Public service cutbacks sorry state of affairs

Cutbacks and restraint are common subjects in workplaces across the country, but news of a public sector boss dipping into his own pocket to pay for work travel, and staff at another ministry proposing bring-your-own-plate meetings, is a new low.

All government departments are on a mission to cut spending by 6.5 to 7.5 per cent before the coalition Government’s first Budget in May.

On the face of it, it’s hard to argue against the request to rein in spending. In the six years the previous Labour Government was in power, the public service workforce grew by about a third.

BusinessDesk reported that, in June 2017, there was the fulltime equivalent (FTE) of about 47,000 public servants — in the following six years, an additional 16,000, or 34 per cent, were added.

Cost-cutting efforts are already well under way across departments, but information released to the Herald shows for some, those staff numbers simply need to be reduced.

Stats NZ has paused recruitment, reduced leave liability, moved into shared office space, introduced travel restrictions and extended the summer closedown period. It’s still facing a budget overspend of approximately $10.4 million and has told workers “current staffing levels are unsustainably high”. Job cuts are clearly needed.

For others however, minor tinkering only serves to make our public sector a less attractive place to work, risking driving more talent offshore.

When you think of largesse in the public sector, you think of the $40,000 spent on a lavish farewell for the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ boss. You don’t think about public servants drinking plunger coffee in the staff kitchen, sausage rolls at staff meetings and accommodation for work trips.

Yet it’s these things that staff themselves at the Ministry of Transport are suggesting senior leadership consider to trim bottom lines. Bring-your-own-plate meetings, staying with friends rather than in hotels when travelling for work. The Ministry of Social Development has got rid of plunger coffee from the staff kitchen to save $70,000 a year.

Oranga Tamariki chief executive Chappie Te Kani is paying for his own flights to get around the country to inform staff of potential job cuts.

It’s hard to believe this frugality is the kind of cost-cutting Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wanting when it comes to “restoring discipline” to taxpayer spending.

Where is the leadership to ensure our public sector is trimmed where the bloat exists, while protecting a workforce that’s crucial to upholding the highest standards for society?

Perhaps it’s been lost in the confusion surrounding what counts as a frontline service.

During the election campaign, National promised only to target backroom jobs with cost cuts and to protect frontline services. Willis, however, will not define what a frontline service is, saying: “We haven’t gone through the exercise of defining that for all 39 agencies.”

What a sorry state of affairs when we’ve got workers paying from their own pocket to do their job due to a lack of direction from above.