“We don’t need to tell the chief executives of the public service which laws to follow. They just need to follow the law – like all other employers,” she said.
The reforms have not yet been drafted, but Collins outlined priorities for them:
- Clarify the role of the public service;
- streamline chief executive responsibilities;
- reinforce the principle of merit-based appointments;
- improve chief executive and agency performance management;
- utilise and improve tools to reduce silos; and
- better manage risk.
Questions over the extent to which chief executives and agencies may have their performance managed may raise questions about how much of a say an individual minister has over their chief executive or agency’s performance – and the extent to which their view may or may not impinge upon the independence of the public service.
In New Zealand, public service chief executives enjoy a strong degree of independence from the Government of the day.
The Public Service Commissioner recruits and appoints chief executives who are employed by and ultimately report to the Commissioner. It is the Commissioner who holds them and their performance to account.
The Public Service Act gives ministers three points at which they can have input into appointing chief executives.
The Public Service Minister and the relevant policy ministers are invited to identify matters they want selection panels to focus on when recruiting a chief executive; policy ministers are then consulted on external members of the interview panel.
The Prime Minister and then the Minister of the Public Service are consulted before finalising terms and conditions of employment.
While it is the Commissioner who decides on the person to be recommended for appointment, before the appointment is made, the nominee’s name is referred to the Minister for the Public Service, who refers the recommendation to the Governor-General in council, who decides whether to accept or decline the recommendation. The minister conveys the decision to the Commissioner who makes the appointment.
Asked about managing the performance of public service chief executives on her way into the House, Collins said, “I won’t personally be doing it – the Public Service Commission will continue to do it as usual”.
Collins implied the reforms will mean a streamlining of requirements for chief executives.
“The public service chief executives will be free to get on with their job and not feel that they need to be reporting back to the Public Service Commission on their compliance with, for instance, the law. The law should always be complied with anyway. I’m trying to get fewer reports, more meaningful results,” Collins said.
“All money spent by the taxpayer is taxpayer money so I’m saying to public servant chief executives, I want the best person for the job and I don’t want you mucking around doing reports on things that you don’t need to do reports on because it’s not about your core business.
“The bill is currently being drafted. It’s very clear that it’s going to be about good use of taxpayer money, delivery on Government’s priorities, having a good employment record – all those sorts of things,” she said.
Act’s Public Service spokesman Todd Stephenson said the reforms would get the Public Service Act “back to basics”.
“Too many government agencies are trying to do too many things. Bureaucratic mission creep sees taxpayer money wasted on nice-to-haves, duplicated across different departments. Basic services are neglected even while headcounts balloon,” he said.
The Labour Party was approached for comment.
Victoria University Professor Jonathan Boston said the press statement from Collins did not include a great deal of detail about what the Government wanted to do. Boston was involved in advising the then State Services Commission on the reforms that led to the current legislation.
In terms of questions about the role of the public service, Boston said there was currently “no question about the role of the public service” and that he did not think the current legislation, which he had a hand in writing, was unclear.
“That hasn’t changed the role. The role of the public service has been broadly the same for 100 years,” he said.
Thomas Coughlan is deputy political editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the Press Gallery since 2018.
