Estimates of appropriations

Vote Parliamentary Counsel - Justice Sector - Estimates 2016/2017

Publication type:
Estimates of appropriations
Status:
Superseded
Document (signed) date:
Issue date:
Part of:
Corporate author:
Government of New Zealand
Viewpoint:
Government
Publication category:
Budgets of the government
Copyright:
© Crown Copyright, Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Fiscal year:
2016/17
Budget year:
2016
Budget vote:
Parliamentary Counsel

Formats and related files

APPROPRIATION MINISTER(S): Attorney-General (M5)

APPROPRIATION ADMINISTRATOR: Parliamentary Counsel Office

RESPONSIBLE MINISTER FOR PARLIAMENTARY COUNSEL OFFICE: Attorney-General

Overview of the Vote#

The Attorney-General is responsible for appropriations in Vote Parliamentary Counsel for the 2016/17 financial year covering the following:

  • a total of nearly $18 million for the provision of law drafting services. This includes legislative drafting assistance to Pacific Island nations, undertaking 3-yearly programmes of statute law revision, and administering legislation that the PCO is responsible for
  • a total of $3 million for the provision of access to legislation in both paper and electronic form, and
  • a total of almost $3 million on the purchase or development of assets by and for the use of the Parliamentary Counsel Office, as authorised by section 24 (1) of the Public Finance Act 1989.

Details of these appropriations are set out in Parts 2-4.

Details of Appropriations and Capital Injections#

Annual and Permanent Appropriations#

  2015/16 2016/17
Titles and Scopes of Appropriations by Appropriation Type Final
Budgeted
$000		 Estimated
Actual
$000		 Budget
$000

Departmental Capital Expenditure

      

Parliamentary Counsel Office - Capital Expenditure PLA (M5)

This appropriation is limited to the purchase or development of assets by and for the use of the Parliamentary Counsel Office, as authorised by section 24(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989.		 700 700 2,830

Total Departmental Capital Expenditure

 700 700 2,830

Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure

      

Drafting and Access to Legislation MCA (M5)

The overarching purpose of this appropriation is to provide for the drafting and publishing of legislation for the Government, Parliament, and the public.		 20,801 18,957 20,725
Departmental Output Expenses
      
Access to Legislation
The category is limited to providing free public access to legislation and disclosure statements via the internet, supplying Government Bills and Supplementary Order Papers; publishing and distributing legislation; reprinting legislation with the amendments incorporated.		 3,000 2,500 3,000
Law Drafting Services
This category is limited to drafting legislation, examining and reporting on local Bills and private Bills and drafting amendments to them, providing advice on the drafting of legislation and on disallowable instruments that are not drafted by the PCO, providing legislative drafting assistance to Pacific Island nations, undertaking 3-yearly programmes of statute law revision, and administering the Legislation Act 2012 and any other legislation PCO is responsible for.		 17,801 16,457 17,725

Total Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure

 20,801 18,957 20,725

Total Annual and Permanent Appropriations

 21,501 19,657 23,555

Capital Injection Authorisations#

  2015/16 2016/17
  Final Budgeted
$000		 Estimated Actual
$000		 Budget
$000
Parliamentary Counsel Office - Capital Injection (M5) - - -

Supporting Information#

Part 1 - Vote as a Whole#

This part provides trend information for the vote.

Summary of Financial Activity#

  2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
  Actual
$000		 Actual
$000		 Actual
$000		 Actual
$000		 Final Budgeted
$000		 Estimated
Actual
$000		 Departmental
Transactions
Budget
$000		 Non-
Departmental
Transactions
Budget
$000		 Total
Budget
$000		 Estimated
$000		 Estimated
$000		 Estimated
$000

Appropriations

                        
Output Expenses - - - - - - - - - - - -
Benefits or Related Expenses - - - - - - N/A - - - - -
Borrowing Expenses - - - - - - - - - - - -
Other Expenses - - - - - - - - - - - -
Capital Expenditure 3,502 2,102 726 521 700 700 2,830 - 2,830 2,830 2,830 2,830
Intelligence and Security Department Expenses and Capital Expenditure - - - - - - - N/A - - - -
Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure (MCA)                        
Output Expenses 19,146 19,673 17,291 18,121 20,801 18,957 20,725 - 20,725 20,725 20,725 20,725
Other Expenses - - - - - - - - - - - -
Capital Expenditure - - - - - - N/A - - - - -

Total Appropriations

 22,648 21,775 18,017 18,642 21,501 19,657 23,555 - 23,555 23,555 23,555 23,555

Crown Revenue and Capital Receipts

                        
Tax Revenue - - - - - - N/A - - - - -
Non-Tax Revenue - - - - - - N/A - - - - -
Capital Receipts - - - - - - N/A - - - - -

Total Crown Revenue and Capital Receipts

 - - - - - - N/A - - - - -

Note - where restructuring of the vote has occurred then, to the extent practicable, prior years information has been restated as if the restructuring had occurred before the beginning of the period covered. In this instance Total Appropriations for the Budgeted and Estimated Actual year may not equal Total Appropriations in the Details of Appropriations and Capital Injections.

Adjustments to the Summary of Financial Activity Table Due to Vote Restructuring#

There have been no restructuring adjustments to prior year information in the Summary of Financial Activity table.

Due to changes in the Public Finance Act 1989 from 1 July 2014, the PCO's multi-class output expense appropriation (MCOA) was directly converted into a multi-category appropriation (MCA) as a technical adjustment. This change did not affect the PCO's total appropriation.

The increase in this appropriation in 2016/17 is mainly due to forecasted changes to capital expenditure in the 2015/16 baseline updates that reflected the delay in the commencement of the office refurbishment project. This project will now take place in the 2016/17 financial year.

Part 2 - Details of Departmental Appropriations#

2.3 - Departmental Capital Expenditure and Capital Injections#

Parliamentary Counsel Office - Capital Expenditure PLA (M5)

Scope of Appropriation

This appropriation is limited to the purchase or development of assets by and for the use of the Parliamentary Counsel Office, as authorised by section 24(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989.

Capital Expenditure

  2015/16 2016/17
  Final Budgeted
$000		 Estimated Actual
$000		 Budget
$000
Forests/Agricultural - - -
Land - - -
Property, Plant and Equipment - - 2,500
Intangibles 700 700 330
Other - - -

Total Appropriation

 700 700 2,830

What is Intended to be Achieved with this Appropriation

This appropriation is intended to achieve investment in the renewal and replacement of life-expired assets in support of the delivery of the Parliamentary Counsel Office's services.

How Performance will be Assessed and End of Year Reporting Requirements

Expenditure is in accordance with the PCO's intention to complete an office refurbishment in the 2016/17 financial year and, over the next five years, to complete a number of milestones relating to deepening the content on the NZ Legislation website by adding to the collection and broadening the coverage of the website to provide access to other legislation and information about that legislation.

Performance will be assessed by whether the office refurbishment project has been successfully completed, the NZ Legislation website milestones have been achieved, and expenditure is in accordance with the PCO's strategic and business plans.

End of Year Performance Reporting

Performance information for this appropriation will be reported by the Parliamentary Counsel Office in its Annual Report to be presented in the House.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The increase in this appropriation for 2016/17 is due to:

  • a reduction in forecast capital expenditure was made in the 2015/16 financial year to reflect the delay in the commencement of the PCO's office refurbishment project, which will now take place in the 2016/17 financial year.

Capital Injections and Movements in Departmental Net Assets

Parliamentary Counsel Office
Details of Net Asset Schedule 2015/16
Estimated Actual
$000		 2016/17
Projected
$000		 Explanation of Projected Movements in 2016/17
Opening Balance 15,091 15,091  
Capital Injections - -  
Capital Withdrawals - -  
Surplus to be Retained (Deficit Incurred) - -  
Other Movements - -  

Closing Balance

 15,091 15,091  

Part 4 - Details of Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure#

Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure

Drafting and Access to Legislation (M5)

Overarching Purpose Statement

The overarching purpose of this appropriation is to provide for the drafting and publishing of legislation for the Government, Parliament, and the public.

Scope of Appropriation

Departmental Output Expenses
Access to Legislation
The category is limited to providing free public access to legislation and disclosure statements via the internet, supplying Government Bills and Supplementary Order Papers; publishing and distributing legislation; reprinting legislation with the amendments incorporated.
Law Drafting Services
This category is limited to drafting legislation, examining and reporting on local Bills and private Bills and drafting amendments to them, providing advice on the drafting of legislation and on disallowable instruments that are not drafted by the PCO, providing legislative drafting assistance to Pacific Island nations, undertaking 3-yearly programmes of statute law revision, and administering the Legislation Act 2012 and any other legislation PCO is responsible for.

Expenses, Revenue and Capital Expenditure

  2015/16 2016/17
  Final Budgeted
$000		 Estimated Actual
$000		 Budget
$000

Total Appropriation

 20,801 18,957 20,725

Departmental Output Expenses

      
Access to Legislation 3,000 2,500 3,000
Law Drafting Services 17,801 16,457 17,725

Funding for Departmental Output Expenses

      

Revenue from the Crown

 20,525 18,681 20,525
Access to Legislation 3,000 2,500 3,000
Law Drafting Services 17,525 16,181 17,525

Revenue from Others

 276 276 200
Law Drafting Services 276 276 200

What is Intended to be Achieved with this Appropriation

This appropriation is intended to achieve the provision of high quality legislation that is readily available to all New Zealanders.

How Performance will be Assessed for this Appropriation

Performance for this Appropriation will be assessed through the performance measures listed below. These measures will be reported on in the PCO's Annual Report for 2016/17.

  2015/16 2016/17
Assessment of Performance Final Budgeted
Standard		 Estimated
Actual		 Budget
Standard

The Attorney-General is satisfied that the quality standard, as listed below in Note 1, have been achieved

 The Attorney-General is satisfied The Attorney-General is satisfied The Attorney-General is satisfied

The proportion of select committees we survey that rate the quality and timeliness standards as four or better on a scale of one to five, with one being very dissatisfied and five being very satisfied (see Note 2)

 Select Committees are satisfied Select Committees are satisfied 90%

Note 1

The quality standards are that:

  • the electronic database of Acts (both as enacted and with their amendments incorporated), legislative instruments (both as made and with their amendments incorporated), Bills, and Supplementary Order Papers (SOPs) is up to date
  • Bills, SOPs, Acts of Parliament, and legislative instruments are published to the standard required by Parliament
  • Bills and legislative instruments are legally effective, clear, consistent with other legislation, the general law, and international law
  • Bills and legislative instruments are consistent with the policy they implement, legal principle, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, and the Human Rights Act 1993
  • advice given on matters relating to the provision of legislative drafting services, including advice on legislative drafting, parliamentary procedure, executive government process, and the law, is sound, practical, and clear.

The timeliness standard is that:

  • Bills, legislative instruments, and SOPs are drafted in accordance with time frames set by, or agreed with, the Government, select committees, instructing departments and agencies.

Note 2

The quality standard is that:

  • advice given on matters relating to the provision of legislative drafting services, including explaining the changes made by the revision tracked version of a Bill, is objective, accurate, and sufficient.

The timeliness standard is that:

  • revision tracked documents are provided for the Select Committee in accordance with deadlines set by or negotiated with the committee.

What is Intended to be Achieved with each Category and How Performance will be Assessed

  2015/16 2016/17
Assessment of Performance Final Budgeted
Standard		 Estimated
Actual		 Budget
Standard

Departmental Output Expenses

      

Access to Legislation

      

This category is intended to achieve that New Zealand legislation is readily accessible to the public in a timely manner and in an accurate and authoritative form

      

Free public access to the New Zealand Legislation (NZL) website is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

 99% 99% 99%

Drafting tool availability for the Office of the Clerk and Inland Revenue Department staff (see Note 1)

 92% 99% 92%

Public enquiries are responded to within one working day

 90% 98% 90%

All public enquiries are responded to within five working days

 100% 100% 100%

Amendments will be incorporated within 15 working days of the date of effect of the amendment

 100% 100% 100%

The number of Government Bills supplied to the House and published in the calendar year (see Note 2)

 50-70 (in 2015) 65 (in 2015) -

The number of Supplementary Order Papers (SOPs) supplied to the House and published in the calendar year (see Note 2)

 71-100 (in 2015) 48 (in 2015) -

The number of Acts of Parliament published in the calendar year

 80-120 (in 2015) 122 (in 2015) -

The number of legislative instruments published in the calendar year

 300-400 (in 2015) 323 (in 2015) -

Legislation is published in printed and electronic forms within set timeframes (see Note 3)

 100% 99% 100%

Law Drafting Services

      

This category is intended to achieve the provision of high quality legislative drafting services and advice in a professional, impartial, and responsive manner in delivering the Government's legislation programme

      

All bills on the annual legislative programme in categories 1 and 2 (both of which are Bills that must be passed in the current calendar year) are drafted (see Note 2)

 100% 100% 100%

Government Bills drafted and amended in the calendar year (see Note 2)

 50-70 (in 2015) 65 (in 2015) -

Legislative instruments drafted in the calendar year (see Note 2)

 300-400 (in 2015) 323 (in 2015) -

The proportion of instruction departments and agencies we survey that rate the quality and timeliness standards, as listed below in Note 4, as four or better on a scale of one to five, with one being very dissatisfied and five being very satisfied

 90% 90% 90%

Pacific Island instructors are satisfied that the quality and timeliness standards, as listed in Note 5, have been achieved as determined by survey responses from relevant Pacific Island instructors

 Pacific Island instructors are satisfied Pacific Island instructors are satisfied Pacific Island instructors are satisfied

Proportion of Bills drafted by the PCO and introduced that are peer reviewed (see Notes 6 and 7)

 80% 95% 97%

Proportion of legislative instruments drafted by the PCO and submitted to Cabinet that are peer reviewed (see Notes 6 and 7)

 80% 95% 97%

Proportion of Bills drafted by the PCO and introduced that are proofread (see Note 8)

 97% 90% 97%

Proportion of legislative instruments drafted by the PCO and submitted to Cabinet that are proofread (see Note 8)

 97% 100% 97%

In regards to the 3-yearly revision programme, the Attorney-General is satisfied that the quality and timeliness standards, as listed below in Note 9, have been achieved

 The Attorney-General is satisfied The Attorney-General is satisfied The Attorney-General is satisfied

In regards to the 3-yearly revision programme, relevant instructing departments and agencies are satisfied that the quality and timeliness standards, as listed below in Note 10, have been achieved

 Instructing departments and agencies are satisfied Instructing departments and agencies are satisfied Instructing departments and agencies are satisfied

Some performance measures above have had minor wording changes since the Estimates of Appropriations 2015/16.

Note 1 - A 100% budget standard is not appropriate as system outages are required for planned upgrades.

Note 2 - The measure of quantity is demand driven and will vary from year to year.

Note 3 - The measure of timeliness is that the following will be available on the New Zealand Legislation (NZL) website within one working day:

  • all new Government Bills introduced into the House
  • after the printed version is made available to the House, all subsequent versions of Bills
  • after they have been circulated to Members of Parliament, all SOPs
  • after they are notified in the New Zealand Gazette, all legislative instruments

within five working days:

  • of introduction or release, all Government Bills and SOPs are published
  • of assent, all Acts are available on the NZL website
  • of being made, all legislative instruments are published

within ten working days:

  • of assent, all Acts are published.

Note 4 - The quality standards are that:

  • the legislation produced is drafted as clearly and simply as possible
  • the legislation produced is legally effective
  • the instructing department or agency is satisfied with the final product
  • advice on legislative drafting matters is provided in a professional, impartial, and responsive manner.

The timeliness standard is that:

  • drafts of legislation are produced within agreed deadlines.

Note 5 - The quality standard is that:

  • advice given on matters relating to the provision of legislative drafting services is objective, accurate, and sufficient.

The timeliness standard is that:

  • legislation is provided to Pacific Island instructors in accordance with agreed deadlines.

Note 6 - The quality standards for peer reviewing are that:

  • Government Bills drafted by the PCO are reviewed for their legal effectiveness, workability, compliance, structure and readability before introduction
  • legislative instruments drafted by the PCO are reviewed for their legal effectiveness, workability, compliance, structure, and readability before being submitted to Cabinet.

Note 7 - There are some instances when peer review of legislative instruments is not required. These include:

(a) single date commencement orders (if not revoking a commencement order and replacing it with a new commencement order)

(b) levies and fees if the change relates to figures only

(c) Ministerial notices that are pro forma (no choice regarding wording)

(d) class notices.

Note 8 - The quality standards for proofreading legislation are that:

  • Government Bills drafted by the PCO are proofread before introduction
  • legislative instruments drafted by the PCO are proofread before being submitted to Cabinet.

Note 9 - The quality standards for the 3-yearly revision programme is that:

  • all certified revision Bills and their accompanying certificates have been provided to the Attorney-General in accordance with S.33 of the Legislation Act 2012.

The timeliness standard is that:

  • legislation, as outlined in the agreed 3-yearly revision programme, is drafted within agreed time frames.

Note 10 - The quality standards for the 3-yearly revision programme are that:

  • the legislation produced is drafted as clearly and simply as possible
  • the legislation produced is legally effective
  • the revision Bill does not change the effect of the law, except as authorised by section 31(2)(I) or (j) of the Legislation Act 2012.

The timeliness standard is that:

  • legislation, as outlined in the agreed 3-yearly revision programme, is drafted within agreed time frames.

End of Year Performance Reporting

Performance information for this appropriation will be reported by Parliamentary Counsel Office in its Annual Report to be presented in the House.

Current and Past Policy Initiatives

Policy Initiative Year of
First
Impact		 2015/16
Final Budgeted
$000		 2016/17
Budget
$000		 2017/18
Estimated
$000		 2018/19
Estimated
$000		 2019/20
Estimated
$000
Efficiency savings which includes the costs for employer contributions for KiwiSaver and SSRSS 2012/13 (628) (628) (628) (628) (628)

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The decrease in this appropriation for 2016/17 is due to a forecasting change to departmental revenue to reflect discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade relating to a longer term funding arrangement for the Pacific Island desk based within the PCO.