Vote Finance Output Class Performance

Statement of Objectives and Service Performance
Section 45A of the Public Finance Act 1989

This section provides information about the outputs (services and activities) that the Treasury provided during the 2007/08 financial year.

Descriptions of the Treasury's six output classes follow, along with some significant highlights of the 2007/08 year.

Through introducing results specification to all areas of our work we are endeavouring to develop better measures of performance. Detailed service performance standards for all output classes can be found on page 43.

Policy Advice: State Sector Performance

This class of outputs involves the provision of policy advice related to ensuring the work of the State sector represents value for money in achieving the Government's aims and objectives. This includes advice on:

• fiscal and financial management of all government agencies
• specific agency or entity performance (including Crown entities, Crown companies, Crown financial institutions and SOEs)
• in-depth performance analysis of priority agencies or sectors
• the overall performance of the public management system including thematic and cross-cutting analysis, eg, CAM.

The Treasury is seeking to differentiate the level of advice and service routinely provided on, or to, different government agencies and sectors. Those agencies and sectors judged priorities will be a focus for the Treasury's advice and services. Priority agencies and sectors will be significant for State sector performance, fiscal management or economic performance.

For all departments and votes, the Treasury's advice and services will include:

• management of core government Budget processes
• efficient support of good financial management and probity within agencies
• maintaining an informed overview to foresee significant emerging financial or performance risks.

For priority sectors and agencies, the Treasury's advice will extend to in-depth performance analysis, including a focus on the most efficient and effective policies, regulation, administration and delivery to achieve the Government's aims and objectives.

Empirical and analytical research will also be undertaken as required to inform the above policy advice.

Significant Work Completed During 2007/08

• Developed capability to understand the drivers of State sector performance and how to influence them.
• Introduced a new CAM approach which is being progressively implemented, starting with the capital-intensive agencies, and which will deliver better value and performance over time.
• Led the work on the deed of settlement signed with the Central North Island iwi collective.
• Contributed to cross-agency advice to Ministers to progress the Government's Schools Plus agenda: helping to ensure that all young people are in education, skills development or structured learning, relevant to their needs and abilities, until the age of 18.
• As part of a multi-agency team, analysed housing market issues and possible policy implications, in particular around affordability.
• Together with other Central Agencies, provided Ministers with appropriate over-arching messaging and risk-mitigation strategies for managing industrial relations and remuneration risks.
• Effectively managed our input into the Budget process across all our Vote responsibilities to the satisfaction of Ministers.

* General service performance standards are detailed on page 43.

Actual 2007/08 output class expenditure was $714,000 or 5% under Supplementary Estimates budgets. This output class belongs to a multi-output class appropriation.

The appropriation for this output class was decreased by $4,384,000 in the Supplementary Estimates. This decrease was largely due to changes in forecast assumptions, as a result of the 2007/08 Main Estimates being prepared prior to implementation of the Treasury's Stepping Up change programme.