Leaked file details Govt work plans

Document lays out goals and wins to date but offers no system for gauging progress

Apolitics leaked Government document has revealed a new level of detail on its work programme and achievements to date but no mechanisms for accurately measuring progress.

The document is an appendix to a Cabinet paper on the Government’s priorities, which was released on Sunday when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern set out the Government’s blueprint for the country at an event which drew together the Labour, New Zealand First and Greens leaders.

But the appendix was withheld because it contained policy that had not yet been signed off by Cabinet.

The appendix, which has been leaked to the Herald, contains a list of 133 policies or actions that have already been implemented or flagged since the coalition Government took office after the election last year.

The policies under way or expected to be advanced in the 2018 calendar year include a review of KiwiRail, also flagged by the previous Government; an overhaul of the Biosecurity Act; annual free health checks for seniors, which is a New Zealand First initiative; and the proactive release of the Open Government Strategy.

The document also contains highlevel indicators for defining success, but not for measuring progress.

Indicators for success include “New Zealand’s prosperity grows and is shared more fairly when: The gap between the highest and lowest income and wealth deciles reduces”.

Another is: “The Government aims to build confidence in democratic institutions which can be seen in: Strong trust in government survey results.”

The Cabinet paper says the indicators are intended to define success as opposed to measure activity.

“By tracking and regularly assessing progress against the overall objectives we set ourselves, we will be able to identify the policies that are succeeding, change those that are not working, align our resources with priorities, and get the results we really want for New Zealanders,” it says.

One of the work streams is to develop a broader set of success measures, and includes the Living Standards Framework, Indicators Aotearoa, the Wellbeing Budget and child poverty indicators.

Ardern announced in January that the Government would be scrapping the previous Government’s specifically focused Better Public Service Targets, saying they didn’t give it the systemic change required for the big challenges facing the country.