He maroro kokati ihu waka

01/07/2022

A small warning.

I am writing a journal article on public-sector reform and why many reform programmes fail.

It follows a panel discussion I was part of early this year. IPANZ and Deloitte hosted it. Deloitte was calling attention to their 2022 State of the State report. The report found that the public sector in Aotearoa is undergoing reform on a scale not seen in decades. As such the panel discussion centred on whether with so much reform in progress across so many sectors, it’s possible to mitigate the negative impacts of change on people, whānau, families, communities, and businesses.

My remarks won’t surprise senior public servants or the team leaders on the frontlines of Aotearoa’s public service: successive governments have attempted to do too much, too quickly and without paying sufficient attention to the ‘do-ability’ of their policies.

Why?

Well, I offered several hypotheses, all of which are being fleshed out in the draft journal article.

Firstly, weak parliamentary oversight, including inadequate scrutiny of legislation. The problem here is both vulnerable party-political systems and the failure of select committees to come to grips with their role and challenge the quality of advice as well as the quality of the regulatory impact statements.

Secondly, a high turnover of both ministers and senior officials. My journal article looks at high rates of restructuring within and between agencies. It’s much higher than I expected it to be.

Thirdly, a culture of haste and determination to ‘deliver’. Responsiveness is a positive aspect of our public management system but is also a weakness. The ‘Minister-as-client’ focus potentially displaces the need to improve programmes continuously – even if they are the policies of a former minister or previous administration. My journal article looks at the link between serving ministers and efficiency and effectiveness in delivering core business. Hint: they are not positively correlated.

Finally, something I am calling political hyperactivity. This is when politicians individually and collectively gain ‘points’ from making announcements for their own sake. There is a peculiar over-willingness and arrogance among our political elite (all sides) to announce new policies rather than seek continuous improvement and focus on the medium to long term.

Our public service is a complex system, and you cannot move one part without reshaping or putting pressure on another part. Unless a party carefully plans its policy pipeline with ‘do-ability’ in mind, each policy in isolation is doomed for expensive failure.