3. AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
Is it still the Government’s policy to cap staff numbers in the Public Service; if so, why?
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) Link to this
Yes, it is the Government’s policy to cap core Government administration staff and to give priority to front-line services. In the past 5 years, the Public Service has been accustomed to spending growing at twice the rate of revenue and twice the growth of the economy. No household, business, or Government can operate like that. The reality is that Labour let the bureaucracy get out of control. The Government now faces 10 years of deficits—in the next few years, deficits of $10 billion to $12 billion. The Public Service cannot expect to be immune from the pressures that go with that.
What measures has the Government taken to ensure that front-line public services and entitlements are maintained during the recession?
The Government has taken a measured and considered approach to bringing about change in the public sector. Budget 2009 committed almost $3 billion of extra spending, including record amounts on front-line services in health, education, and law and order. The New Zealand taxpayer will borrow an extra $40 billion over the next 4 years in order to maintain entitlements and public services. However, at the same time, we expect the Public Service to understand that it needs to change in order to deliver faster, smarter, and better public services to thousands of New Zealanders who are dependent on those services.
The main reason it is important is that so many New Zealanders depend on these services. In the context of deficits of $10 billion to $12 billion, the Government expects the Public Service to work with the politicians to get used to the idea that restraint is now permanent, and it is our obligation to the New Zealanders who depend on public services that we think about better ways of doing them. In the last 10 years there was no attempt to do that; in the next 10 years it is the core business of the Public Service.
Chris HipkinsHow can the Minister continue to claim that the Government’s policy is to cap, not cut, the Public Service, when over 1,500 jobs have already been cut from the Public Service, and only yesterday he himself was talking about significant and lasting change to the Public Service? How does he reconcile that with the Prime Minister’s commitment to the Public Service Association conference only last year that the Government would not embark on wholesale restructuring of the Public Service?
The Government has not embarked on wholesale restructuring of the Public Service. It is interesting to listen to the Labour Party and the Public Service Association, because neither of them refers to two pretty important facts. The first is that public services are for the people who use them, not for the people who provide them, and the second is that we have deficits of $10 billion to $12 billion, and 10 years until we get back to surpluses. Everyone has to get used to the idea that there will be less money, and the need for more service.
What feedback has he received from the Public Service leadership about the Government’s demands for better performance?
The Government has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the leadership of the Public Service. Many of those leaders find it a relief that they are actually asked for their opinions. Many of them welcome the opportunity to get rid of the ineffective services and waste of public money that they had to put up with under the previous Government. I am confident that the leaders of the Public Service are up to the challenge we have set them, and I am confident that they believe that this is the right Government to lead them through that challenge.