Insider’s guide to NZ government (on-demand)
Session 5: Resources
And to end it all with a flourish, here are the further resources for our last session.
(1) Session 5 slides
As per usual, flick us an email if you’re keen on the slides.
(2) All the public sector agencies
This is such a useful resource from the Public Service Commission. It allows you to find every government agency you encounter in your work. And then you can see where they sit in terms of the different types of organisations we went through in the session, e.g. Department, Crown entity etc.
(3) Cabinet Manual - chapter 3
Warning. It’s as dry as the Sahara. If you do delve in., treat yourself afterwards as it’s a slog. But this is the place where the rules are written down about how ministers interact with officials across a range of government agencies, i.e. their repsective roles, and what the boundaries are. For Crown entities and other organisation it also outlines the role and appointment of the Boards. Not for the faint-hearted.
(4) Workforce data
The Public Service Commission collects, and makes available to anyone who is interested, a wide array of data about the public sector workforce. There’s too many interesting data sets to mention so best get into it for yourself!
(5) Departmental agencies
If you work for (or interact with) a "departmental agency”, here is some further info about their unique structure and relationship with their host department that you might find useful.
(6) FAQs
I’m really confused by the terms ‘State sector’ and ‘Public sector.’ Is there a difference?
Yes there is a difference.
The State sector is all the central government agencies we looked at in session 5, i.e. Departments, Crown entities, and PFA companies and organisations SOEs etc. When you add in all the councils around the country, that gives you the public sector.
Think of it this way: central government (the State sector) + local government (councils) = the public sector.
What are these ‘Public Finance Act Schedule 4 companies/organisations’ I see listed?
The PFA Schedule 4 organisations are structured much like Crown entities but they are even more removed from ministerial control. They really go about their business quite independently from ministerial influence. The tend to perform specific statutory function (i.e. a function laid down in the law that established them) for example the Maori Trustee or the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
The PFA Schedule 4 companies (also page 2) are more like State-owned enterprises. They are all companies owned by ministers, but rather than being profit-driven (as are the SOEs), they are delivering a policy function. For example, Education Payroll Limited was created to take over responsibility for paying teachers after the Novopay problems. Likewise Predator Free 2050 Limited has its policy function spelt out in its name.
Why do ministers get to appoint the members of Crown entity Boards?
Allowing ministers to appoint board members seems to reflect something of a compromise. Ministers remain responsible to Parliament for the performance of their Crown entities. So, it is argued, if Crown entities are going to be ‘arm’s length’ from ministers, then, ministers should be able to appoint to the boards people they trust to provide the right kind of guidance and oversight over that entity.
This said, there is a strong argument that the Public Services Commissioner should have the power to appoint board members to ensure that all the people on the boards are genuinely merit-based appointments rather than being former MPs or simply a friend of the minister (it happens!).
What’s an ‘Independent Crown entity’?
Ok, there are different types of Crown entity.
On this page, find the main heading Crown entities.
Under that heading, is the sub-heading Statutory Entities.
There are 3 types of Statutory Entity: (1) Crown Agents, (2) Autonomous Crown Entities (ACE) and (3) Independent Crown Entities (ICE). There’s a spectrum of ‘independence’ from minsters going on here. It’s generally considered that ministers have the highest level of control over Crown Agents, ACEs’s are in the middle, while ministers have little control over ICEs.
For example, sometimes the Children’s Commissioner publicly criticises aspects of government policy (benefit levels, living wage, social housing etc). The Children’s Commissioner is an ICE. Because of the legislation under which they operate, ICE’s are allowed considerable freedom to say/do what they want even if ministers might not like what they say/do!