Outcome: A Higher Performing State Sector that New Zealanders Trust, Delivering Outstanding Results and Value for Money
What are we seeking to achieve?
The quality of expenditure, regulation and other interventions by State sector agencies has a significant impact on the living standards of New Zealanders. It impacts both directly and indirectly on New Zealand's stocks of financial and physical capital, human capital, social capital and natural capital. Given the significant impact it has, the State sector needs to do the right things in the right ways at the right time - and they must be affordable.
The State sector needs to have a clear focus on achieving outstanding results for New Zealanders. Given the limited resources available, the State sector needs to be aligned and organised to achieve a core set of critical, measurable priorities (currently the Better Public Services results). This requires agencies and sectors to proactively work together and collaborate around these priorities. As results do not cover everything an agency needs to achieve, agencies and sectors also need to understand their purpose, what they need to do and be able to demonstrate whether they are achieving their goals in an effective and efficient way.
A key element of achieving a higher performing State sector is leadership; in particular stronger cross-agency leadership of key aspects of the system is required. Leadership is also required to ensure that the State sector continues to deliver services with high levels of integrity and improved levels of trust. Leadership is required to improve the stewardship of agencies and resources. Performance Information Framework (PIF) results have indicated that there is real scope for improvement in leadership and strategic capability.
Services need to be designed with and for those who use them, and organised around their needs and expectations. The Kiwis Count quality score is a high-level indicator of whether the public service is delivering quality services.
The State sector must improve the effectiveness and efficiency of government expenditure and assets. The Government has set a challenge for the State sector to deliver better services within available resources. This will require changes to the way agencies have historically delivered services. It will require continuous improvement and innovation. It will require a different attitude to risk; agencies should seek to manage risk rather than avoid it.
| Measure | Current performance | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Kiwis Count quality score. | The overall satisfaction score for the December 2012 quarter was 72 dropping back to the June 2012 quarter score after a 2-point increase in the September 2012 quarter. The June, September and December scores are the first quarterly results and follow two point-in-time surveys with results of 68 in 2007 and 69 in 2009. | Further improvement in the community experience of the service quality of public services. |
| Better Public Services Results are achieved. |
The Government has set 10 challenging results to be achieved over the next three to five years. For more information on the current status of these result areas, see www.ssc.govt.nz/better-public-services |
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