Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
PSA - Tell us your plan John
16 February 2012
Tell us your plan John
The PSA has requested an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss his plans for the future of the public service.
Decisions on how to improve public services must involve those who receive them as well as those who deliver them and their unions – not just Google executives. Further use of technology within the public service must enhance services rather than squeeze departments’ capacity to deliver them.
Dear Prime Minister,
We would like to meet with you urgently to discuss your plans to reform the public service. We are most interested in knowing:
By international standards, New Zealand’s public service is already small. What is your target for how small our public service should be and what is that based on?
What do you see as the main problems with our current public services and how will technology fix these?
What other agencies do you plan to merge and how will you ensure they result in better service delivery?
What analysis has been done of the economic and social impact of your decision to make thousands more public sector workers jobless?
What services will be cut to pay for investment in new technology, given that public expenditure has been capped by your government?
How will you guarantee universal access to public services for the technologically disadvantaged?
Given that many public service users do not have smartphones or even a decent internet connection, which public services will people be accessing through call centres in future?
How will your plan use new technology to enhance services that deal with complex issues as opposed to transactions such as checking in for a flight or completing a tax return?
How will you apply the lessons learned from previous technological failures?
Is your current plan to replace front-line staff with technology and online interaction not at odds with the original plan to get rid of back-office staffing, such as IT, communication and administrative support?
Please let us know when you are available to discuss these urgent matters.
PSA Secretariat, Brenda Pilott and Richard Wagstaff
ENDS
Gordon Campbell: On The Royal Commission’s Fine-tuning Of Vaccine Mandates And Lockdowns
Alcohol Healthwatch: Booze Delivered Quickly With Few Checks In Auckland
NZDF: Details From Interim Court Of Inquiry Report Into HMNZS Manawanui Incident Released
Land Air Water Aotearoa: Ambitious Nationwide Initiative To Track And Share Actions To Improve Freshwater
NZ Government: Chemical Weapons And Iranian Missiles Targeted In New Russia Sanctions
Ministry For Culture And Heritage: Reverberations Of Erebus Disaster Still Felt 45 Years Later
Watercare Services: No Cause For Concern After Slightly Elevated Levels Of Arsenic Detected In Treated Waikato River Water
