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This class of outputs involves:
The department assists the Prime Minister in overseeing and leading the government as a whole. In addition, it supports the Cabinet decision-making process. As a central agency, the department has a clear role to play in promoting effective policy coordination across the public service. Ministers need to have complete trust in the quality of the advice and support the department offers on the proper conduct of government business within accepted conventions and practices.
| 30.06.08 | 30.06.09 | 30.06.09 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual $000 |
Actual $000 |
Main
Estimates $000 |
Supplementary
Estimates $000 |
|
| 8,801 | Revenue - Crown | 8,404 | 8,537 | 8,404 |
| - | Revenue - Other | 3 | - | 4 |
| 8,774 | Expenditure | 8,250 | 8,537 | 8,408 |
| 27 | Surplus | 157 | - | - |
| 2008/2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Performance Measures | Actual Standard | Budget Standard |
| Advice provided meets the department's quality, quantity, and timeliness standards. | Stakeholder survey indicates high satisfaction. | Key stakeholders are satisfied. |
| Services provided meet quality, accuracy, impartiality and timeliness criteria. | Stakeholder survey indicates high satisfaction. | Key stakeholders are satisfied. |
The Policy Advisory Group provided advice to the Prime Minister as necessary on Cabinet and Cabinet committee papers in time for these to be used in Cabinet or Cabinet committee meetings.
The Policy Advisory Group provided briefing notes on issues of interest to the Prime Minister, either in response to requests from the Prime Minister or on the Group's initiative.
The Policy Advisory Group led a number of inter-agency projects such as the Prime Minister's Summit on Employment and projects for At Risk Youth.
All written advice provided to the Prime Minister was reviewed by the Director of the Policy Advisory Group and/or the Chief Executive. In most cases this review occurred after the advice was tendered; in sensitive or difficult matters the Director or Chief Executive reviewed the advice before it was submitted.
Feedback from the Prime Minister on any advice tendered was made available to the Chief Executive, the Director of the Policy Advisory Group, and the advisor concerned.
The Policy Advisory Group also participated in a wide range of whole-of-government processes.
DPMC worked with the Treasury and the SSC to provide ministers with a better sense of overall state sector performance and how to improve it. Under SSC leadership the central agencies developed to a pilot stage a new tool, the Performance Improvement Framework, for assessing departmental performance.
Together with the Cabinet Office, the Policy Advisory Group provided advice on establishing officials' committees in support of Cabinet committees. Policy Advisory Group staff either convened or participated in all Cabinet officials' committees.
The Prime Minister gave regular verbal and written feedback on the advice provided by the Policy Advisory Group.
The Prime Minister is regularly advised by the Chief Executive (with the support of the Director of the Policy Advisory Group, the Secretary of the Cabinet, and the Director of DESG in their own specialist areas) of the range of activities undertaken to facilitate cross-agency coordination of policy advice and implementation. These activities include: fortnightly meetings of departmental chief executives, which are convened to share information on policy directions; weekly meetings with counterpart central-agency chief executives; and interdepartmental coordination of a wide range of policy priorities.
During the first half of this performance year the Cabinet Office provided secretariat services during a sustained period of extremely heavy committee agendas. Following the election and the formation of the new National-led
Government, the Cabinet Office had a significant role in supporting the resumption of normal Cabinet decision-making processes as soon as possible. Feedback from the Prime Minister about this process has been positive. A new Cabinet committee system commenced in February 2009, with some committees under the previous Government discontinued or superseded by new committees.
The Cabinet Office provided secretariat services to 203 (2007/08 comparison: 221) Cabinet and Cabinet committee meetings, and 42 (42) Executive Council meetings during the year. See "Meeting statistics" table.
The Prime Minister, the chairs of Cabinet committees, and ministers' offices were consulted as required on the compilation of agendas and the acceptance of submissions for meetings.
There were 2028 (2,524) summary cover sheets prepared for submissions to Cabinet and Cabinet committees during the past year.
Our performance target for the delivery of submissions to ministers' offices is for all papers to be delivered by the close of business two days before the meeting. In the past year, 85 (87) per cent of submissions were received in the Cabinet Office within the Cabinet deadline for lodging papers and we achieved a delivery rate of 77 per cent of all papers to ministers' offices within the period stated in our performance target.
There were 2,299 (2,904) Cabinet and committee minutes recorded over the year. Only 16 (14) of these required amendment by the Cabinet office. (This excludes amendments to committee minutes made as a result of a Cabinet decision.)
All Cabinet committee minutes were issued within three days of the meeting, before the next meeting of Cabinet.
Ninety-one (89) per cent of all Cabinet minutes were issued within three days of the Cabinet meeting.
| Number of meetings | Number of agenda items | Average number of items per meeting | |
|---|---|---|---|
# New Cabinet committees. |
|||
| Executive Council | 42 | 338 | 8 |
| Cabinet | 45 | 655 | 14 |
| Cabinet Policy Committee | 11 | 20 | 2 |
| Cabinet Committee on Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations# | 7 | 24 | 3 |
| Cabinet Committee on Implementation of Auckland Governance Reforms# | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Cabinet Economic Growth and Infrastructure Committee# | 13 | 102 | 8 |
| Cabinet Social Policy Committee# | 12 | 48 | 3 |
| Cabinet External Relations and Defence Committee# | 9 | 40 | 4 |
| Cabinet Legislation Committee | 22 | 168 | 7 |
| Cabinet Appointments and Honours Committee | 13 | 172 | 13 |
| Cabinet Expenditure Control Committee# | 6 | 15 | 2 |
| Cabinet Committee on Domestic and External Security Coordination | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cabinet Business Committee | 22 | 346 | 16 |
| Cabinet Domestic Policy Committee# | 12 | 53 | 4 |
| Cabinet Policy Committee* | 8 | 180 | 22 |
| Cabinet Committee on Government Expenditure and Administration* | 4 | 43 | 11 |
| Cabinet Social Development Committee* | 8 | 63 | 8 |
| Cabinet Economic Development Committee* | 8 | 96 | 12 |
| Subtotal of Cabinet committee meetings | 158 | 1373 | 8 |
| Total including Cabinet | 203 | 2028 | 10 |
During this performance year, the election and change of government were the key features for the Cabinet Office's provision of advice under this objective. As part of supporting the Prime Minister in establishing his administration, for example, the Cabinet Office provided advice on options for a new Cabinet committee structure and subsequently implemented the new structure on the Prime Minister's behalf.
Twelve Cabinet Office circulars were prepared and issued in 2008/09 on a range of issues including constitutional procedures after the general election, government decision-making during the period of caretaker government, arrangements for transition to the new administration, Cabinet committee terms of reference, and statute amendment bills.
The Cabinet Office provided 19 (2007/08: 8) briefing seminars to departments and interested parties on the Cabinet decision-making process. In addition, it provided briefings for the office staff of new ministers after the general election. The Secretary of the Cabinet also gave briefings to a number of meetings of chief executives on election and government-formation procedures.
Feedback from the Prime Minister and other stakeholders was positive.
Advice and support was provided to the Prime Minister and the Governor-General on a range of matters relating to constitutional issues and the functioning of executive government. This included providing support and advice in the period surrounding the general election.
The Cabinet Office prepared and issued seven Cabinet Office circulars relating to executive government procedures and principles around the general election. Briefings and information on procedures and the application of constitutional conventions in the pre- and post -election periods were provided to the Governor-General, the Prime Minister, departments, and (via the DPMC website) the general public.
The Cabinet Office supported and facilitated the smooth transition between administrations. This included: advice to the Governor-General, the Prime Minister, and departments during the government-formation period; the ceremony and documentation for the appointment of the new administration; and a briefing programme for new ministers and their staff.
Feedback from the Prime Minister and the Governor-General was positive.
Following the change of administration, advice and support was provided to the new Leader of the House and the Cabinet Legislation Committee on the management of the Government's legislative programme, and on the preparation and management of the legislative programme for the 2009 calendar year.
The Honours Secretariat advised and assisted the Cabinet Appointments and Honours Committee on the compilation of the 2009 New Year Honours List (192 recipients) and the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List (172 recipients). See "New Zealand and other honours" table.
The most significant work undertaken during the reporting period was the implementation of the Government's decision to reinstate titular honours in time for the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List. This initiative also enabled those appointed to the top two levels of The New Zealand Order of Merit between 18 May 2000 and 31 December 2008 to elect to become a knight or dame of the Order. The Queen gave her approval to the Amending Royal Warrant that gave effect to these changes in March 2009, and the project has been completed on time. In addition, the Honours Secretariat has been working with the New Zealand Defence Force in progressing a government proposal to institute a new medal that will cover a wide range of military service that currently receives no honours recognition.
During the reporting period, the Secretariat dealt with some 4,000 enquiries from the public about the honours system.
The Cabinet Office coordinated the final step in the successful resolution of Te Arawa's claim for proper recognition of Haane Manahi. The Governor-General attended a ceremony to present the Queen's Altar Frontal for Haane Manahi to Saint Faith's Anglican Church and to Te Arawa.
Feedback received from the Governor-General and the Prime Minister was complimentary about the work of the Honours Secretariat.
| All honours and appointments were promulgated in the New Zealand Gazette. | |
| The Order of New Zealand | |
|---|---|
| Ordinary Member ONZ | |
| The New Zealand Order of Merit | |
| Principal Companion (PCNZM) | 1 |
| Dame Companion | 2 |
| Knight Companion | 1 |
| Distinguished Companion (DCNZM) | 4 |
| Companion (CNZM) | 20 |
| Officer (ONZM) | 42 |
| Additional Officer (ONSM) | 1 |
| Honorary Officer (ONZM) | 1 |
| Member (MNZM) | 101 |
| Additional Member (MNZM) | 2 |
| Honorary Member (MNZM) | 2 |
| The Queen's Service Order | |
| Companion (QSO) | 27 |
| The Queen's Service Medal | |
| Medal (QSM) | 152 |
| The Distinguished Service Decoration | |
| Decoration (DSD) | 8 |
| TOTAL | 364 |
| Other honours and appointments | |
| Grant of the title "The Honourable" for life | 22 |
| GRAND TOTOAL | 386 |
The Cabinet Office maintains records of all Cabinet and Cabinet committee meetings, administers the convention on access to documents of previous administrations, and provides advice to ministers' offices on the storage and disposal of Cabinet papers.
The Cabinet Office receives and redirects Official Information Act requests for Cabinet documents and handles substantive requests for information about the work of the Cabinet Office. In addition, on behalf of the Prime Minister, it consults with the Leader of the Opposition about the proposed release of official information dating from previous Opposition administrations.
In 2008/09 the Cabinet Office handled 205 (2007/08: 225) enquiries and requests from ministers' offices and departments about Cabinet papers and related information.
The Cabinet Office upgraded its computer network infrastructure, software, and electronic document and records management system (EDRMS).
The Domestic and External Security Group (DESG) provides leadership, support and coordination on a range of policies and plans designed to strengthen national security and stability and to help deal with various civil contingencies.
In particular, DESG works with a number of government agencies and with local authorities to:
This work is part of a long-term programme that continues to reap positive returns for the management of domestic and external security issues, and for building resilience in communities. National management, including responsiveness and coordination among central government agencies at times of crisis, has improved steadily in recent years.
As a critical aspect of its coordination role, DESG provided policy advice and support for periodic meetings of departmental chief executives under ODESC (Officials' Committee for Domestic and External Security Coordination); chaired Watch Group (close situation monitoring) meetings of specialists to deal with detail; and conducted regular meetings with officials from central government and key people from industry, local government and other areas to advance policy and practical solution-finding.
Issues covered include:
The Prime Minister has given positive feedback on the advice and coordination provided by DESG. A stakeholder survey also reported that DESG adds considerable value to government coordination and risk management.
DESG chaired and provided secretariat support for meetings of intelligence committees on a number of sensitive issues throughout the past year. It also undertook other intelligence coordination, which included:
In the past five years there has been growing emphasis on the use of intelligence to enhance security across a range of government departments. As a consequence, DESG has been involved in an increasing range of coordination and guidance activity.