Part 4: Our proposed work programme
Download a summary of our draft 2021/22 work programme.
The planning we carried out in 2020/21 resulted in a programme of work organised around five key areas, which are linked to our medium-term strategy.
1. Providing assurance to Parliament and the public on the Covid-19 response and recovery
In our Annual plan 2020/21, we set out a programme of work designed to provide clear and independent information to Parliament and the public about the effectiveness of the Government’s response to Covid-19. In 2021/22, we intend to continue this work, with a specific focus on evaluating the centralised response, the vaccination roll-out, and reviewing the value for money of significant areas of Covid-19-related spending.
2. How well is the public sector 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 key area for our work programme.
We intend to continue focusing our work on issues where New Zealanders will want confidence that the Government is achieving progress. This includes improving outcomes for Māori, family violence, housing, health, and education.
3. How well is the public accountability system working as a whole?
An effective accountability system is critical to maintaining New Zealanders’ trust and confidence in the public sector and government. We have an important role in influencing the shape of the public accountability system to meet New Zealanders’ expectations today and in the future.
Our work programme focuses on fundamentals, such as the integrity of public organisations, how well public organisations manage procurement, and how effectively public organisations plan. Our work at a system level will continue. This includes looking at reporting and other relevant matters as agencies implement the well-being agenda, understanding Māori perspectives on effective accountability, and influencing the direction of public sector reform to strengthen accountability to Parliament and the public. Within the scope of our mandate, we intend to review and, where appropriate, comment on specific areas of reform in the public sector, for example, any Public Finance Act reforms.
Although much of our work on improving health outcomes is focused on the Covid-19 response, in 2021/22 we will also respond, as appropriate, to the Government’s proposals to reform the health and disability sector. New legislation will be required to implement the proposed changes, and we will submit on matters relevant to our Office. This will provide an opportunity for us to comment on any potential effects on accountability and transparency, governance, leadership, and sustainability. We will also be interested in how changes across the sector will be managed and governed, how risks will be mitigated, and the implications for our audits.
4. Keeping New Zealanders informed about public sector performance and accountability
We have an important role to play in supporting New Zealanders’ trust and confidence in the public sector. To have trust and confidence, New Zealanders need to be informed about the issues that matter to them in ways that are meaningful.
Our regular reporting is the main way we keep New Zealanders informed about how the public sector is performing. We will also continue to better understand what information about public services communities consider are relevant and important.
5. Sharing insights about what “good” looks like
We are in a unique position to identify and share examples of good practice to support public organisations to improve. We will continue to update our good practice guides.
We also have an important and influential role as an information broker, connecting organisations to share experiences about what works. Building on our previous work, we intend to maintain our focus on supporting independent audit and risk committees. We see independent audit and risk committees as a vital partner in supporting public organisations to improve their performance and accountability.
We are also planning a speaker series on sharing good practice to reach wider audiences.
Summary of our proposed work
We describe in more detail the work we plan to carry out under each of the key areas in this Part. Appendix 2 provides a summary of our 2021/22 work programme.
Providing assurance to Parliament and the public on the Covid-19 response and recovery
In 2020/21, we started a three-year programme of work designed to provide clear and independent information to Parliament and the public about the effectiveness of the Government’s response to, and recovery from, Covid-19.
Parliament gave the Government a rare and considerable degree of flexibility to fund its response to Covid-19. Incurring a large amount of expenditure, along with the pace of the Government’s emergency response and the extraordinary conditions the public sector has operated in, mean that sound financial management, governance, and accountability are critical.
We consider it important to provide Parliament and the public with clear and accessible information about how effectively the Covid-19 funding was spent. Parliament and the public will also want to know whether that funding has provided value for money.
Building on the work we started in 2020/21, we will continue work on understanding how well the public sector responded to Covid-19 and how well it is positioned to support New Zealand to recover.
In 2021/22, we will complete our work on understanding the central response to Covid-19, progress work on case studies examining public sector business continuity, and begin the second phase of our work on the vaccine roll-out. Depending on how Covid-19 evolves, we might look at other aspects of the response or look at how the Government is planning for a post-Covid-19 environment.
In 2022/23, we will look at evaluating the overall response to Covid-19 and understanding significant areas of expenditure with a focus on value for money.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
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| Understanding the central response to Covid-19 In 2021/22, we will continue our work to provide an independent picture of the central response during 2020 to Covid-19. Our work is focused on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and its role in co-ordinating the national response. Our work looks at the arrangements that were in place for responding to a pandemic and how these were implemented or adapted to respond to Covid-19. We are also assessing how issues and risks were identified, and improvements made, to strengthen the ongoing response to Covid-19. |
| Case studies on public sector business continuity planning in response to the Covid-19 experience In 2021/22, we plan to carry out case studies on how agencies have adapted and/or modified their business continuity planning in response to their experiences of Covid-19. We will consider a range of agencies, including local government. Case studies will describe how agencies have learned from their experiences of Covid-19 and what changes they have made to be better prepared for future business disruption. Our work will help to inform our sharing of insights about what “good” looks like, which we describe later in this Part. |
| Further work on the Government’s roll-out of the national Covid-19 vaccination programme In 2020/21, we started a programme of work looking at the national roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination. Phase 1 of our work was a rapid review to provide an independent picture of how well positioned the Covid-19 Immunisation Programme was to meet the Government’s objective of vaccinating as many people as possible by the end of 2021. In 2021/22, we intend to a carry out a second, and possibly third, phase of work. Later in 2021, once the national roll-out is well under way, we will provide an update on progress since our Phase 1 report. This will include documenting any changes to the strategy or programme, assessing how much progress has been made, and how well the programme is being managed. Once the roll-out has been completed, we might look at what has been learned and how those lessons will strengthen the health system’s approach to immunisation more generally. |
| Examining other areas of the Covid-19 response Depending on how Covid-19 evolves, we plan to ensure that we have capacity to complete a performance audit on a particular aspect of the Covid-19 response. We want to retain some flexibility to focus on the issues that emerge as most significant to the public. At this stage, topics that we consider might be of interest to Parliament and the public include how well the Government worked with the most vulnerable during the response, another area of significant expenditure such as the business loans scheme, or the post Covid-19 response. |
How well is the public sector improving the lives of New Zealanders?
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 four priority areas:
- improving outcomes for Māori;
- reducing family violence;
- improving housing outcomes; and
- improving education outcomes.
We describe the work we propose to carry out in 2021/22, and indicative work we have scoped for 2022/23, under each of the four priority areas.
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, to develop and maintain the capability of the public service to engage with Māori and understand Māori perspectives.
Other existing requirements are also targeted at improving public sector performance. For example, Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori 2016 provides guidance for departments of state on the use of te reo Māori. The Māori Language Strategy sets a vision that, by 2040, more New Zealanders will value, speak, and use te reo Māori.
We are interested in 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. In 2021/22, we also intend to talk with Māori to gain their perspectives on the outcomes that matter most for Māori. 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 that we will make about where to focus our work in this area.
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.
We also plan to revisit our 2015 performance audit of Whānau Ora. For that audit, we described what Whanau Ora was, 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.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
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| 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. We also intend to talk to Māori to gain their perspectives on where we should focus in order to support the public sector to deliver improved outcomes for Māori. |
| Māori perspectives on accountability We plan to complete our research project exploring Māori perspectives on what effective public accountability looks like. We are interested in learning more about the range of Māori views and how the public sector can build and maintain the trust of Māori. 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 in our priority area: improving outcomes for Māori. 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. Revisting 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 the context of family 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 continue our programme of work looking 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 of our work.
| Planned work in 2021/22 |
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| Family violence and sexual violence: How well are agencies working together and with the non-government sector to deliver family violence and sexual violence services? 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 family violence and sexual violence services. 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. This will likely involve 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 ensure that planning, funding, and implementing housing and infrastructure projects are well aligned and well placed to deliver positive housing and community outcomes, including for groups at greater risk of poor 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 local and central government agencies involved in planning or funding core and social infrastructure.
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 in 2021/22 |
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| Effectiveness of Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s leadership of the urban and housing 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 affordability and 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 – in particular, Māori, Pasifika, and families with children. |
| 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, and the effect that consenting processes have had on facilitating the progress of projects. As part of this work, we will consider how Māori have been involved in the planning processes. |
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. There are poorer outcomes for Māori and Pasifika learners compared to other New Zealanders. 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 learners are successfully engaged in education.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
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| Understanding how the Ministry of Education is using its 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. |
How well is the public accountability system working as a whole?
The work we will carry out in 2021/22 on how well the public accountability system is working as a whole is focused on five priority areas:
- implementing the well-being agenda;
- resilience;
- climate change;
- integrity in the public sector; and
- processes underpinning significant government investments.
Appendix 2 shows that, in 2020/21, we started work on the Governance of the Auckland City Rail Link programme in the procurement priority area. We expect to complete this work in early 2021/22.
1. Implementing the well-being agenda
Well-being is gaining increased emphasis throughout the public sector. The new Public Service Act and Public Finance (Wellbeing) Amendment Act 2020 seek to support the public service’s stewardship of a wider set of long-term well-being outcomes.
Among other things, these reforms will require the Government to set well-being objectives, the Treasury to report on the state of well-being at least once every four years, and public sector chief executives to develop long-term insights briefings at least once every three years.
The Treasury has decided to prepare a joint long-term fiscal statement and insights briefing in 2021/22 that will incorporate diverse views of well-being including, He Ara Waiora, a tikanga-based well-being framework.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
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Commentary on the Treasury’s statement on the Government’s long-term fiscal statement and insights briefing |
2. Resilience
Both central and local government have a role to play in strengthening New Zealand’s resilience to a range of risks and potential adverse events. Significant public money is spent on managing risk and strengthening New Zealand’s resilience, whether that is responding to adverse events or recovering from them.
Through our work on resilience, we seek to provide assurance:
- about the effectiveness of the Government’s risk and resilience planning, with a particular focus on preparing for, and responding to, emergencies; and
- that public money is being spent prudently and effectively.
In 2021/22, we intend to carry out work examining what lessons have been learned from the public sector’s response to the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
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| Canterbury earthquakes: Lessons learned from the recovery The Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 killed 185 people, injured about 5800 people, damaged more than 100,000 homes, destroyed much of Christchurch’s central business district, and badly damaged infrastructure. We will identify what local government lessons have been learned from the recovery from the earthquakes and compare those with the central government lessons already documented by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. We will review what actions local and central government have taken to give effect to the lessons learned. We will also review how well local and central government are positioned to work together on future recoveries from natural disasters as a result of the lessons they have learned and actions they have taken. |
3. Climate change
Many public organisations have climate-related roles and responsibilities. In 2020/21, we focused on councils and their response to climate change. During our audits of the 2021-31 council long-term plans, we considered how councils are factoring climate change into their planning and proposed spending decisions, particularly for areas that might be more vulnerable to climate change effects in the future and for significant infrastructure projects. We also collected information about how many councils had declared climate emergencies and what actions they are planning in response.
In 2021/22, we intend to complete our analysis of the actions councils are planning and taking in response to climate change and report the results of this work.
In 2022/23, we will consider what other work we might carry out on the Government’s response to managing climate change effects and reducing emissions under the zero-carbon legislation framework. This could involve looking at programmes to reduce emissions in particular sectors, the overall strategy to meet targets, and progress by public organisations in implementing the requirements of the Carbon Neutral Public Sector programme.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
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| Climate change and local government We will analyse the 2021-31 council long-term plans and other documents, such as climate action plans, to establish how well councils are factoring climate change risks and vulnerabilities into their long-term planning, the climate-related actions they plan to take (both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change), and any funding pressures or information gaps they have identified. We expect to report our findings in our report on the main matters arising from the audits of councils’ long-term plans. |
4. Integrity in the public sector
For public organisations to operate effectively and achieve outcomes, it is essential that they have New Zealanders’ trust and confidence. Establishing and maintaining that trust and confidence requires, in part, a high level of integrity, fairness, and openness. Where there is a question about any one of those, trust and confidence can erode. It is important that public organisations and their staff comply with the highest standards of integrity and are seen to be doing so.
In 2021/22, we plan to continue our work on integrity to help support public organisations. The fostering of integrity and ethical standards reduces the risk of corruption or wrongdoing, can lead to improvements in the quality of decision-making, and positively increase staff engagement.
We expect that our work will continue to involve collaboration with other integrity focused organisations where appropriate – for example, Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman, Transparency International New Zealand, and the Serious Fraud Office. We will also engage with a wide range of other public organisations to encourage further discussion and promote good practice in this area.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
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| Sharing what “good” looks like: Completion of integrity framework and guidance Building on our work in 2020/21, we will complete and publish an integrity framework and guidance. We might also publish other supporting integrity resources where we identify a need. |
| Monitoring progress: Audit work on integrity – Central government We propose to carry out audits of several central government agencies to examine how well they are performing in relation to specific integrity issues. One area of interest is the role of senior leadership in supporting integrity practices in organisations. We could look at what expectations are set and how senior staff model them. This could, for example, include senior staff who have exercised their discretion to approve exceptions to organisational policies. Our work will also consider how public sector integrity agencies are working together to provide leadership. |
| Monitoring progress: Operation Respect Operation Respect was first launched in 2016. It is aimed at eliminating inappropriate and harmful behaviours and sexual violence in the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF). In 2020, an independent review into the programme recommended that the Minister of Defence request the Auditor-General to carry out an audit of the NZDF’s progress in regard to Operation Respect’s specific outcomes every two years for 20 years. We will carry out the first audit in 2021/22. The audit will focus on what NZDF has put in place to address the recommendations from the independent review to ensure that the objectives of Operation Respect can be achieved. |
5. Processes underpinning significant government investments
Significant government investment decisions are of particular interest to us. We are interested in how effectively the systems and processes work to inform decisions and how decisions are communicated. Processes need to be fair and decisions need to be transparent.
The Government’s Investment Strategy guides decisions about significant investments. There are 11 principles to guide decision-makers and those managing significant assets. The intent is to direct government resources to where they create the most value.
It is important that what public money is spent on delivers good value for New Zealanders. The spending currently planned for a range of infrastructure projects is considerable. This will have fiscal implications for generations to come.
In 2020/21, we started a programme of work that focuses on significant government investment decisions. Our work programme seeks to:
- increase the transparency on planning and decision-making processes for large-scale government investments (how does the Government decide what to invest in on behalf of New Zealanders?);
- identify opportunities to strengthen current public sector practice to ensure that the systems and processes underpinning large investments are effective and efficient; and
- understand how the emergency context of Covid-19 has affected government investment decision-making processes and identify any lessons learned.
In 2020/21, we published our work on the management of the Provincial Growth Fund (the Fund). In 2021/22, we intend to report on the reset of the Fund after the Fund investments were reprioritised to focus on the recovery from Covid-19.
We also intend to report on the effectiveness of the decision-making systems and processes that underpin investment decisions for the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, and the effectiveness of the Treasury’s investment management system in supporting effective design and delivery of large-scale public investment in infrastructure.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
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| Systems and processes underpinning government decisions on major infrastructure investment In late 2019, the Government announced its $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme. In May 2020, the Government announced that the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund had set aside $3 billion to fund infrastructure projects across the country. This portion of the fund is commonly referred to as “the shovel-ready fund”. The fund is targeted towards infrastructure investments that can enable immediate job creation, generate other public benefits, and have construction activity under way within 12 months. We intend to complete our performance audit to assess the effectiveness of the decision-making systems and processes that have underpinned investment decisions for the New Zealand Upgrade Programme and the shovel-ready fund. |
| Provincial Growth Fund: Reset of the Provincial Growth Fund and reprioritisation of investments The Provincial Development Unit in the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has reprioritised investments of the Provincial Growth Fund to focus on the recovery from Covid-19. We expect to report on the reset in 2021/22. The work is intended to:
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| Effectiveness of the investment management system in supporting significant infrastructure investments The Treasury’s investment management system has ambitious aims and was designed to serve an essential role in ensuring that public money is spent effectively and efficiently. It spans several phases of the investment cycle, including scoping, planning, implementation, and review. We plan to examine how effective the Treasury’s investment management system is in supporting effective design and delivery of large-scale public investment in infrastructure. Our work has indicated that the system might not be well understood or used by agencies or decision-makers. At the same time, decision-makers are increasingly seeking to target and deliver a range of significant infrastructure investments at pace, and this might be leading to higher risk and inconsistent approaches to investment planning and issues relating to delivery. This raises questions about how the public sector can best support Ministers to make significant investment decisions, at pace, in a transparent way that ensures good public value. |
Keeping New Zealanders informed about public sector performance and accountability
The work we will carry out in 2021/22 in this area focuses on two priorities:
- public sector accountability to local and regional communities; and
- our regular reporting.
1. Public sector accountability to local and regional communities
Our 2019 report Public accountability: A matter of trust and confidence observed that, although public officials and their agencies are primarily accountable to their Ministers and through them to Parliament, they must also maintain the trust and confidence of the public they serve. The report asked whether current public accountability processes are enough to meet the expectations of the public today and in the future.
In 2020/21, we started a multi-year programme of work focused on public sector accountability to communities for delivering services and outcomes to where New Zealanders live and work.
Part of our work involves research into what information New Zealanders consider important to understand the performance of public services and community outcomes. We are interested in what information communities want about public sector performance, where they get information now, and how they would like to access and receive information.
This research will inform our ongoing work looking at how we can support improved performance reporting in the public sector. Our research might provide useful insights into the way we present information on public sector performance.
In future years, we will consider looking at the progress and effectiveness of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Regional Skills Leadership Groups in building the skills needed for economic well-being and development in the regions. Under this new regional approach, workforce, education, and immigration systems work together to better meet the differing skills needed throughout the country.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
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| Public sector accountability to communities We plan to carry out a project that aims to discover the information that communities identify as relevant and important to their lives, the extent to which that information is readily available, and the ways in which people would like to receive information. |
2. Our regular reporting
Each year, we consolidate the results of our annual audits in central and local government and other sectors. We publish the main findings in sector reports and letters. We use these products to advise select committees, help keep New Zealanders informed, and help plan our work programme. We also report on the results of our annual audit of the Financial Statements of the Government.
In combination with our annual audits, we carry out appropriation audits of government departments. These are designed to ensure that government expenditure is within the authority provided by Parliament. We also carry out procedures for our Controller function in keeping with a Memorandum of Understanding we have with the Treasury. We report our findings and conclusions to the Treasury throughout the year through monthly Controller reports. Every year, we present a report to Parliament that includes an account of the work carried out under our Controller function for the full financial year, along with our findings and conclusions. We also produce an interim report on our half-year findings (our work from 1 July to 31 December of each year).
Other reports that we regularly publish include our follow-up reporting on public organisations’ implementation of the recommendations from previous performance audits, and our work on the review of Auckland Council’s service performance.
We are reviewing the way we follow up with agencies on how they are progressing the recommendations we make in our performance audits. Currently, we carry out about two follow-up audits each year, which take the form of a report to Parliament.
We would like to expand this so that most performance audits are followed up within two years of the audit being completed. To achieve this, we will need to take a different approach. Instead of carrying out a follow-up audit, we plan to write to agencies asking for an update on how they are progressing the recommendations from previous performance audits. We intend to publish those responses with a short commentary. As well as this self-reporting, we will continue our independent assessments of progress on selected performance audit recommendations.
| Planned work on regular reports in 2021/22 |
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| Sector-based reports In 2021/22, we plan to prepare the following sector reports:
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| Other reports |
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| Half-year Controller update Our Controller function is a core part of our role as “public watchdog”. It provides assurance to Parliament and the public about whether the Government has incurred expenditure in line with Parliament’s authority. We report publicly on our work. In 2021/22, we will report our findings for 2020/21 in our sector-based report Central government: Results of the 2020/21 audits. We will also continue our regular half-year Controller update. This report provides an account of our work and findings for the first six months of 2021/22. |
| Auckland landscape scan About 32% of New Zealanders live in the Auckland region, and that is expected to increase by 600,000 people by 2043. This will take the total Auckland population to 2.2 million. Auckland is home to people from more than 200 different ethnicities, with 40% of Aucklanders born overseas. The Crown owns 20% of Auckland’s land, and 31% of wider public sector employees are based in Auckland. Public sector spending in Auckland in 2019 was estimated at 36% of the total public sector spending for the country. Nationally significant public sector work programmes have major policy and delivery components in Auckland. Managing the infrastructure needed for Auckland’s growth is increasingly being addressed through jointly funded (Crown and Auckland Council) large scale infrastructure projects. This raises issues about governance, procurement, and the monitoring of outcomes for these projects. These are areas of interest to us. We also intend to prepare an Auckland region landscape scan highlighting these and other issues of interest. We also intend to include a greater level of Auckland-specific information in other areas of our work. |
| Auckland Council review of service performance (topic to be confirmed) Section 104 of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009 requires the Auditor-General to review the service performance of Auckland Council and each of its council-controlled organisations from time to time. We are currently assessing possible topics for this review. |
Sharing insights about what “good” looks like
To improve their performance, public organisations need to understand what is expected of them. They also need good practice guidance that is relevant to the public sector.
We actively consider opportunities to share good practice in all our work. This programme of work enables us to take a more proactive and deliberate leadership role in sharing good practice throughout the public sector.
In 2021/22, we intend to build on our previous work and develop more good practice resources on topics of interest to the public sector. These will supplement our existing good practice guidance. We plan to work more with other organisations that prepare good practice on similar topics to maximise our influence and help organisations improve. We have an important and influential role as an information broker, pointing public organisations to comparable organisations that do similar activities well.
We plan to implement a range of approaches to share good practice, including a new speaker series that will occur at least quarterly. We intend to use existing forums and other events to share our good practice and examples of activities being done well that others can learn from.
| Planned work for 2021/22 |
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| Helping to support the effectiveness of audit and risk committees We see independent audit and risk committees as a vital partner in supporting effective governance, accountability, and transparency of public organisations. Building on our work in 2020/21, we will continue to support and strengthen these relationships by focusing our engagement with audit and risk committees for targeted sectors. We will focus on three key areas:
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| Support material for new audit and risk committee chairpersons Where we identify need, new audit and risk committee chairpersons will receive information about working with our Office and copies of relevant good practice material. |
| Review of good practice guidance: Audit and Risk committees We will review and update our good practice guidance:
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| Review of good practice guidance: Public sector purchases, grants, and gifts: Managing funding arrangements with external parties We will review and update our good practice guidance:
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| Sharing good practice: Performance reporting To help improve public sector performance reporting, we plan to issue further good practice guidance on performance reporting. |
| Sharing good practice speaker series Each quarter, we intend to host events where a wide range of speakers and panellists from the public and private sectors can share their good practice experience, practices, and processes. |
| Understanding performance and supporting the role of monitoring agencies A wide range of monitoring agencies have an important role in ensuring that public sector organisations are fulfilling their obligations and are being managed effectively. In 2021/22, we will complete our work on examining the role and practices of monitoring agencies throughout central government. In our view, this is a topic that will be of interest and will have insights and lessons for all agencies that have monitoring responsibilities. Once we have completed this work, we will consider opportunities for further development, including whether a good practice guide might be useful. |