Statement of Forecast Service Performance
Output Class 3 Service Performance:
Intelligence assessments on developments overseas
Description
This class of outputs involves:
- the preparation of intelligence assessments and reports on political, economic, environmental, biographic, strategic, and scientific events and trends overseas affecting New Zealand’s foreign relations and external interests
- the collection, collation, evaluation and analysis of such events and trends
Intelligence assessments
- Ensure the effective provision of high-quality, accurate and succinct assessments of overseas developments that are of policy relevance to New Zealand.
Performance standards are:
- All assessments and reports are factually correct, comprehensive (they take into account all available information), concise (they are no longer than necessary for conveying the information), and pertinent and informative (they reflect national priorities and address topics requested by readers).
- Feedback from the readers of assessments and reports is positive (no more than five per cent of readers make substantive complaints about correctness, comprehensiveness, conciseness, pertinence, and informativeness).
- Ninety per cent of assessments submitted to the National Assessments Committee require no more than minor revision.
- Assessments and reports are appropriate to the Prime Minister’s requirements.
- All assessments and reports are delivered in a timeframe useful to policy makers.
- Feedback is positive.
Performance measures are:
- regular feedback sought from the Prime Minister on the quality and relevance of the intelligence assessments provided
- feedback sought from time to time from senior officials in partner departments and agencies in the foreign relations, law enforcement and intelligence communities on the quality and relevance of the intelligence assessments provided
- weekly documenting, by External Assessments Bureau (EAB) management, of the National Assessments Committee’s consideration of assessments
- a strengthened National Assessments Committee that is better placed to carry out its review functions and better able to apply an increasingly systematic process of review of EAB’s work (the new capability will supplement and reinforce the feedback provided by the Prime Minister and senior officials)
- an annual report on work output (including the number of assessments and their nature and comparative historical data) provided to senior officials.
Cost
Intelligence assessments on developments overseas will be produced within the appropriated sum of $3.399 million, to be funded by revenue: Crown.
