The Prime Minister has stated that the establishment of Ministerial teams and cross-sectoral portfolios is one response. The next step is to ensure that Public Service and State sector leadership and accountabilities are equally responsive and co-ordinated. Those proposals are outlined in my overview of the year's work of the State Services Commission. The Commission's proposals and the Prime Minister's initiatives address system capability. The Government increasingly expects the Public Service to generate fresh ideas in policy proposals.
Theoretical frameworks are useful, but subject to limits.
That, in turn, challenges some of the conventions of a linear public management model. The best strategic management systems will be ineffective without capable people. There is also a less conventional, and perhaps greater, human resource challenge for the Public Service. It lies in the tension that exists between the legitimate demands of a government for imaginative, groundbreaking policy ideas, and an understandable reluctance by Ministers to accept that this will mean the advice of public servants will sometimes miss the mark. The pressure for speed in policy development and implementation may sharpen the risks.