Goldsmith Paul: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Goldsmith Paul: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 20 March 2012. Volume:678;Page:1059. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
3. 
PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: How will the Government’s programme for delivering better public services within tight financial constraints contribute to the Government’s economic plan? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 It will contribute in a couple of ways. The first is that the public sector makes up about a quarter of the New Zealand economy so it makes a large contribution to our economic performance. Increases in productivity and skills in the public sector will benefit the whole economy as well as those New Zealanders who expect public services to be maintained even though there are tight financial constraints. 
Paul Goldsmith 
: What specific steps is the Government taking to ensure the Public Service is more innovative efficient and focused on delivering results? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: With the size and complexity of the public sector the Government has been taking a large number of steps since it took office back in 2008 but more recently the Prime Minister announced three changes that will sharpen the public sector’s focus on delivering better services for New Zealanders. The Prime Minister has set 10 challenging and specific results for the public sector to achieve over the next 3 to 5 years. The Government has lowered the cap on full-time equivalent positions in core Government administration and created a single dedicated Government department that will service business indicatively called the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. 
Chris Hipkins 
: Does he agree with the conclusions of the Better Public Services Advisory Group that better delivery of public services requires a clear understanding of the Government’s priorities; if so which set of priorities does the Government want the public sector to focus on: the National Party’s six-point brighter future plan the revised six-point brighter future plan with 41 actions National’s 120-point action plan the four priorities in the Speech from the Throne the Prime Minister’s 10-point plan Steven Joyce’s eight-point plan Nick Smith’s eight-point plan Bill English’s five themes for Government priorities or any of the other multiple-action plans strategies and priority lists the Government is releasing or will he simply admit that the Government cannot even get its own priorities set out straight so how on earth is the public sector supposed to follow them? 
Hon Paula Bennett 
: What a busy Government. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: What a busy Government—there is no doubt about that. The member of course will understand that for instance the Ministry for the Environment will be focusing on things we want to achieve in respect of natural resources. That is logical enough and they will be a bit different from what the Ministry of Social Development is focusing on. What I can tell the member is that no Government including the previous Labour Government has put itself to the test in respect of the 10 results that the Prime Minister announced last week. They will enable us to get to grips with long-running difficult issues in New Zealand such as crime reoffending rates violence to children and long-term welfare dependency. And I will welcome the member’s participation in providing ideas about how we can achieve those results better. 
Paul Goldsmith 
: What will be the main focus of the 10 results set by the Prime Minister for the public sector? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The main focus of those results is to simply test whether the tax paid over by taxpayers and spent by Government actually makes a difference. It is one thing to stand around wringing hands and writing strategies like the last Labour Government did; it is another thing to test whether all our actions and all our funding are actually leading to change. Because the fact is under the previous Government with a huge upsurge in spending many of our social problems got worse not better. 
Chris Hipkins 
: Has the Minister seen reports that Treasury which has no front-line staff has increased its staff numbers by over 13 percent in the last 3 years and that the number of staff earning over $100000 at Treasury has increased by 8 percent and that in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet which coincidentally also has no front-line staff personnel costs have increased by over 13 percent and the department had an $800000 budget blowout? And why is it that his department and the Prime Minister’s department are growing fatter while the rest of the Public Service which provides genuine front-line public services is having its funding cut? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The member’s last statement is wrong. I could point out to him that Treasury and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet have overseen a fairly significant event called the Christchurch earthquake which has required the deployment of $9.5 billion of public money. If Treasury has been able to supervise that with the addition of a few staff then it is doing an extremely good job. 
Paul Goldsmith 
: How will progress towards meeting each of the Public Service targets be measured? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: It is important to measure our progress because good intentions simply are not enough. It is not enough to say that we care about children or enough to say we think welfare dependency is a problem. So the results the Prime Minister has announced will require measurable and stretching targets. They will be public and the public will have the opportunity not just to monitor progress but actually to participate. For instance having a safer environment for our children will require the neighbours to make as much of a contribution to that child’s safety as Government bureaucrats. It will help us all understand our respective responsibilities.