mentioned in paragraph 5 above, the resulting savings in 1996 amounted to some $144,000.

8. It should be pointed out, however, that the interruption of the plenary sittings for one week required a procedural adjustment relating to the composition of Conference committees. Under articles 56 and 9 of the Standing Orders, any changes in the composition of committees are to be decided by the Conference on the recommendation of the Selection Committee, which in turn delegates this responsibility to its Officers. Changes in the composition of committees occur daily. Since the plenary was not meeting all the time, it was not possible for the Conference to approve these changes, and this was done by its Officers by a delegation of authority. Indeed, at the recently concluded 84th (Maritime) Session of the Conference, where the plenary only met at the opening and concluding sittings, there was no Selection Committee and decisions on changes in the composition of committees were delegated to the Officers of the Conference.

9. If it is decided to maintain the interruption of the plenary, then it will again be necessary to delegate the power of decision on changes in the composition of committees. However, the procedure by which these changes are examined by both the Officers of the Selection Committee and the Officers of the Conference is unnecessarily cumbersome. A further rationalization could therefore be made to the procedure adopted at the 83rd Session of the Conference, if the Conference were to delegate to the Selection Committee authority to take non-controversial decisions on changes in the composition of committees throughout the Conference.

Non-production of the in-session Provisional Record
covering the discussion of the reports of the Chairperson
of the Governing Body and the Director-General

10. Judging by the number of inquiries and complaints, the fact that plenary statements were no longer reproduced in session in issues of the Provisional Record seems to have caused a serious inconvenience to many delegates. Complaints also related to the non-production during the session of the text of the reply by the Secretary-General and of the details of the record votes on Conventions and Recommendations. The latter shortcoming was however redressed at the 84th (Maritime) Session of the Conference in October, where the details of record votes on the Conventions and Recommendations were instantly produced as in-session documents.

11. The savings resulting from the non-production in session of the relevant issues of the Provisional Record at the 83rd Session (June 1996) of the Conference amounted to some $481,000, corresponding to reduced expenditure on staff for the transcription of statements, editing, translation and in-session distribution, as well as in-session printing costs.

12. The magnitude of these savings would appear to outweigh the inconvenience caused by the non-production of the in-session Provisional Record. At the same time, it should be possible to address some of the inconvenience identified by fairly simple measures. Thus, the details of any vote taken can be produced immediately, which was the case at the Maritime Conference, as can the reply by the Secretary-General. Furthermore, a secretariat service could be set up where delegates could obtain, on request, copies of individual speeches as submitted by the speakers (the cost of such a service to delegates, including staffing, photocopying equipment and supplies is estimated at $25,000). This service would enable delegates to obtain selectively any set of speeches they may need. On this understanding, it is proposed to continue the practice of producing the record of statements made in plenary as soon as possible after the conclusion of the Conference.

13. With regard to the report of the Committee on the Application of Standards, this will continue to be produced in session in full, including Part II. However, arrangements will be made for this to be done without recourse to transcription services, which will produce a further economy of $85,000.

Selective free distribution of Conference reports

14. Despite the discipline imposed on delegates by this measure, it was very well received judging from the fact that not only were there no complaints, but instead many favourable comments were made about the resulting containment of waste. It is therefore proposed that this measure be continued, despite the relatively little impact it has on costs (about $1,500 saved through reduced print runs).

Conclusion

15. In conclusion, the assessment of the measures adopted by the Governing Body last November and implemented at the 83rd Session (June 1996) of the Conference can be considered as positive. The only measure that appears to have created some difficulties was the decision not to produce in session the issues of the Provisional Record reflecting the discussion of the reports of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and the Director-General. However, the difficulties identified can be overcome to a certain extent at little cost by the new measures described in paragraph 12 above. The total savings achieved at the 83rd Session (June 1996) of the Conference from all these measures are estimated at $887,000.

16. The Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee may therefore wish to recommend to the Governing Body that --

1. all the measures it adopted at its 264th Session (November 1995) be maintained, on the understanding that the facilities described in paragraph 12 of this paper will be introduced as of the 85th Session (June 1997) of the Conference;
2. the responsibility for the adoption of non-controversial changes in the composition of committees be delegated to the Selection Committee.

Geneva, 1 October 1996.

Point for decision: Paragraph 16.

¹ All savings mentioned in this document are based on a comparison with actual expenditure incurred in 1995.