2014/15

A list of our work produced between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015.
Cover image - Jul 28, 2014 State-owned enterprises: Results of the 2012/13 audits

July 2014: State-owned enterprises are an important and financially significant part of the public sector. This report provides an analysis of what our audit work and audited financial statements can tell us about the financial health of SOEs and the listed companies that are majority-owned by the Crown...

Cover image - Aug 08, 2014 Ministry of Social Development: How it deals with complaints

August 2014: We looked at how the Ministry’s Work and Income, StudyLink, and Senior Services sections manage complaints. In our view, the way the Ministry deals with complaints has many positive features. However, the Ministry could do better in some aspects...

Cover image - Aug 11, 2014 Accident Compensation Corporation: How it deals with complaints

August 2014: Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has signalled its commitment to be a more client-focused organisation in the future. However, some people do not receive the standard of service they expect from ACC and make complaints. The most common complaints are a result of ineffective communication or people feeling they have not been kept fully informed, treated fairly, or treated with dignity and respect. ACC has work under way to address some of the problems we have identified. Despite positive signs, ACC has much to improve because its current complaints system is not effective...

Cover image - Aug 25, 2014 From auditor to soldier

August 2014: During World War 1, 32 of the Audit Department’s staff enlisted to serve their country. These are their stories.

Cover image - Oct 28, 2014 Challenges facing licensing trusts

October 2014: This report brings our observations and concerns about licensing trusts to the attention of those with an interest in this part of the public sector. We found that some licensing trusts are well managed and quite successful, despite current economic challenges. However, increasing numbers of licensing trusts are struggling with profitability and financial viability. Some licensing trusts also resist the costs of public sector external accountability...

Cover image - Oct 31, 2014 Accident Compensation Corporation: Using a case management approach to rehabilitation

November 2014: The report finds that ACC needs to make changes to its case management systems and processes to ensure that it is effectively meeting people’s needs. ACC needs to look at how it uses and captures information about effective treatment and rehabilitation options, its internal quality review and coaching tools, how it communicates with people, how adequate and appropriate its case management services are for long-term clients with complex needs, and how it manages the transfer of clients between it and other public entities...

Cover image - Nov 21, 2014 Water and roads: Funding and management challenges

November 2014: Collectively, local authorities are responsible for more than $100 billion of community assets that provide essential everyday services. This report sets out an overview of the approach that local authorities are taking to managing their infrastructure assets. We focused on roading, water supply, wastewater, and storm water services...

Cover image - Dec 04, 2014 Ministry of Social Development: Using a case management approach to service delivery

December 2014: This report looks at the Ministry of Social Development’s case management approach to delivering its services. We looked at the approach the Ministry uses for working-age adults in its 160 Work and Income service centres after welfare reforms resulted in significant changes. Overall, we found that the Ministry’s case management approach is serving most clients well, most of the time. It had tailored its work-focused case management approach to provide the greatest support to those most likely to need it. We found that the Ministry was well placed to measure the effect of their case management approach, but that the early results were mixed...

Cover image - Dec 08, 2014 Central government: Results of the 2013/14 audits

December 2014: This report sets out the results of our audit of the Financial Statements of the Government for the year ended 30 June 2014 and of carrying out the Controller function. It highlights a number of matters arising from that work, including costs of the Canterbury rebuild, the effect of Solid Energy’s financial performance, the accounting treatment for certain major public sector assets, and improving financial management in central government...

Cover image - Feb 03, 2015 Ministry for Primary Industries: Managing the Primary Growth Partnership

February 2015: We audited how the Ministry for Primary Industries has implemented and managed the Primary Growth Partnership so far. In the six programmes we reviewed, we saw examples of partnerships that appeared to work well from the beginning and others that experienced difficulties. These difficulties included prolonged business case development, long contract negotiations, and staffing shortages...

Cover image - Feb 18, 2015 Response of the New Zealand Police to the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct: Fourth monitoring report

February 2015: This report is the fourth we have produced on how the Police are responding to the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct in 2007. It follows up on the Police's response to the five recommendations we made in our third monitoring report in October 2012. We have also taken the opportunity to look at changes in the Police's workplace culture. Overall, the Police have made good progress in addressing the five recommendations from our third report. However, there is still room for the Police to improve how they communicate with victims and how they collate and use feedback from victims...

Cover image - Feb 23, 2015 Education for Māori: Relationships between schools and whānau

February 2015: This is the second report in a five-year programme of work to find out how well the education system supports Māori students to achieve their full potential. In this report, we look at whether schools and whānau are forming effective relationships. We found that there is a risk that some schools do not focus enough on improving their relationships because they think that they have better relationships with whānau than whānau think they do. Our report provides an opportunity for people to think about their schools and their relationships, to understand the differences between schools, and to work to build and use relationships more effectively.

Cover image - Apr 30, 2015 Auckland Council: How it deals with building consents

April 2015: Overall, Auckland Council is performing its responsibilities as a building consent authority reasonably well. Its internal quality assurance procedures are sound, with systems and technical audits carried out routinely. It has a good standard of internal reporting of workflows and how well it meets targets...

Cover image - Apr 30, 2015 Inland Revenue Department: Governance of the Business Transformation programme

April 2015: We found that Inland Revenue’s governance of the programme has provided clear direction, and supported clear and effective decisions. Strengths of Inland Revenue’s governance of the programme include a comprehensive and clear governance structure, an established methodology, and an advanced approach to managing risks...

Cover image - May 04, 2015 Whānau Ora: The first four years

May 2015: In its first four years, Whānau Ora has delivered some positive outcomes. However, our report identifies some problems with how Whānau Ora was implemented, which contributed to confusion about Whānau Ora. We could not get a consistent explanation of the aims of the initiatives in Whānau Ora from the joint agencies or other people that we spoke to. So far, the situation has been unclear and confusing to many of the public entities and whānau...

Cover image - May 25, 2015 Effectiveness of governance arrangements in the arts, culture, and heritage sector

May 2015: In this report, we look at the effectiveness of governance arrangements in six public entities in the arts, culture, and heritage sector. Overall, there is an effective level of governance in each of the six entities. The boards for these entities take their responsibilities seriously and have appropriate structures, policies, and practices to help their organisations achieve their strategic direction and fulfil their roles. However, more could be done to strengthen risk management...

Cover image - Jun 02, 2015 Being accountable to the public: Timeliness of reporting by public entities

May 2015: This report takes a “snapshot” of how well public entities met their reporting deadlines during 2013/14. Most public entities meet their deadlines for reporting. The entities that don’t meet their reporting deadlines tend to be small entities or subsidiaries. It is clear that some public entities need to give greater priority to meeting their reporting obligations...

Cover image - Jun 16, 2015 Reflections from our audits: Service delivery

June 2015: This report provides an overview of our findings from our work under our Service delivery theme. The rapidly changing world we live in presents many challenges and opportunities for public sector service delivery. Being in the public sector is about serving New Zealanders. Through this report, we offer independent insights to encourage discussion and debate about how the public sector can rise to the challenges and opportunities to deliver better services.

Cover image - Jun 29, 2015 Annual Plan 2015/16

June 2015: The Annual Plan 2015/16 sets out our proposed work programme for 2015/16. The programme has a focus on investment and asset management. The document also describes the Office’s priorities and the work that would be useful, based on our knowledge of the public sector and its strengths, challenges, and issues...