The Productivity Commission completed its inquiry into state sector productivity and produced two final reports – one focused on measuring productivity, the other on improving public sector productivity in 2018.
What did the inquiry find?#
- State sector productivity isn’t regularly measured because there is little demand from state sector leaders for measurement, therefore little effort is put into building the capability to measure.
- Budget and performance management processes don’t reward productivity improvement.
- There are some promising developments, particularly in the use of data and evidence to better understand the effectiveness of programmes.
- Innovation is the key to improving productivity but state sector organisations often lack the characteristics that encourage innovation.
What did the Commission recommend?#
The Treasury, State Services Commission, ministers and government agency chief executives all have roles to play in:
- setting clearer expectations for productivity gain
- building capability to measure
- reporting on core public service efficiency
- raising the bar on the quality of new spending proposals in the budget
- funding results and outcomes rather than inputs.
The state sector needs to build agencies’ capability to measure productivity.
Evaluation#
An independent evaluation of the Commission's performance was undertaken to understand whether the inquiry had the right focus, the right process, whether the engagement and delivery of message was effective, and analysis, findings and recommendations were of high quality.
Timeline#
- Terms of reference - 1 June 2017
- Consultation and engagement
- Issues paper - 27 July 2017
- Submissions closed 8 September 2017
- Draft report - 14 December 2017
- Submissions closed 1 March 2018
- Final report - 17 August 2018
- Evaluation - September 2018
- Government response - 27 February 2019
Key documents#
Final report and Government response#
| Doc. Date Sort ascending | Creator | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Government of New Zealand | ||
| New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
| New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
| New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
| New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
| New Zealand Productivity Commission |
Terms of reference and issues paper#
| Doc. Date Sort ascending | Creator | Title |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
| Minister of Finance |
Case studies#
| Doc. Date | Creator | Title Sort descending |
|---|---|---|
| Genet, Terry | ||
| Green, Nicholas | ||
| Moore, Sandra; Hayward, Mike | ||
| Genet, Terry; Hayward, Mike |
Research#
| Doc. Date | Creator | Title Sort descending |
|---|---|---|
| Pickens, David | ||
| Knopf, Elizabeth | ||
| Soligo, James | ||
| Middleton, Lesley; Dunn, Phoebe; O'Loughlin, Claire; Cumming, Jacqueline (Jackie) | ||
| Fraser, Huon; Nolan, Patrick |
Research (externally hosted)
- Nov 2019 | Gemmell, Norman; Nolan, Patrick; Scobie,Grant | Estimating Quality-Adjusted Productivity In Tertiary Education: Methods and Evidence for New Zealand - Working Paper 17/2017 - Victoria University Wellington
- Oct 2018 | Dasgupta, Kabir; Pacheco, Gail | Health Care Homes: Early Evidence in Wellington - New Zealand Policy Research Institute - AUT
- Oct 2017 | Plimmer, Geoff ; Cantal, Clara; Qumseya, Tamara | Staff perceptions of performance and effectiveness in the New Zealand State Sector - Victoria University Wellington
Draft report#
| Doc. Date Sort ascending | Creator | Title |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand Productivity Commission |
Submissions#
Public submissions on issues paper - Measuring and improving state sector productivity
Public submissions on draft report - Measuring and improving state sector productivity
Evaluation#
| Doc. Date Sort ascending | Creator | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Horn, Murray | ||
| Spencer, Kathy | ||
| New Zealand Productivity Commission |