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Publications ~ Departmental Forecast Report for the year ended 30 June 2001

Part A - Introduction and Highlights

• Chief Executive's Introduction
• Vision and Mission
• Government's Key Goals
• Related Government Outcomes
• Financial Highlights

 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S INTRODUCTION

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) provides neutral and free and frank advice to the Prime Minister of the day on public policy and constitutional issues. It also helps to ensure that Government decision-making processes work effectively and efficiently though the provision of high quality secretariat services to the Cabinet and the Executive Council by the Cabinet Office.

That means that the department operates at the heart of government, helping the Prime Minister lead the Cabinet in its role of implementing the Government's policies and programmes. It is not the department's job to determine what those policies and programmes will be - that is the task of the duly elected government. It is the department's role to advise its Minister - the Prime Minister - on how the Government's vision might be translated into effective long-term policy and, where the Government has a clear policy direction in mind, the likelihood of that particular policy delivering what the Government wants.

We do not have direct control of the operations of other government agencies, nor should we. Our job is to provide the Prime Minister with a critical assessment of all areas of government activity. As a result, we have an interest in:

• every agency of state - government departments, Crown entities, Crown companies and state owned enterprises;

• every activity of government, including regulation, economic policies and progress, law and order, international affairs, defence, emergency management, national security, care of children and their families and the public health and disability sector; and

• every way the Government and citizens interact - over the counter, on the internet, in the classroom, through public information programmes, in national parks or on the marae.

Using our extensive networks in the public sector, business and the community, we act as the eyes and ears for the Prime Minister, bringing to the Prime Minister's attention any areas of concern, particularly those where clear government intervention is needed to improve the lives of citizens, or where existing government policies or programmes need amendment better to meet the needs of citizens and better to reflect the Government's policy intentions.

In addition, we are responsible for providing administrative and constitutional advice and support to the Governor-General. This involves supporting the Governor-General in their constitutional role as Head of State and all aspects of their day-to-day activities.

The glue that binds the department is not what we do - our tasks and responsibilities are many and varied - but how we do it. Our work must be:

• thorough. We must have complete understanding of the policy or programme issue in question (including the views of all parties involved in or with an interest in its resolution) and the options available for its resolution before we advise the Prime Minister;

• pithy. We must get to the heart of the matter quickly and communicate our advice clearly;

• discreet. The Prime Minister, ministers and the Governor-General must have confidence in our ability keep the Government's business private when it ought to be private;

• free and frank. We have an ethical obligation to provide the Prime Minister with the advice she needs to hear, not the advice we think she wants to hear;

• honest. The Prime Minister and others with whom we deal must have confidence in our ability to be truthful messengers and honest brokers; and

• neutral. Our advice must not be coloured by a political perspective. Our advice must reflect the neutral position of New Zealand's professional public service.

While these qualities must apply in any government department, the job we do and the office we serve demands we meet the highest professional and ethical standards at all times.

In the year ending 30 June 2001, our work programme will include:

• building our department's capability to meet the challenges of a new Government with new policy and programme priorities;

• supporting the Government's policy intention of decreasing the economic, health and social gap between non-Maori, Maori and Pacific peoples. The policy and programme development springing from the Government's vision demands maximum co-operation and co-ordination between government departments. As chair of the officials committee supporting the Cabinet committee on Closing the Gaps, our department will play a supporting role in assisting the Government to achieve its policy goals in this area;

• as chair of the officials committee on domestic and external security (ODESC), continuing the development of the central government capacity for dealing with a national civil emergency;

• publishing an informative booklet on New Zealand's security and intelligence agencies to inform the public debate of the need for these agencies, what they do and to whom they are accountable; and

• playing a major role in the constitutional, administrative and ceremonial arrangements for the appointment of the next Governor-General of New Zealand when the present Governor-General, His Excellency Sir Michael Hardie-Boys, steps down from the position in March, 2001.

In carrying out these tasks, and our day-to-day activities, the key asset of DPMC is our staff. While no single formal discipline dominates among our staff, the major focus is the art of government; in particular the support of a democratic government. A key goal for the department is to maintain a core of staff with extensive public service experience, powerful analytical skills and managerial abilities to provide "head office" strategic skills for the Government. We aim to supplement that team with a steady turnover of energetic and intelligent people from many backgrounds, so that they may learn from and contribute to the government process.

The people working in the department are acutely aware of their responsibilities. We believe the position of Prime Minister is so important and demanding that the incumbent deserves the best possible support. We aim to provide that support at all times.

Mark Prebble
Chief Executive

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

VISION

Building on its position as a central government agency, to provide consistently the best possible advice, and secretariat, information and support services to successive governments to help them govern efficiently and effectively in the interests of New Zealand.

E whakatau ana tenei tari i tona ake mana me te kawanatanga, hei kete matauranga. E watea ana, i nga wa katoa, a, hei tohu i nga kai tuhi-kaupapa, ahakoa ko wai te kawanatanga, mo te painga, me te tiaki i nga tikanga katoa hei oranga mo tatou o Aoteraoa.

MISSION

We will add strategic and operational value to the decision-making processes and the administration of the Executive (the Prime Minister, Cabinet, and the Governor-General) through the provision of:

• high quality impartial policy advice;

• high quality information, assessments and secretariat services;

• high quality and responsive management and support services; and

• high quality co-ordination and facilitation services

which will be built on effective partnerships with our key stakeholders.

THE GOVERNMENT'S KEY GOALS

The department facilitates processes around the review and formulation of the Government's key goals. It also provides advice and support to the Prime Minister, in consultation with other central agencies, on the management of policies to achieve these goals.

RELATED GOVERNMENT OUTCOMES

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet contributes to the following Government outcomes through the work of its constituent business units.

• The Prime Minister in her roles of Head of Government and Chair of the Cabinet is enabled to lead and guide a coherent and informed policy-making process across the range of government activity. (Policy Advisory Group and Cabinet Office)

• More effective coordination of the policy formulation process is promoted. (Policy Advisory Group)

• The central processes of executive government are maintained and conducted impartially and effectively, and in accordance with accepted constitutional conventions. (Cabinet Office)

• Informed policy decision making, particularly in New Zealand's foreign relations and external linkages, is enhanced. (External Assessments Bureau [EAB])

• The community is informed about policy changes. (Communications Unit)

• Community safety and security is enhanced. (Crime Prevention Unit)

• A coordinated and cooperative approach to crime prevention policy design and programme implementation is promoted. (Crime Prevention Unit)

• The constitutional, social, and ceremonial functions of the Office of the Governor-General are performed. (Cabinet Office and Government House)

• The functions and dignity of the Office of the Governor-General are supported and preserved. (Cabinet Office and Government House)

• The Governor-General's residences are properly maintained. (Government House)

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

	1999/00		2000/01
	Budgeted $000	Estimated Actual $000	Budgeted $000
Revenue : Crown Revenue : Other Revenue : Interest Output Expenses Net surplus (Deficit) Taxpayers' funds Net cash flows from operating   and investing activities	12,458 45 40 12,488 73 1,386   (697)	12,458 45 40 12,380 181 1,386   (587)	12,515 48 40 12,545 58 1,496   834

 

• The department's annual appropriation for the purchase of outputs is expected to increase by (a net) $57,000 (0.45%) in 2000/01 which is a result of additional funding in 2000/01 for Policy Advice and the relocation of the EAB.

• The estimated actual net surplus for 1999/00 was higher than budgeted because of lower operating expenses than originally forecast. The budgeted net surplus for 2000/01 is expected to be lower, as operating expenses are once again projected to be closer to budget levels.

• Taxpayers' funds are expected to increase by $110,000 to $1.496 million in 2000/01 due to the capital contribution appropriated for EAB refurbishment at the new location.

• The variance in net operating cash flows is due to a full year cash disbursement from the Crown in 2000/01. In 1999/2000 the department was disbursed one month in arrears and had only received eleven months of cash disbursement.