Hipkins ChrisPUBLIC SERVICE LEGISLATION BILLFirst ReadingHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of State Services): I move That the Public Service Legislation Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Governance and Administration Committee to consider the bill. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be reported to the House by 28 April 2020.The purpose of the bill is to build a more effective and unified Public Service. We live in a rapidly changing world. One could compare the state of our current Public Service legislation with the analogue system. We've moved into a digital era and the legislation that governs the way our Public Service operates needs to be updated in accordance with that. The public's expectations of what is possible have changed. Their expectations about what can be provided when it can be provided and how it can be provided have all changed and our public services need to be able to keep up with those things.The overarching aims of the bill are to enable the Public Service to deliver better outcomes and better services; to create a modern agile and adaptive Public Service; and to affirm the important constitutional role that the Public Service has in supporting New Zealand's democratic form of government. To achieve these aims the bill repeals and replaces the State Sector Act 1988 which was a watershed piece of legislation in its time. It also amends the Public Finance Act to reflect and support the changes that we are making.We've reached the limit of what we can achieve within the confines of the current statute. The State Sector Act is 30 years old. It's been amended 13 different times resulting in a law that no longer sets out a clear and consistent vision for the Public Service. It was designed for its time and since then of course there have been major social economic and technological changes and some of those have been on a global scale.The current Act—the State Sector Act—has provided significant benefits to New Zealand in terms of the efficiency and effectiveness of individual agencies but it has not served us well when it comes to some of the larger challenges that require Government to act in a more joined-up way. It does not mean—and our work here does not mean—that we believe the New Zealand Public Service is in any way broken; in fact New Zealanders are incredibly lucky to have a good robust Public Service that delivers a consistently high standard of service to Government and to New Zealanders. This is about doing even better and about rising to the challenges of the future. It's also about reconnecting with the spirit of service to the community that is imbued in so many of the people who work in our public services. It's about unifying the Public Service around a common purpose principles and values—principles like political neutrality free and frank advice and merit-based appointments those things that we take for granted but are not currently actually protected in our Public Service legislation.To achieve these objectives the bill changes the basic system settings and it tackles the underlying issues that have increasingly become barriers to progress. It does this by clearly establishing the purpose the principles and the values of an apolitical Public Service as well as its role in Government formation. It does this by supporting the Crown in its commitment to its relationships with Māori. It provides a more flexible set of options for how the Public Service can organise itself to better respond to specific priorities and in doing this we continue the trend of successive Governments since the original State Sector Act was passed in providing greater flexibility. It allows public servants to move between agencies more easily and it strengthens leadership across the Public Service and particularly providing for system and future-focused leadership.The current Act that we have doesn't articulate the purpose or the role of the Public Service. Public servants have a vitally important constitutional role in supporting New Zealand's system of government which is why the new Act includes incentives to act as a more unified system. The bill states what the purpose principles and values of the Public Service are and it acknowledges that the spirit of service is fundamental to the characteristic of our Public Service. It puts the responsibilities on Public Service chief executives to ensure that the principles of the Public Service are upheld. It allows the commissioner to issue standards and guidance on integrity and conduct. It allows public servants to have the same rights as all other citizens under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and the Human Rights Act—for example the freedom of political expression—and it provides that Crown agents are part of a unified Public Service for some purposes. We have to recognise that we have a number of Crown agents that are delivering what could be regarded as core public services to New Zealanders.The current Act is silent on the Crown's relationship with Māori and that is something we are changing. We're requiring chief executives to operate as a good employer recognising the aims and aspirations of Māori the employment requirements of Māori and the need for greater involvement of Māori in the Public Service. The bill puts this right. It explicitly recognises the role of the Public Service in supporting the Crown in its relationship with Māori under the Treaty of Waitangi something that again successive Governments have signed future Governments up to a range of new commitments that we will have to uphold and fulfil. So to carry out this role Public Service leaders will be responsible for developing and maintaining the capability of the Public Service to engage with Māori and to understand their perspectives.Under the current Act each department has got a narrow focus on a particular identity and outputs. Officials are incentivised to focus on their own agency rather than encouraging a wider more collaborative system approach. In order to address today's very complex challenges and issues we need to span agency boundaries in a more collaborative and cohesive Public Service. The bill provides for two new organisational forms within the Public Service which will help the Public Service act as one when dealing with specific challenges and issues of the day.Interdepartmental executive boards will consist of groups of chief executives working together towards common outcomes who are both individually and jointly responsible for that board's work. The board will have the ability to employ staff enter contracts and administer appropriations. Public Service joint ventures will enable joined-up service delivery through vehicles that enable a smaller number of agencies to hold joint resources including assets and staff and mechanisms to support sustained collaboration by larger numbers of agencies. The bill will allow public servants to move more freely between agencies by providing for the transfer of leave entitlements and it also provides explicit recognition of the value of diversity fostering inclusiveness placing responsibility on chief executives to promote inclusiveness in employment and workplace practices.Although steps have been made in the right direction to join up the leadership of the Public Service and put emphasis on system and future leadership the current model for the Public Service emphasises leadership of discrete entities with a focus on short- and medium-term planning. We want to strengthen this system through the bill by requiring the commissioner to establish a Public Service leadership team: a team of Public Service chief executives charged with developing and driving the Public Service strategy for an agile connected Public Service system—essentially formalising what is a current practice.It provides for the designation of chief executives as system leaders responsible for leading and coordinating work on a particular subject matter area across the Public Service—a system that was actually introduced and I give them credit for this under the last Government. This formalises that approach.It allows for the appointment of a second statutory Deputy Commissioner of the State Services Commission who will have responsibilities to achieve objectives in a designated area and it requires chief executives either individually or as a collective representing a sector to produce long-term insights briefings—something that I think will improve the quality of debate in New Zealand as we make a higher quality of information available leading into an election campaign rather than providing that information at the conclusion of an election campaign as we do now.In summary this bill will transform the Public Service for the good of New Zealanders. It will make it easier for the Public Service to tackle the biggest issues that challenge the Government of the day. It acknowledges the spirit of service to the community. It enshrines long-held principles and values of the Public Service such as political neutrality free and frank advice and merit-based appointment and it will have a unifying effect on our public services. These changes will ensure that the Public Service operates with integrity and that it maintains the trust confidence and respect of New Zealanders—something we must never take for granted. I commend the bill to the House.