'Exciting time': Public service bosses told of opportunities in shrinking sector

Public sector bosses have been told shrinking the public service is an “exciting time” that will require “big changes” to ensure taxpayers get better value for money.

A total of 37 chief executives, all members of the Public Service Leadership Team, attended a quarterly “retreat” in Upper Hutt to discuss plans for the future of the sector.

The Public Service Commission spent $6000 on the event.

A spokesman for the commission said “investing in leadership is important” and “good decisions, made early and collectively, help avoid unnecessary costs and support better outcomes for New Zealanders”.

An aide memoire presented to Public Service Minister Paul Goldsmith from the Public Service Commission described the retreat as an all-day meeting once a quarter “providing valuable opportunities to discuss system priorities and plan how the team collectively drive action”.

Talking points for Goldsmith’s address to the retreat, obtained by Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act, noted “economic pressures at home” including “tight fiscal settings, constraints on long-term grow [sic] and the ongoing cost of living challenge”.

Goldsmith was also told people have greater expectations of faster and more responsive services.

“The objective is clear: improve services, a smaller public service and better value for money for taxpayers. This will require big changes – reducing the number of departments, increasing the use of new technologies, including AI, & delivering savings,” the list of talking points read.

Goldsmith was also advised to encourage agencies to work across organisational boundaries and operate in a more connected way.

Talking points said it was an “important and exciting time” to be a leader in the public service. “We are in a tough environment, no doubt. But it’s also an opportunity – to do things differently, to modernise and to deliver better for New Zealanders,” Goldsmith was advised.

The commission spokesman said the retreat brought together chief executives “to agree how they will lead and deliver the next phase of public service reform, including system design, digital transformation and Budget 2026 priorities”.

“It was also an opportunity to hear directly from Public Service Minister Paul Goldsmith about the Government’s expectations for delivery,” the spokesman added.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Rhys Hurley said the spending was justified as it would lead to long-term cost savings.

“Getting the 37 bosses of our public service into one room to make clear that better services, a smaller public service, and better value for taxpayers is the goal, in our view it is $6000 well spent, provided they actually follow it through,” Hurley said.

“The test now is what actually happens when they get back to the office. Taxpayers don’t need another quarterly retreat that produces nice words and a catch-up,” he added.

Of the spend, $1461 was on catering for 41 attendees, or about $35 per person, for morning tea and lunch. Room hire was $826 and audio-visual equipment hire was $3610.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment was not represented at the discussion as the event was rescheduled from an initial date and its chief executive had prior commitments on the new meeting date.

The attendee list included the following chief executives: Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children, NZ Security Intelligence Service, Ministry of Justice, Crown Law Office, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ministry of Transport, Social Investment Agency, Public Service Commission, Ministry of Defence, NZ Customs, Statistics NZ, National Emergency Management Agency, Te Puni Kōkiri – Ministry of Māori Development, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Education, Public Service Commission, Ministry for Pacific Peoples, Ministry for Regulation, Public Service Commission, The Treasury, Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport, Office of Treaty Settlements and Takutai Moana, Serious Fraud Office, Ministry for Women, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Department of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Disabled People, Department of Conservation, NZ Trade and Enterprise, Inland Revenue, Ministry of Ethnic Communities, Department of Corrections, Ministry for the Environment, and the Education Review Office.