Background Papers and Case Studies
Issues Papers
The State Sector Reform Secretariat has prepared a series of background papers to support the work of the Better Public Services Advisory Group. These papers set out the Secretariat's thinking on some of the critical issues associated with measures to further strengthen the delivery of public services. You can download the first of these issues papers below:
Best-sourcing Public Services - August 2011
Every day in New Zealand, millions of taxpayer's dollars are spent to deliver vital public services. This paper explores ways in which best-sourcing can help drive better public services, some possible principles for determining when it is most useful, and an assessment of current usage, including the potential barriers to greater use.
Draft Issues paper: Best-sourcing Public Services (PDF document)
Features of New Zealand's public management model, as built - July 2001
Analysis of the 1980s public sector model and the thinking behind it, including insights and lessons that can be applied to improving public services today.
Innovative thinking from New Zealand's public sector
The Secretariat has found many examples of where the public sector has thought about things very differently and found innovative solutions to today's challenges, thereby improving outcomes for New Zealanders across a broad range of areas. These case studies are intended to provoke thinking on how the benefits of innovation could be harnessed across the wider public service.
You can download PDFs in our series of case studies to find out more.
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Case study #1: ROCKON gets results - but it's not rocket science
A highly successful inter-agency tactic for tackling truancy is "not rocket science, it's simple. Just get the right people together at the right time for the right purpose."
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Case study #2: Services pull together at The Pulse
The Pulse, a one-stop-shop for Whangarei's young people and families, has attracted international attention as an innovative multi-agency response to community needs.
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Case study #3: Kia Wharite: a multi-agency environmental project
Iwi, landowners, the rural unemployed, tourists, and the North Island brown kiwi are among those who stand to gain from a unique partnership between the Department of Conservation and Horizons Regional Council in the Whanganui National Park.
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Case study #4: Inter-CAD mobilises multi-agency response
Successfully building an electronic bridge between New Zealand's emergency services was a complex challenge that owed as much to inter-agency collaboration as it did to technical innovation.
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Case study #5: NZ Police partners with the Deaf community
New Zealand Police broke new ground when it unveiled its 111 texting service for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired in 2010.
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Case study #6: Court processes move beyond the courtroom
Hearings are moving through the country’s courts faster and more efficiently thanks to the Ministry of Justice's new approach to recording and transcribing evidence. It's also made the courtroom experience more positive for witnesses, victims and those working in the justice system.
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Case study #7: NZ Defence Force prizes innovation
From soldiers serving in the Sinai to clerical staff at Wellington’s Defence House, defence force personnel are using an online innovation forum to directly shape the way the military works.
Other background papers
A number of background papers, prepared for Ministers to prompt consideration of a range of ideas for improving public services, have been released in anticipation of, and in response to, requests from the public.
Please note, certain information in these papers has been withheld under one or more of the following sections of the Official Information Act:
- 9(2)(a) - to protect the privacy of natural persons, including deceased people
- 9(2)(f)(iv) - to maintain the current constitutional conventions protecting the confidentiality of advice tendered by ministers and officials
- 9(2)(g)(i) - to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions
In preparing this Information Release, the Secretariat has considered the public interest considerations in section 9(1) of the Official Information Act.
In October 2010, central agency analysts prepared a think piece entitled "a Modern Business Model for Government" for discussion with Ministers.
This outlined a possible set of principles for creating a more dynamic and responsive state sector that:
- Improves the public's experience,
- Is more coordinated,
- Is better at assigning resources to priorities,
- Brings a longer run focus into decision-making,
- Reduces clutter and delivers better results and better value for taxpayers.
In February 2011, Central Agencies provided a report to the State Sector Ministerial Group entitled "Smaller and Better: Redefining Public Services for the 21st Century"
Smaller and Better: Redefining Public Services for the 21st Century
In June 2011, Joint Agency officials provided an aide memoire to the Minister of Finance, setting out their early thinking on contestability (best-sourcing). You can read how thinking has progressed in the Secretariat's August best-sourcing issues paper.
