NZ and Australian MPs oppose freedom of their information

16 July 2013

A year ago the Law Commission released its report on the Official Information Act – the “Right to Know”.  The Government response in February this year poured cold water on most of the proposals. Contrary to the recommendations, Ministers decided that there was no need –

  • for a new Act
  • for a new oversight office
  • to compel agencies into proactive disclosure
  • for additional commercial protection
  • to impose obligations to notify third parties when information is to be released.

Ministers showed little interest in enacting additional measures which the Law Commission believed would strengthen capability to promote greater openness and transparency in government.

One change that was recommended and for a time looked possible, was extending the coverage of the Official Information Act to include the Parliamentary agencies – the Office of the Clerk, the Parliamentary Service, and the Speaker of the House.

In May last year the Australia Information Commissioner issued a determination that Federal Parliamentary agencies – Department of Parliamentary Services, the Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of the Senate – were covered by the Freedom of Information Act.  While welcomed by many, this interpretation was both novel and unexpected.  Few parliamentarians however were supportive. Cross party moves were soon afoot for remedial legislation.

And in fewer than three sitting days last month, both Houses showed little opposition to enacting the Parliamentary Service Amendment (Freedom of Information) Bill – a misnomer that reversed the prospect of greater public scrutiny of parliamentarians’ practices.

Yesterday’s Open and Shut blog records a response from Malcolm Turnbull to a query about the reason for the willingness of the House to exempt itself from FOI in an 11 minute session. His unembellished explanation was that “the exemptions were of longstanding or thought to be “.

One advance in New Zealand, achieved without legislative change, has been the agreement of the Government to the periodic publication of a review of Ministerial conflicts of interest, monitored and audited by the Ombudsmen.

www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/g/government-response-to-law-commission-report-on-the-publics-right-to-know-review-of-the-official-information-legislation

www.foi-privacy.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/parliament-outside-foi-zone-because-it.html#.UePhgt-N12E

https://integritytalkingpoints.com/2012/06/01/may-be-australian-information-not-so-free-after-all/

www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/newsroom/item/ombudsman-recommends-regular-and-proactive-disclosure-of-information-about-ministerial-conflicts-of-interest

Uncategorized

, , ,

July 16, 2013

Leave a comment

Does posture affect honesty?

15 July 2013

If by nature you have expansive characteristics, you may have to constrain yourself!

Research into ergonomics suggests that people with a preference for an expansive environment, for power posing and the opportunity to spread out, with a big desk, or wide car seat – have a predisposition for dishonesty.  People who like a big desk are more likely to cheat and steal; people who prefer cars with a large driver’s seat seem more inclined to commit driving offences.  The researchers’ thesis is that having a larger space leads us to adopting expansive postures, which in turn influence our psychology.

The Ergonomics of Dishonesty records four studies showing how body postures, influenced by our environment, lead to increases in dishonesty. Experiments found that individuals who engaged in expansive postures (either explicitly or inadvertently) were more likely to steal money, cheat on a test, and breach the road code.  A study found that cars with more expansive driver’s seats were more likely to be illegally parked on New York City streets. “Taken together, results suggest that: (1) environments that expand the body can inadvertently lead us to feel more powerful, and (2) these feelings of power can cause dishonest behaviour.”

The study does not comment whether having a personal office may also adversely affect our psychology, as if it were an extension of a big desk.  Perhaps to promote integrity, agencies should have open plan arrangements for all staff.  As a non sequitur, the Crown Law offices to which Crown Counsel and support staff moved this month are open plan.

www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2013/06/28/does-sitting-at-a-big-desk-make-you-cheat/

Uncategorized

, ,

July 15, 2013

Leave a comment

Privatising public services exposes UK Government to corporate fraud

12 July 2013

The surprising thing coming to light about the management contracts that SERCO and G4S have with the UK Justice sector is not that the Serious Fraud Office is investigating suspected corruption on a substantial scale – that is a reflection of private sector innovation at play – but that tiers of civil servants appear to have condoned deceitful practices.  Opportunism is a component of capitalism. Balance should be achieved with an integrity-rich administration committed to regulating in the public interest.

Officials responsible for protecting that public interest appear to have been captured by the UK Government’s wish to privatise services, and have become unconcerned about operational abuses. Tens of millions of pounds can only have been fraudulently extracted from service contracts if those responsible for oversight chose not to look too closely at what was going on.

And Ministers, having championed the fiscal advantages of introducing competition to public services, are now castigating officials for possible collusion with private sector ways. The Justice Minister expressed astonishment in the Commons that  “… some Ministry staff would have known about the practice for five years; they were aware of the problem but did nothing effective to address it.”

Will we find out that in due course that Ministers were advised but didn’t want to hear, or that officials decided not to tell Ministers about matters which they knew Ministers did not want to know? Where were the protected disclosures?  Perhaps this fits with the Transparency International Corruption Barometer report this week that in Britain 90% of those surveyed said that “…the UK Government is run by a few big entities acting in their own interest.”

The extent of the G4S and Serco fraud is uncertain, but special audits began in mid May.  A reluctance by G4S to cooperate with further audits suggests problems may have become entrenched from the start of contracting in 1999.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/g4s-and-serco-face-50-million-fraud-inquiry-8703245.html

http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/contracting-out-means-fraud.html

http://news.sky.com/story/1113324/corruption-seen-to-be-growing-in-uk-report

Uncategorized

, ,

July 12, 2013

Leave a comment

State sector empowered to make a difference with tweaked tools and mandate

11 July 2013

The State Sector Amendment Act evolved yesterday from splitting the State Sector and Public Finance Reform Bill on its Third Reading. It passed with the support of the Labour opposition.

The Minister enthused about the outcomes that will be facilitated by the new legislation.

“… Within 5 years these changes will distinguish the New Zealand Public Service as functioning as a single system, rather than as a collection of individual agencies; as focusing effort, people, skills, and money on where it is most needed; and as being led by innovative chief executives and senior leadership adept at inspiring and getting the most out of staff, and achieving a collective impact across the public, private, and community sectors. Under this legislation, we will be proud of public agencies that design services with, and for, the people who use them; a public sector that uses technology expertly and safely to provide better services and increase efficiency; a public service that can transparently measure and report on its performance across the whole system to identify weaknesses and drive further improvement; and agencies that will use this data to help direct the resources and attention to where they are needed most, and that have the capability and resilience to meet not just the tasks of today, but to meet the challenges of future change and grasp the opportunities…”

The Labour spokesman reminded the House that his party gave support only after amendments to protect employment rights of State servants .  He was complimentary about  the effectiveness of the legislative process when a select committee showed independence and Ministers showed flexibility.  He spoke of the unchanging commitment of those who work for the Government. He highlighted the amended purpose in the Bill. He emphasised that it

“… is a commendable clause in terms of setting out the principles of the State sector: about the spirit of service to the community, about the collective interests of the Government, about appropriate standards of integrity and conduct; about political neutrality, workforce, and personnel matters being provided for properly; and about good employer-employee obligations as well as about a culture of excellence…”

State servants who dedicate their careers to serving the “Government of the Day” (a tautology as there cannot be any other form of government) will take satisfaction from the mutually supporting speeches of parliamentary leaders championing measures to increase efficiency and effectiveness in the State services while reinforcing traditional values and the spirit of service.

www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/a/6/1/50HansD_20130709_00000036-State-Sector-Amendment-Bill-Public-Finance.htm

Uncategorized

, , , ,

July 11, 2013

Leave a comment

Political neutrality no longer the currency in UK Ministers’ Offices

10 July 2013

On this anniversary of decimal currency being introduced into New Zealand in 1967,  in Britain a new party-political currency is to be introduced into the governance arrangements for Ministers’ Offices.

The statement from the Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude to mark the first anniversary of his Civil Service Reform plan seems to have been made available to the Guardian ahead of others in the media.  The substance is that Ministers’ Offices are to be set up along the lines of those in Canada, Australia and to a lesser extent, New Zealand.  Ministers’ Offices will largely lose their traditional Civil Service character.  Any appearance of impartiality will be dropped and a politically appointed chief of staff will control the Minister’s fixed-term special advisers.

These changes reflect recommendations by the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Institute of Government which looked internationally for systems to enhance the effectiveness of Ministers’ Offices as part of increasing government accountability.

The majority of the increased staffing in Ministers’ Offices will still be civil servants but like the special advisers, will be personally appointed by Ministers – through the openly political chief of staff.  Mr Maude believes that arrangements which provide Ministers with a team committed to the Ministers’ objectives can be implemented without legislative reform or changes to the Civil Service code – which already exempts special advisers from neutrality obligations.

Interestingly the report is that there will be no new money to fund the increased resources – and ironically there appears to be not only cross party support but endorsement from the vocally independent Public Accounts Committee chair.

While there seems to be general endorsement by politicians, the union for senior Civil Servants is concerned about politicising Ministers’ Offices – “this … is likely to mean Ministers hear what they want to hear, but not what they need to hear. The destabilising effect of this approach should not be underestimated – the last thing anyone needs is further turmoil through the ranks of the Civil Service every time there is a reshuffle or election.”

www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jul/10/ministers-new-powers-civil-servants

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/events/civil-service-reform-%E2%80%93-one-year

Uncategorized

, , ,

July 10, 2013

Leave a comment

Is it credible that 3% of New Zealanders bribed a judge last year?

9 July 2013

The Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer published today indicates a frequency of bribe paying in New Zealand that will be regarded with disbelief by most.

Of the 114,000 people in 107 countries who were asked earlier this year whether they had paid a bribe “when interacting with key public institutions and services”, 27% indicated that they had.

Of the 1,000 New Zealanders taking part in the survey, 3% responded that they had paid such a bribe in the last 12 months.  They said they had done so –

  • To obtain a service           (35%)
  • To get a cheaper service  (29%)
  • To speed things up           (15%)
  • To show gratitude            (15%)

New Zealand respondents considered that

  • Government actions to fight corruption are ineffective    (44%)
  •  Corruption levels are increasing                                               (65%)

There seems to be an inexplicable disconnect between this survey and similar measures of interactions with public services.

When instances of an agency employee receiving a personal benefit occasionally come to light there is almost universal surprise within the State Services.  Survey responses indicating that payments are regularly paid for service delivery or to accelerate service delivery would seem incredible were it not that the previous survey produced a similar measure.

Frequency of Respondents saying they have paid a bribe in last 12 months

Judiciary                               3%

Police                                     3%

Utilities                                 3%

Land services                       3%

Permit services                    3%

Tax services                          2%

Health services                    2%

(Respondents in Denmark and Finland report between 0 -2% for these factors)

Perceived corruption of New Zealand public services or institutions

Political parties                      46%

Media                                       43%

Business                                  36%

Religious bodies                    35%

Parliament                              33%

Public officials                       25%

Police                                       24%

Judiciary                                20%

NGOs                                      19%

Health services                     17%

Education services               16%

Military                                   11%

www.transparency.org/gcb2013/country/?country=new_zealand

www.transparency.org/gcb2013/press#en

www.transparency.org/gcb2013/countries

Uncategorized

,

July 9, 2013

Leave a comment

“…nor hell a fury like a woman scorned”

8 July 2013 

The FCPA Blog on Friday highlighted half a dozen corruption convictions of senior Chinese officials.

These may be the “flies” referred to by President Wi in a recent anti corruption speech, warning that he would target all levels of the bureaucracy – “the tigers and the flies”.  He said that this is necessary to maintain the authority of the Party, for “…as long as the Politburo always and everywhere sets an example, they can continue to call the shots.”

One of the really big “tigers”, Liu Zhijun, was sentenced today following his prosecution in June.  The former Minister of Railways was convicted on corruption charges involving more than NZ$10 million.  He received a commuted death penalty, forfeiture of his political rights, a minimum term of 10 years imprisonment, and to avoid family benefitting from his crimes, the confiscation of all his property.

Liu had governed the modernisation of China’s rail system, a major engineering feat, spending $300 bn on 20,000 kms of high-speed rail track over a ten year period.

Commentators question whether the prosecution resulted from uncovering corruption or whether it was politically expedient following a much publicised crash of a high speed train in 2011 which raised doubts about the quality of the rail modernisation project.  Another possibility is that it was conspicuous spending that was being punished – police recovered 16 cars, and more than 350 flats from Liu.  He had 18 mistresses many of whom were employed by the National Railways.

Another example uncovered recently is a departmental head in Inner Mongolia. His mistresses jointly disclosed his acquisition of dozens of properties, and the equivalent of more than NZ$20 million.

A Hong Kong academic’s research suggests that mistresses have become part of China’s anti-graft efforts. “Behind almost every corrupt official there is or there was a mistress or multiple mistresses.”  Angry mistresses seem to be the source of web based reports of officials abusing positions for personal advantage.  There must be a Chinese equivalent of Congreve’s observation about scorned women.

www.fcpablog.com/blog/2013/7/5/china-corruption-blotter-july-5-2013.html#

ww.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/8892828/Former-Chinese-minister-sentenced-for-corruption

www.voanews.com/content/china-anti-corruption-drive-uncovers-scandals/1695689.html

Uncategorized

,

July 8, 2013

Leave a comment

Is the rule of law holding up in NZ?

5 July 2013

Results of the annual Rule of Law Index will be explored next week as part of the World Justice Forum at The Hague.

New Zealand has rated among countries showing greatest respect for the rule of law in each year since the World Justice Project began. However a concern for New Zealand is that its ranking slipped markedly last year compared with the two previous Indices (although there were 98 participating jurisdictions last year compared with 66 in the previous year).  Nevertheless the Index summary from last year described New Zealand as standing out  “…as the best performer in the region. Its judicial system is accessible, independent, and effective, and government agencies and courts are efficient and free of corruption….”

Ironically this week’s High Court  judgment on the regulations facilitating the Government’s smoke- free prisons’ policy concluded that the regulations were ultra vires. The regulation making power did not enable a prohibition on smoking and, though the list of prisoner privileges was prescribed by regulation, a privilege could not be taken from that list by regulation.

Because prohibitions on smoking and on the possession of tobacco have now been enacted in remedial legislation, the prohibition on smoking in prisons will continue.  The Court felt that there was need for a declaration that the Regulations were invalid as that may be the only remedy.

The ranking of New Zealand in this year’s Index will perhaps confirm whether aspects of public administration that capture media headlines are indicative of declining standards, or whether, in the international scheme of things, New Zealand remains among the World’s best in maintaining the rule of law.

http://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index

www.facebook.com/pages/World-Justice-Project/259898782812?ref=stream&hc_location=timeline

http://worldjusticeproject.org/blog/index-data-spotlight-rule-law-east-asia-pacific

https://integritytalkingpoints.com/?s=rule+of+law+project

www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/about/supreme/supreme//from/decisions/judgments

http://earthdesk.blogs.pace.edu/2013/07/10/special-earthdesk-report-from-world-justice-forum-iv-at-the-hague/

Uncategorized

, ,

July 5, 2013

Leave a comment

Tough times to continue for UK civil service

4 July 2013

The picture remains grim for the British civil service. There will be another four years of austerity measures according to the Cabinet Secretary .  This seems to echo comments by his Minster in late June that the government needs to make additional cuts on top of the £5bn in efficiency savings already achieved. And Whitehall reforms need to be accelerated over the next year.

“We need to be honest about what needs to change,”  Mr Maude. the Cabinet Office Minister told a Civil Service Live conference. “There is no virtue in us being mealy-mouthed.”  He acknowledged a leadership failure in implementing the civil service reform plan and finding the resources it would take.  Despite his push for hard headed analysts, he conceded that he had misunderstood the need for generalists. He is now backpedalling on a mantra that “the age of the generalist is over”. Although he thought that the consolidation of the government legal service under the Treasury Solicitor and setting up the Government Digital Service were going well, it’s just pity that the majority of civil servants responding to a staff survey don’t agree – 52%  now feeling less supported than a few years ago.

In New Zealand the State Sector and Public Finance Reform Bill generated some excitement in Parliament with the Committee stages completed under urgency last night and this morning.  With Labour ACT and Dunn in support, there were no substantive challenges to the Government which seems to be making a better fist of changes to facilitate Better Public Services than the reforms in Britain. Perhaps Mr Maude needs to adopt  more moderate tone when speaking of State servants as both the Ministers of Justice and Economic Development  did at the Public Sector Excellence Awards last night, and as Amy Adams did today when chairing the House in Committee.

www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/2013/jul/03/francis-maude-civil-servants-failure

www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Legislation/Bills/d/4/6/00DBHOH_BILL11610_1-State-Sector-and-Public-Finance-Reform-Bill.htm

Uncategorized

, , ,

July 4, 2013

Leave a comment

Public Sector Excellence Awards

3 July 2013

Parliament tonight was debating amendments to the State Sector Act and the Public Finance Act to enable improvements in the delivery of more effective State Services at the same time as several hundred State servants gathered at the TSB Centre in Wellington to celebrate excellence across the public sector.

New Zealand Institute of Public Administration (IPANZ )recognised the best agency endeavours with Excellence Awards.  Forty one agencies were involved in a range of outcome focused activities which demonstrate their commitment to implementing effective and customer focused services.

The Prime Minister’s Award,  the premier award, was given to the Ministry of Social Welfare for its “It’s OK to help”  programme.  This seeks to extend the “OK” brand, to build on the “It’s not OK” anti-violence campaign which IPANZ  recognised with an award several years ago. Trish Green and her team at MSD have entrenched the message that support and encouragement can  be effective in reducing family violence.

The awards were:

  • Justice Sector Award for Integrity and Trust – MBIE with balancing “Ease of Doing Business” and Integrity
  • State Services Commission and LDC Award for Improving Performance through Leadership Excellence –   LINZ
  • Sweeney Vesty award for Public Sector Communications – MSD ( Its OK to help)
  • State Services Commission Award for Working Together in the Public Services -Ministry of Justice, NZ Police and the Department of Corrections
  • Treasury Award for Improving Public Value through Business Transformation – MBIE and Ministry of Justice
  • Te Puni Kokiri Award for Crown – Maori relationships – Bay of Plenty DHB
  • Microsoft Award for Networked Government – NZTA
  • VUW School of Government New Professional of the Year – Jeremy Palmer

Hon Stephen Joyce and Hon Judith Collins presented awards.  Both made very heartening and appreciative comments about the commitment and effectiveness of agency staff.  Meanwhile, at Parliament, the Committee of the Whole continued its consideration of the State Sector and Public Finance Reform Bill.

www.ipanz.org.nz/MainMenu

www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1307/S00044/its-ok-to-help-campaign-wins.htm

Uncategorized

,

July 3, 2013

Leave a comment

« Older posts
Newer posts «