12. GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) Link to this
to the Minister of State Services
How many front-line Public Service jobs have been created by this Government?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of State Services) Link to this
Every year the State Services Commission conducts a human resource capability survey as at 30 June. The next report, as at 30 June 2009, will be available around October and it should provide us with an indication of the answer to this question. It is the Government’s intention to improve front-line services for New Zealanders.
How is the cutting of more than 200 public sector jobs and the apparent creation of no new so-called front-line public sector jobs consistent with John Key’s promise to shift resources to the front line and to cap, but not cut, public services?
It is the Government’s intention to move resources to the front line. One example might be provided by the information that the Minister of Social Development has passed to me this afternoon, that Work and Income is looking to move 100 staff to bolster front-line services in Auckland. This is on top of the 60 staff who have been moved to help deal with the higher demand in that area as well.
Louise UpstonBetween 1999 and 2008 the Public Service grew by 50 percent. After 9 years of unfocused and unmanaged growth under the previous Government, the new Government has been left with a Public Service that is unbalanced between head-office administrators and front-line services.
Which of these statements is correct: the statement that the Government has no idea how many public sector jobs are to be cut but that it will be less than 4,500, or the statement that under National no public services will be cut? Both statements were made by John Key.
I think there is a difference between public services and the original quote, but, of course, both were from the Prime Minister, who is providing this country’s superb leadership.
Mr SPEAKERDoes the Minister stand by his statement yesterday that the reason the Government is to make an announcement about what it considers to be the core Public Service is that “people have been asking”, and does this mean that the Government has been implementing a policy with no idea of what it actually means?
Does the Minister stand by the answer given on his behalf in this House by Gerry Brownlee, that the core Public Service is “the bit that will not be cut”, and does he think that simply shifting the goalposts is a good way to manage the Public Service?
I think the most important way that we can manage the Public Service is to ensure that we can move front-line services to improve the services that New Zealanders receive from the Public Service. We simply cannot have a 50 percent increase in the size of the Public Service over 9 years and not have the accent on the improved front-line services that New Zealanders would expect.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My question was very specific. It asked the Minister whether he stood by Gerry Brownlee’s statement that the core Public Service is “the bit that will not be cut”. The Minister did not answer that.