Part 4: How well the public sector is improving the lives of New Zealanders
Public money is spent on providing support and services that are designed to make a positive difference to New Zealanders. How the Government is improving the lives of New Zealanders is a priority area for our work programme.
The work we will carry out in 2021/22 on better understanding how well the public sector is improving the lives of New Zealanders is focused on:
- improving outcomes for Māori;
- reducing family violence;
- improving housing outcomes;
- improving education outcomes; and
- improving health outcomes.
We describe below the work we will carry out in 2021/22 and work we are considering for 2022/23.
1. Improving outcomes for Māori
The public sector has an important role in building a successful and effective relationship between Māori and the Crown and contributing to improved outcomes for Māori. Public service leaders are required, under the Public Service Act 2020, to develop and maintain the capability of the public service to engage with Māori and understand Māori perspectives.
Our work will focus on how effectively the public sector is contributing to improved outcomes for Māori. There have been many government initiatives and targeted funding for particular issues. We want to understand what has been achieved for the investment that has been made, including the effectiveness of targeted funding. In 2021/22, we also intend to talk with iwi and hapū to gain their perspectives on the outcomes that matter most. We expect the results of this work, alongside the work we have carried out to see what has already been achieved, to inform the choices we will make about where to focus our work.
We will also continue our work on Māori perspectives on accountability, including researching what effective public accountability looks like for Māori. This work builds on our broader programme of work on how the accountability system as a whole is working for New Zealanders.
In 2021/22, we also plan to revisit our 2015 performance audit of Whānau Ora. That audit described what Whānau Ora is, looked at how it was funded, how much had been invested, and how much had been spent. This work will examine how effectively commissioning and delivery organisations are now using the Whānau Ora approach to help whānau achieve positive outcomes.
In 2022/23, we intend to progress work to look specifically at how well public organisations are meeting Tiriti o Waitangi settlement obligations. We might also look at how well public organisations are meeting new requirements in the Public Service Act 2020 to develop and maintain the capability of the public service to engage with Māori and to understand Māori perspectives, and comply with Tiriti obligations more generally.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
|---|
| Understanding how well the public sector is delivering the outcomes that matter for Māori |
| We will carry out work in 2021/22 to identify areas of significant investment targeted toward improving outcomes for Māori and compare that with the results that have been achieved. |
| Māori perspectives on accountability |
| We plan to complete our research project exploring Māori perspectives on what effective public accountability looks like. Our work will give us a better understanding of the range of Māori views and how the public sector can build and maintain the trust of iwi and hapū. This research will build on what we have learned from our previous research into public accountability. It will inform the choices we make about future topics or areas for attention. We intend to publish our research. |
| Whānau Ora: What has been achieved? |
| In 2015, our work was focused on understanding the Whānau Ora approach and what the Government had invested. Revisiting our 2015 performance audit, we will examine how effectively commissioning and delivery agencies use the Whānau Ora approach to help whānau achieve positive outcomes. |
2. Reducing family violence
The Government has identified preventing and eliminating family violence as a priority in the wider effort to improve the well-being of New Zealanders.
In 2018, a cross-government joint venture was set up to work in new ways to reduce "family violence, sexual violence and violence within family/whānau". The role of the joint venture is to help co-ordinate efforts and lead a whole-of-government, integrated response to family violence and sexual violence.
In 2019/20, we started a multi-year programme of work aimed at examining public organisations' performance in achieving reductions in family violence. In 2021/22, we will look at how well agencies involved in the joint venture are working with the non-government sector to deliver services to help people affected by family violence and sexual violence.
In 2022/23, we intend to look at how well interventions are being implemented and service delivery performance more generally.
We intend to continue building our understanding of family violence, its costs to society, and whether the system responds effectively in ways that will lead to significant and sustained reductions. We plan to report at different stages on the results of this work.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
|---|
| Family violence and sexual violence: How well are agencies working together and with the non-government sector to deliver services to address family violence and sexual violence? |
| In 2021/22, we will continue our multi-year programme of work, with a view to examining how well the agencies involved in the joint venture are working together and with the non-government sector to deliver services to address family violence and sexual violence. As part of this work, we expect to look at how public organisations are partnering with organisations delivering services to Māori and how the organisations are developing their capability to engage with Māori and understand Māori perspectives in their work. We envisage that this work will include looking at the effectiveness of work with service providers that support population groups that can find accessing family violence and sexual violence services difficult (for example, Pasifika, people with disabilities, and migrant communities). We expect to use a combination of approaches in carrying out this work (a mix of performance audit, data analysis, and research). |
3. Improving housing outcomes
Adequate and affordable housing is crucial for social and economic well-being. Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the system leader for housing. HUD has embarked on a new "place-based" approach of targeting interventions more closely to regional and local needs. For this to work in practice, central and local government will need to work closely together.
Through our work, we want to gain assurance that HUD is effectively overseeing the housing system. This will involve looking at how HUD uses data and analysis for decision-making and planning. We will also look at how central and local government agencies are working together to deliver positive housing and community outcomes, including for groups at greater risk of poor outcomes. The planning, funding, and implementing of housing and infrastructure projects need to be well aligned to deliver these outcomes.
In 2021/22, we intend to complete performance audits looking at system-level oversight and the planning and implementation of specific housing and urban development projects. These performance audits will focus on HUD, Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities, and other central and local government agencies involved in planning or funding core and social infrastructure. We will seek to understand how efficiently housing projects are being delivered and how agencies are ensuring the quality of that housing.
Given the housing disparities that Māori and Pasifika experience, we will consider how the housing system is working for these communities in each topic of this programme of work.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
|---|
| Effectiveness of Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's leadership of the housing and urban development system |
| Housing is a key determinant of social and economic well-being. New Zealand's housing and urban development system faces significant challenges, especially access to affordable housing. In 2021/22, we will examine how HUD is exercising system leadership and enabling positive outcomes. We want to gain assurance that the oversight of the housing system is effective. We will look at planning, clarity of strategy, how it translates into the selection of interventions, and how HUD monitors and adjusts implementation. We expect to examine governance and how well arrangements support effective interactions between HUD, other central government agencies, and local councils. We will particularly look at how HUD uses data and analysis to inform decision-making and planning. This will include looking at data and trend information for different groups at risk of poor outcomes. |
| Planning of significant housing and urban development projects |
| We will carry out a performance audit looking at how Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities works with other organisations to plan and implement significant housing and urban development projects. We are particularly interested in how effectively central and local government interact on infrastructure planning and implementation, especially given recent announcements of significant additional funding ($3.8 billion) for infrastructure and land development. As part of this work, we will consider how iwi and hapū have been involved in the planning processes, and to what extent projects support positive outcomes for Māori. We will also seek to understand how efficiently housing projects are being delivered and what agencies are doing to ensure the quality of that housing. |
4. Improving education outcomes
Our education system needs to deliver, among other outcomes, workers with the skills that employers need, researchers who innovate, and people who contribute to a diverse and enriched society. To be successful, we need a stable and strong education system that keeps learners engaged, motivated, and able to achieve to the best of their ability.
Some young people do not, or cannot, engage successfully with education. School attendance rates are poor for some, and there are long waits for learning support, particularly early intervention. School exclusion rates are higher for some groups than for others. This has an adverse effect on the adult life of the disadvantaged learner, and on New Zealand overall.
The Ministry of Education is focused on the issues of disadvantage. However, the reasons for educational disadvantage and lack of student engagement are complicated, and education agencies are not the only organisations responsible for finding solutions. Many government-funded strategies, projects, and initiatives aim to address barriers to educational achievement.
Addressing educational disparities
In 2021/22, we will look at aspects of public sector performance in addressing barriers to successful education outcomes for New Zealanders. We will focus initially on what information the Ministry of Education has and how it is using it to understand and determine the reasons for educational disparities. We will consider how the Ministry identifies those learners at risk of disengagement from education and responds to those risks. We will also review how initiatives to address educational disparities for learners are developed and monitored and how the effects on educational outcomes for those learners are measured.
We will use the findings from this work to prioritise further work on disparity of outcomes for particular groups of New Zealand children in 2022/23 and beyond. We expect to review how effectively the Ministry is monitoring, evaluating, and learning from the effects of programmes and initiatives to ensure that students are successfully engaged in education.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
|---|
| How the Ministry of Education is using information to address educational disparities |
| We intend to review how effectively the Ministry of Education is using its information to identify and address inequitable educational outcomes for learners. This includes how the Ministry identifies those learners at risk of disengagement from education and how it responds to those risks. |
5. Improving health outcomes
Much of our planned work related to the Government's response to Covid-19 will involve parts of the health sector. We will closely follow the health reforms as they are implemented. In 2021/22 we also want to look at the investment that the Government has made in strengthening mental health services.
In 2018, He Ara Oranga: Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction noted that 50-80% of New Zealanders will experience mental distress or addiction challenges, or both, in their lifetime. There is some evidence that this proportion is increasing. The report estimates the annual cost of serious mental illness, including addiction, in New Zealand is in the region of $12 billion.3
In Budget 2019, the Government announced $455 million for expanding access and choice of primary mental health and addiction services. We want to understand how the recent government investment has been directed and what has been achieved so far.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
|---|
| Effectiveness of investment in mental health services |
| We intend to identify the significant investment in mental health services in recent years and understand what the purpose of that investment was and how it is being used. We will report on what plans have been developed, how much progress has been made in implementing those plans, and any results achieved to date. This work might also be informed by some analysis of available data to understand what information agencies with responsibilities for mental health services are reporting publicly about improvements in service delivery and outcomes. |
3: Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction (2018), He Ara Oranga: Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction, Wellington.