the department of internal affairs Statement Of Intent 2010–13

Improved State sector performance and better service experience

 

What we seek to achieve

This is a new outcome for the Department, developed to reflect our increasing role in supporting other State sector agencies to deliver better services cost-effectively. It incorporates the two departmental objectives described in previous Statements of Intent: Common ICT services deliver improved State sector performance and better citizen experience; and Executive Government is well supported.

The activities undertaken by the State sector make up a large proportion of the New Zealand economy, and the services it delivers significantly affect the lives of people in a variety of ways. The performance of the State sector can therefore impact the economy directly, as well as helping to achieve government expectations of a coordinated approach to the delivery of better ‘citizen-focused’ services at less cost.

The State sector faces changing consumer expectations about how public services should be delivered, and how information collected and held by government agencies should be used. In addition, there is an increasing recognition of the importance of the ‘infrastructure’ of New Zealand’s system of government in enhancing the overall performance of the State sector, and in building trust in government.

Through our work in this area, we seek to contribute to more efficient, effective and coordinated government, trusted and accessible State sector services and more effective and efficient service delivery. Along with New Zealand’s central agencies (the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Treasury, and the State Services Commission), we will seek to maximise our contribution to ensuring the State sector is able to provide better, smarter services. We will work with other agencies to share with them the expert capability within the Department that is relevant to the services they provide. We also work to ensure a common approach to shared challenges in order to reduce unnecessary duplication of costs and capture the economies of scale available when agencies work together.

The intermediate outcomes that support improved State sector performance and better service experience are:

• Efficient, effective and coordinated government
• Trusted and accessible State sector services
• Efficient and effective State sector service delivery.

Specifically, we seek to:

• support coordinated government activities
• improve the capability of government agencies
• contribute to a smooth-running Executive Government
• foster understanding and collaboration between central and local government
• encourage government services to be more accessible to ethnic and other communities
• enable the efficient delivery of government information and services via the Internet
• deliver cost-effective ICT services across government.

What we will do to achieve this

The Department’s key contributions to achieving this outcome are outlined below.

Build capability

We enhance the operational capability of the State sector or, in some cases, government as a whole. Our main areas of focus are on developing and delivering common ICT capability across government in the areas of communications and network services, ICT infrastructure, government online capability, and interoperability, authentication and security.

We will build capability in operational regulatory and compliance functions across the State sector and local government by leading the development of nationally recognised qualifications and training (with Learning State) and the development of better practice information that supports compliance organisations in the efficient and effective implementation of regulation.

We will support agencies to be responsive to the needs of ethnic and other communities in the development and delivery of services to those communities by providing them with diversity management tools and advice. We will also facilitate the development of good relationships between community and government through the provision of advice and access to services at our regional offices. The impacts of these initiatives on communities are described more fully in the ‘Strong, sustainable communities, hapū and iwi’ outcome narrative.

We will also help develop the Government’s crisis management capability, for example by the management and maintenance of the National Crisis Management Centre facilities that support the all-of-government response to emergencies. The impacts of these initiatives are described more fully in the ‘Safer communities’ outcome narrative.

Our work includes providing advice to Ministers on supporting the performance of the Crown entities for which we have monitoring accountabilities (that is, the New Zealand Fire Service Commission, the Office of Film and Literature Classification, and the Charities Commission).

Support coordinated government activities

In a variety of ways the Department coordinates aspects of government activity. At a national level, the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management coordinates policy, planning, response and recovery for civil defence emergencies.

To support coordinated government activities, the Department works with a wide range of agencies and has ‘shared outcomes’ which are achieved in cooperation with these agencies. The number of shared outcome frameworks is likely to increase in future as the State sector focuses on delivering services that are effective and efficient. Currently the Department contributes to a shared outcome framework for the border sector (refer to the box ‘Border sector performance framework’ on page 33). A particular focus for 2010 will be the re-use and integrity of identity credentials, and the quality and richness of identity data provided to support the border activities.

Well-supported Executive Government

The Department is the agency responsible for the administrative services and processes that underpin an efficient and effective Executive Government. Our direct contribution is to provide a range of day-to-day support services to Members of the Executive. A particular focus is to improve the delivery of ICT services to Members of the Executive, in conjunction with the Parliamentary Service. We also facilitate the effective running of Inquiries, and publish the New Zealand Gazette, the Government’s ‘newspaper’.

The Department manages guest-of-government and ceremonial events sponsored by Ministers. These events contribute indirectly to the outcomes of other agencies, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

A particular focus for the Department until 2011/12 is the ambitious guest-of-government and State functions programme associated with the 2011 Rugby World Cup. This programme will provide the Government with the opportunity to showcase New Zealand and to progress trade and economic relationships. We are in the planning phase for this event, in collaboration with a number of other agencies including the Ministry of Economic Development, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Ministry of Tourism.

Provide accessible and cost-effective services

We contribute to the efficient delivery of government services by providing common ICT capabilities, expert advice and managed services to other government agencies. We deliver consistent, user-centric authentication and identity management which builds public trust and confidence to transact with agencies online, and contributes to growth in demand for online services.

We will also develop and implement initiatives that enable State sector agencies to electronically confirm that the identity documents presented to access their services are consistent with those held by the Department of Internal Affairs. This results in decreasing reliance on physical documentation, increasing the quality of data, and minimising identity fraud in the State sector. The impact of these initiatives on the end users of our identity services is described more fully in the ‘New Zealand’s approach to identity is trusted and well led’ outcome narrative.

We are already a centre of expertise in relation to ICT procurement, in particular desktops and multi-functional devices. The Department is looking at ways to leverage purchasing power through economies of scale for ICT procurement across government agencies.

We will continue to provide the telephone interpreting service Language Line, which offers clients of the participating agencies free interpreting in 40 languages. Language Line ensures ethnic communities have equity of access to government information. In 2009, over 70 agencies were participating in the Language Line service, and we expect this to be extended with a focus on health and justice.

Our outputs and activities

In addition to the above contributions, we will continue to deliver the following services:

• Provision of an ethnic responsiveness framework
• National level capability and coordination of government activity for the management of civil defence emergencies
• Crown entity monitoring and advice
• Support services for Members of the Executive
• Managing guest-of-government and commemorative events programmes
• Publishing the New Zealand Gazette
• Managed ICT services and common ICT capabilities
• Managing igovt services
• Data Validation Service
• Evidence of Identity Standard
• Language Line
• Policy advice.

The services are funded through the following outputs:

Vote	Outputs
Internal Affairs	Government technology services Identity services Information and advisory services Commissions of Inquiry (support) Advisory and information services to ethnic communities Ethnic affairs policy advice
Ministerial Services	Support services to Members of the Executive VIP transport Visits and official events coordination
Emergency Management	Management of national emergency readiness, response and recovery Emergency management policy advice
Community and Voluntary Sector	Community policy advice
Local Government	Local Government Commission advice and support Local Government policy advice

Further detail of the Department’s outputs can be found in the Information Supporting the Estimates for 2010/11.

How we will measure success

The main measures and standards to assess our progress towards achieving the impacts and outcomes are identified below. The impact measures seek to describe the intended effect of our specific activities. The outcome measures describe what we seek to achieve at a high level. The standards described for the outcomes are intended as a general guide and cannot be solely attributable to the Department’s work. The results are subject to a wide range of influences and will be carefully analysed to inform decision making on our future interventions.

Outcome measure	Context and desired standard
Percentage of New Zealanders that agree that their most recent service experience with a State sector agency met their expectations	2007/08: 66% This measure will help reflect progress towards improving State sector performance and providing a better service experience. The above result provides a benchmark for the sector to assess its service delivery and performance. Source: Kiwis Count Survey
Percentage of New Zealanders that agree that their most recent service experience with a State sector agency was an example of good value for tax dollars spent	2007/08: 55% This measure will help reflect progress towards improving State sector performance and providing a better service experience. The above result provides a benchmark for the sector to assess its service delivery and performance. Source: Kiwis Count Survey

Impact measure	Context and desired standard
Percentage of stakeholders that agree that the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management has provided their organisations with relevant advice on how to increase New Zealand’s resilience at 4 or greater on a scale of 1 to 5, as measured by stakeholder surveys	2008/09: 59% This measure will help us determine the impact of our work to improve the capability of government agencies. Over the medium to long term, we will seek to maintain or improve on the previous year’s results identified above. Source: DIA annual stakeholder survey
Percentage of government department stakeholders that agree that MCDEM has supported their risk reduction activities	This is a new measure that will commence from 2010/11. This measure will help us determine the impact of our work to improve the capability of government agencies. Following the first survey, a desired standard will be developed and, over the medium to long term, we will seek to maintain or improve these results. Source: DIA annual stakeholder survey
Percentage of stakeholders that rank their satisfaction with the national level arrangements for civil defence emergencies (indicated with a score of 4 or above out of 5)	2008/09: 79% This measure will help us determine the impact of our work to coordinate government activities in the civil defence and emergency management area. Over the medium to long term, we will seek to maintain or improve on the previous year’s results identified above. Source: DIA annual stakeholder survey
Percentage of stakeholders that consider that MCDEM has enhanced the national level arrangements for the management of civil defence emergencies over the last year	This is a new measure which will help us determine the impact of our work to coordinate government activities in the civil defence and emergency management area. Following the first survey, a desired standard will be developed and, over the medium to long term, we will seek to maintain or improve these results. Source: DIA annual stakeholder survey
Percentage of respondents to a customer survey who are satisfied that ethnic affairs advice received helped them achieve their purpose	2008/09: 87% This measure will provide an indication of the Department’s impact on providing accessible government services to ethnic and other communities. Over the medium to long term, we will seek to maintain or improve on the previous year’s results identified above. Source: DIA survey
Ministerial satisfaction with services provided to Members of the Executive	2008/09: 95.5% This measure provides an indication of the contribution that the services and infrastructure provided make to the smooth running of Executive Government. Over the medium to long term, we will seek to maintain or improve on the previous year’s results identified above. Source: DIA survey
Percentage of visit programmes that achieve visit objectives	2008/09: 100% This measure provides an indication of the extent to which visit content, logistics and other arrangements contribute to the success of specified visit objectives, thereby supporting Executive Government. Over the medium to long term, we will seek to maintain the previous year’s results identified above. Source: DIA survey
Rate of return on common ICT capability investment	This is a new measure. It contributes to assessing our impact on improved cost-effectiveness of ICT across government, by ensuring that only new common ICT capabilities that demonstrate positive returns are invested in. Over the medium to long term, we seek positive rates of return on new common ICT capability investment. Source: Business case/investment logic mappings and post-implementation reviews on a case-by-case basis.
Use of common ICT services across the State sector	This is a new measure. It contributes to our impact on improved cost-effectiveness of ICT across government. As uptake of those services increases, the unit cost of providing those services decreases (i.e. economies of scale). Over the medium to long term, we seek increased usage of common ICT services across the State sector. Source: Customer service usage profiles
Government services being delivered and used via the online channel	This is a new measure. It contributes to our impact on improved delivery of government services via the online channel, by making more services available for public use. Over the medium to long term we seek an increase in the number and/or scope of government services being delivered and used via the online channel. Source: AUT survey.
User satisfaction with government’s online presence	This is a new measure. It contributes to our impact on improved delivery of government services via the online channel, by improving the quality of services being delivered via the online channel. Over the medium to long term, we seek an increase in user satisfaction with government’s online presence. Source: Kiwis Count Survey

Return to Top