Statement of Intent 2008-2011

Statement of Intent of the State Services Commission for years 2008-2011.

Published on 21 May 2008. To download or print, see the PDF under 'Related resources.'

Foreword: Minister of State Services

The State Services Commission's focus will continue to be on leading and lifting the performance of the State Services to achieve the Government's objectives.

With the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Treasury, the State Services Commission (SSC) is now providing leadership and coordination to the Development Goals for the State Services, which describe how State Services agencies will deliver on the Government's objectives. The goals set a framework for performance improvements across the State Services, and a key deliverable for SSC is to continue to monitor and report progress against the goal milestones.

In addition to monitoring progress against the goals, SSC has begun another important piece of work to understand the quality of New Zealanders' experience of their interactions with government. I expect that the results of the survey published this year will be an important benchmark for State servants to measure their performance against, to ensure increased improvement from one survey to the next.

My other expectation is that SSC will have a particular focus on ensuring the newDevelopment Goal, Value-for-Money State Services, is firmly embedded into the performance work of the central agencies - and that this translates into all State Services agencies making more effective and effi cient use of their resources. Some State Services agencies are joining up to better utilise existing resources, through initiatives such as consolidated recruitment advertising, greater use of the jobs.govt.nz website, and increasing the use of video conferencing to reduce travel costs and carbon emissions. SSC will continue to work with the Treasury to encourage an increased focus across the State sector on leases and premises costs.

SSC will also continue to exercise its statutory roles of appointing and performance managing Public Service chief executives, and its stewardship of standards of integrity and conduct in the State Services.

This Statement of Intent sets out the ways the State Services Commission will contribute to the Government's priorities over the medium term. It identifies key areas of work as well as performance information that will enable progress to be monitored. It also allows sufficient flexibility to address changes in priorities and to address emerging priorities as they become apparent.

As the Responsible Minister, I am satisfied that the Statement of Intent 2008-2011 is consistent with the policies and performance expectations of the Government.

Hon David Parker, Minister of State Services
April 2008.

Introduction: State Services Commissioner

The State Services Commission (SSC) has an important role in New Zealand's public management system. In conjunction with the other two central agencies - the Treasury and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet - SSC is responsible for taking an all-of-government view and working across the system to lift overall performance and improve the delivery of services to New Zealanders.

SSC's focus over the next three years is on lifting the overall performance and delivery of the State Services through the Development Goals programme, with a particular focus on New Zealanders' experience of their interactions with government. The Development Goals for the State Services provide a framework for a transformed State Services, setting goals and milestones for all State servants to improve our overall performance.

State Services agencies touch the lives of all New Zealanders. It is important that New Zealanders receive services that meet their needs and represent value for money. In April this year, SSC released Kiwis Count, the first comprehensive report on New Zealanders' experiences of State Services and resources. This report will be the first of several to ensure we benchmark our performance, and that we continue to improve over time and better meet the needs and expectations of the New Zealand public.

In 2008/09, SSC will integrate the information drawn from Kiwis Count into its performance management of Public Service chief executives. Working with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Treasury, SSC will continue to exert a leadership role across the State Services to ensure that supporting programmes of work, like employee engagement surveys and tools to measure customer satisfaction, are adopted by the State sector, enabling better performance across government agencies over time.

SSC will continue to deliver on its core responsibilities - to appoint and performance manage Public Service chief executives, set standards of behaviour for State servants and provide guidance to agencies around the Standards of Integrity and Conduct, provide advice to Ministers on the public management system, and conduct enquiries as and when required. This Statement of Intent describes how SSC will go about its work over the next three years. It outlines the nature and scope of SSC's functions, explains what SSC is trying to achieve and why, and describes the main measures and targets that SSC intends to use to assess its progress.

Mark Prebble, State Services Commissioner
April 2008