Evolution of Public Service Model

1865 public service model

Run directly by ministers

Limitations of 1865 public service model (3)

Led to political appointments

Lacked coordination

Employee loyalty to a specific minister rather than system

1866 public service model

Introduced exams for staff

1866 public service model limitation

Ministers could bypass exam by appointing ‘temporary’ employees

1912 public service model

Public Service Act granted assent

Created an independent public service model

Introduced Public Service Commissioner

Purpose of Public Service Commissioner

To break the link between ministers and individual staff members

Longevity of of 1912 public service model

72 years

Public service employees 1983

66,000

Core public service principles pre-1984

Apolitical

Independent

Generality

Anonymity

Single service

Ministerial responsibility

Key 1984 event causing constitutional and financial turning point

Muldoon’s Schnapps’ election

What did NZ seek soon after the Schnapps’ election?

Within weeks, they sought a bail out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Consequences of an IMF bailout

Compromise of sovereign control over policy as they impose strict cuts and restrictions on the borrowing state

Who regulates the IMF?

International Board of Governors

Core principles and goals of public service reform

Efficiency

Coordination

Reduction of state functions

Accountability

Mission-driven

Administration transformation period

Post-1984

Legislative pillars of the administrative/public sector transformation

SOE Act 1986

State Services Act 1988

Public Finance Act 1989

Public Service Act 2020

SOE Act 1985

Removed commercial entities from the public service and established them as SOEs

State Services Act 1988

Introduced business management principles

Broke up the single public service into ministries and departments 

Public Finance Act 1989

Extreme transparency

Corporate-like financial targets

Public Service Act 2020

Replaced the 1988 act to address encourage cooperation across government

Public Service Act 2020 key statutory purposes

Created a formal mission statement for the public service (S12)

Public Service Act 2020 principles

Political neutrality

Open government

Stewardship

Public Service Act 2020 S12 revisions

Removed that the chief executive should act in "spirit of service to the community" 

Structure of current public sector

Central services

Ministries

SOEs

Crown entities

Hughes on the shift

Rigid, hierarchical, bureaucratic form of public administration to flexible, market-based public management

NPM

New Public Management model introduced post-1984

NPM in NZ v international

In NZ, NPM model adopted was considered a particularly extreme version

Decoupling

Separation of different governmental roles into individual agencies to avoid generalist departments 

Three-tier model for decoupling

Strategy and policy

Administration

Provision and delivery

Limitation of three-tier decoupling model

Sometimes messy as some entities are run directly by the department rather than external contractors

Public Service Commission purpose

Vital buffer between Ministers and CEOs, maintaining independence

Role of Public Service Commission in appointments

Employer of CEOs

Cabinet can reject a candidate but not choose own candidate

What does the Public Service Commission do concerning performance monitoring?

Commission measures the success and effectiveness of CEOs based on performance plans 

Has the power to remove a CEO if they fail to achieve targets 

New Public Management Model pillars

Inputs

Outcomes

Outputs

Chief executive accountability

Measured against outputs, not outcomes but outcomes are influenced by factors outside of their control

Statement accountability model

Plans or statements used to set an expectation of performance

Organisational variations of goal setting accountability models

Statements of intent

Statement of corporate intent

Statement of intent authors

Crown entities

Corporate statements of intent authors

SOEs

Elements of success for technical accountability

Efficiency

Objective focus

Independence

Structural and ethical problems of technical accountability

Cost of control

Politicisation of the public service

Case study on the politicisation of the public service

Ashley Bloomfield, director-General of Health

During the COVID-19 response, she became a highly visible figure 

Downside of technical accountability

Target-centred focus