Govt paves the way for public service curbs on wages while facilitating the flow of funds for council water systems
Two of the latest ministerial press statements reflect an admirable governmental concern to ensure our taxes are spent efficiently. Here’s hoping they achieve what the ministers intend.
Public Service Minister Nicola Willis is the big hitter. She says the Government has issued a new Workforce Policy Statement outlining expectations and priorities for employment relations across the Public Sector, with a strong emphasis on fiscal sustainability and performance.
Getting to the nitty-gritty, she said the Government has set a clear expectation that future workforce costs, including collective bargaining and pay increases, are to be funded from within existing budget baselines.
Moreover, agencies are expected to reduce spending on consultants and contractors (“which has blown out in recent years”), while keeping tighter control over the size of the workforce.
Concerned only with the operations of Oranga Tamariki, Children’s Minister Karen Chhour yesterday explained that she had asked the ministry to ensure the hundreds of service providers which are having their contracts reviewed are properly assessed “line by line”.
“Their challenge has been to unpick years of complacency and lack of rigour in the way contracts have been managed. These contracts are valued at more than $500 million.”
Today Chhour said she has instructed Oranga Tamariki to report quarterly, starting from the 2024/25 financial year, on a set of key performance indicators:
Those nuggets of news from Chhour and Willis will be vying for media attention with an announcement from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly about the delivery of water services.
More particularly, they announced plans for new council-owned water services, debt financing arrangements, and changes to water standards to reduce compliance cost.
“Councils and voters overwhelmingly rejected Labour’s expensive and divisive Three Waters reforms,” Brown recalled.
“This Government has swiftly repealed those policies and restored local control over water assets. The key details announced today will enable new models for financially sustainable water organisations and increased borrowing from the New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency Limited (LGFA) for water services, reducing the burden on ratepayers.”
The legislation to implement the new water service delivery models and other enduring settings for Local Water Done Well is expected to be introduced in December 2024 and passed by mid-2025.
Moreover, agencies are expected to reduce spending on consultants and contractors (“which has blown out in recent years”), while keeping tighter control over the size of the workforce.
Concerned only with the operations of Oranga Tamariki, Children’s Minister Karen Chhour yesterday explained that she had asked the ministry to ensure the hundreds of service providers which are having their contracts reviewed are properly assessed “line by line”.
“Their challenge has been to unpick years of complacency and lack of rigour in the way contracts have been managed. These contracts are valued at more than $500 million.”
Today Chhour said she has instructed Oranga Tamariki to report quarterly, starting from the 2024/25 financial year, on a set of key performance indicators:
Those nuggets of news from Chhour and Willis will be vying for media attention with an announcement from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly about the delivery of water services.
More particularly, they announced plans for new council-owned water services, debt financing arrangements, and changes to water standards to reduce compliance cost.
“Councils and voters overwhelmingly rejected Labour’s expensive and divisive Three Waters reforms,” Brown recalled.
“This Government has swiftly repealed those policies and restored local control over water assets. The key details announced today will enable new models for financially sustainable water organisations and increased borrowing from the New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency Limited (LGFA) for water services, reducing the burden on ratepayers.”
The legislation to implement the new water service delivery models and other enduring settings for Local Water Done Well is expected to be introduced in December 2024 and passed by mid-2025.
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Public reporting on key performance indicators for Oranga Tamariki will ensure greater transparency and accountability for the organisation, says Children’s Minister Karen Chhour.
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7 August 2024
The Government has issued a new Workforce Policy Statement outlining expectations and priorities for employment relations across the Public Sector, with a strong emphasis on fiscal sustainability and performance.
The coalition Government is strengthening the education sector’s governance and management, says Education Minister Erica Stanford.
In her statement, Nicola Willis said the new Workforce Policy Statement is a blueprint for how public sector agencies, including Crown entities, should approach a range of workforce matters. These include remuneration, negotiation of employment agreements, pay equity, diversity, data and information.
“This Government is committed to delivering better public services like health and education while ensuring government agencies spend taxpayer’s money as carefully as they would themselves,” Nicola Willis says.
Over the past six years, there had been a sharp increase in the amount of taxpayer money spent on back-office staffing in public agencies.
But actual outcomes for New Zealanders had gone backwards across key areas like health, education, and crime.
“Turning these trends around requires a renewed focus on fiscal responsibility and high performance across the public sector.
“That’s why the Government has set a clear expectation that future workforce costs, including collective bargaining and pay increases, are to be funded from within existing budget baselines. Agencies are also expected to reduce spending on consultants and contractors, which has blown out in recent years, while keeping tighter control over workforce size.
“Among other measures to drive performance and ensure accountability, the Government has also made it clear it expects to see the pay of public sector executives and deputies linked directly to outcomes,” Nicola Willis says.
The Workforce Policy Statement sets out four key priorities:
- Employment outcomes are fiscally sustainable and respond to the current fiscal context and any current budget advice.
- Employment conditions and remuneration settings support a high performing public sector and the delivery of effective, efficient, and responsive services.
- A diverse and inclusive public service workforce that is responsive to the needs of all New Zealanders.
- Agencies manage their workforce size and composition, including to reduce expenditure on consultants and contractors.
- Frequency of visits to children in care: the percentage of children in care who have been visited by their social worker at least once in the last eight weeks to ensure their ongoing safety and wellbeing
- Timeliness around Reports of Concern: percentage of critical (within 24 hours) and very urgent (within 48 hours) Reports of Concern that are addressed within these timeframes
- Supporting caregivers: results of a rolling survey of Oranga Tamariki caregivers, which asks whether caregivers feel supported, whether they would recommend becoming a caregiver, and whether they are thinking about stopping being a caregiver
- Improving complaint management and practices: the proportion of complaints audited that were handled in a way that fully met Oranga Tamariki standards
- Addressing youth offending: a 15 per cent reduction in the total number of children and young people with serious and persistent offending behaviour.
Key performance indicators and quarterly reporting, to the public, would encourage accountability and better performance in the entire organisation, Chhour said.
On the issue of water services and infrastructure investment, Simeon Brown and Andrew Bayly said the Local Government Funding Agency Limited has confirmed it can immediately begin lending to Council-controlled water-service organisations that are financially supported by their parent council or councils.
LGFA will support leverage for water CCOs up to a level equivalent to 500 percent of operating revenues – around twice that of existing councils – subject to water CCOs meeting prudent credit criteria. This is intended to enable councils to better manage debt and make essential infrastructure investments without drastic rate hikes.”
The Commerce Commission will oversee the economic regulation of the new water services and will have a range of regulatory tools, including mandatory information disclosure, to promote value for money for New Zealanders and ensure investments are made where they are needed most.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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