Statement of Intent · Reviews of MMP and wider constitutional issues may require advice on procedural responses from my Office. Similarly, changes in public sector financial management

A.8.SOI (2012)

Office of the Clerk of the House of RepresentativesTe Tari o te Manahautū o te Whare Māngai



Statement of Intent

For the years ending 30 June 2013 to 30 June 2015 Presented to the House of Representatives under section 39 of the Public Finance Act 1989

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Contents Page

Foreword: Speaker of the House of Representatives................................................4

Ministerial statement of responsibility........................................................................5

Message from the Clerk of the House of Representatives........................................6

Chief Executive statement of responsibility...............................................................7

Nature and scope of functions ....................................................................................8

Strategic direction.......................................................................................................10

Operating intentions...................................................................................................12

Managing in a changeable operating environment .................................................22

Assessing organisational health and capability ......................................................24

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Foreword: Speaker of the House of Representatives The Office of the Clerk is a small but important organisation at the core of our democratic system. Its central business is to provide secretariat support to the day-to-day functioning of the House and select committees. The New Zealand Parliament has traditionally been an open one. The Office manages a technically diverse set of information channels ranging over paper publications, TV, radio, and website. The challenge for the Office is to ensure that information about what Parliament is doing is seamlessly connected, searchable, and easily accessible to audiences who expect choice in the way they access information. In this regard, the Office has signalled its intention to look for ways to make captioning of the proceedings of the House available for Parliament TV, in order to enhance accessibility for the hearing-impaired community, and to pilot test webcasting of select committee hearings of evidence. I support the Clerk in these initiatives. The Office continues to place considerable emphasis on developing more effective and efficient ways to deliver its services. In particular, it is working on ways to capture the highly specialised knowledge accumulated by individual staff – work that will also support the ongoing procedural development so important in keeping Parliament relevant. The enhancement of the services the Office provides to support legislative scrutiny through further advice on constitutional and administrative law issues in bills before the House also has my support. As part of meeting its international obligations, the New Zealand Parliament will host the 22nd Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth early in 2014. This is an important conference that brings together presiding officers from national parliaments across the Commonwealth to promote knowledge and understanding of parliamentary democracy and the development of parliamentary institutions. It will involve additional one-off costs, placing pressure on the Office’s resources, which may require a small increase of operating funds to enable this important international obligation to be appropriately delivered. In the years covered in this Statement of Intent, New Zealand will continue to face major economic challenges. All branches of government, including Parliament and its support agencies, must play their part in delivering services in an effective and efficient manner to contribute to New Zealand’s future. As part of this I expect the Office to continue to deliver its outputs and to innovate and explore further shared service relationships for achieving outcomes for Parliament, but at the same time appreciate its fiscal responsibilities. I endorse the Office’s Statement of Intent and consider that its direction is consistent with my expectations. Dr The Rt Hon Lockwood Smith Speaker of the House of Representatives

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Ministerial statement of responsibility I am satisfied that the information on future operating intentions provided by the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives in this Statement of Intent and the Information Supporting the Estimates is in accordance with sections 38, 40, and 41 of the Public Finance Act 1989, and is consistent with my requirements and performance expectations as Responsible Minister for the Office. Dr The Rt Hon Lockwood Smith Speaker of the House of Representatives

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Message from the Clerk of the House of Representatives The period covered in this statement sees a new Parliament and one of special significance. It is the 50th parliament elected in New Zealand, which makes the New Zealand Parliament the ninth oldest continuous parliament in the world. A new Parliament brings increased demand for services, given that one of the key responsibilities of the Office is to assist new members to establish themselves in their roles as members of the House and its committees. New Standing Orders adopted for the 50th Parliament have brought additional publishing requirements and the introduction of extended sitting hours, which the Office will need to fund and resource from within existing baselines. During this Parliament, I will present to the Standing Orders Committee proposals for the captioning of parliamentary proceedings broadcast on Parliament TV and the webcasting of select committee hearings of evidence, as part of the strategy for communicating Parliament. Implementation of both these initiatives will pose significant fiscal challenges. Reviews of MMP and wider constitutional issues may require advice on procedural responses from my Office. Similarly, changes in public sector financial management arising from a greater government focus on primary outcomes and sector delivery are likely to require the Office to advise on any legislative response and procedural changes. The Office is also contributing to policy on the review of members of Parliament remuneration and services framework and the Law Commission’s ongoing work on the review of the Official Information Act 1982. Openness and transparency in the use of public funds is something from which Parliament is not sheltered. The public increasingly expects to be able to choose the means by which they access information and they also expect to be able to easily search for a topic and find related information. In order for Parliament to remain relevant to today’s public, the Office must support it to meet these expectations. My Office will tackle this challenge through the development of a communications strategy for Parliament and enhancing our broadcasting and publishing systems. Members also require flexible means of accessing the information necessary for them to perform their roles as legislators and scrutinisers of government activity. My aim is to deliver seamless access through the communication devices that best suit a member’s needs. This will require further innovation and enhanced shared service arrangements with the Parliamentary Service. Finally, along with all State agencies, the Office is faced with the prospect of delivering more within a static financial baseline. Achieving the aspirations set out in this Statement of Intent will require a close examination of operational efficiencies, the development of innovative ways to deliver services, including shared service arrangements, and, in some cases, hard decisions about priorities. One of the areas I am committed to is maintaining the high calibre of staff in the Office and developing their professional and managerial skills.

Mary Harris Clerk of the House of Representatives

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Chief Executive statement of responsibility In signing this statement, I acknowledge that I am responsible for the information contained in this Statement of Intent for the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The information has been prepared in accordance with the Public Finance Act 1989. It is also consistent with the proposed appropriations set on in the Appropriation (2011/12 Estimates) Bill, as presented to the House of Representatives in accordance with section 13 of the Public Finance Act 1989, and with existing appropriations and financial authorities.

Mary Harris Clerk of the House of Representatives 3 April 2012 Peter Carr Clerk-Assistant (Organisational Performance and Public Information) Chief Financial Officer 3 April 2012

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Nature and scope of functions Legislative authority The Clerk of the House of Representatives is the principal permanent officer of the House and carries out the functions required under section 3 of the Clerk of the House of Representatives Act 1988: 3 Functions of Clerk of the House of Representatives

The functions of the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall be— (a) to note all proceedings of the House of Representatives and of any committee of the

House: (b) to carry out such duties and exercise such powers as may be conferred on the Clerk

of the House of Representatives by law or by the Standing Orders and practice of the House of Representatives:

(c) to act as the principal officer of the Office of the Clerk of the House of

Representatives and, in that capacity, to manage that office efficiently, effectively, and economically:

(d) to ensure that the members of the staff of the Office of the Clerk of the House of

Representatives carry out their duties (including duties imposed on them by law or by the Standing Orders or practice of the House of Representatives) and maintain—

(i) proper standards of integrity and conduct; and (ii) concern for the public interest:

(e) to be responsible, under the direction of the Speaker of the House of

Representatives, for the official report of the proceedings of the House of Representatives and its committees.

The Office of the Clerk, established under section 14 of the Act, assists the Clerk in carrying out these functions. It is the legislature’s secretariat. The Office administers a single vote and has two classes of outputs.

Output Class: Secretariat Services for the House of Representatives This appropriation is limited to the provision to the House of Representatives of professional advice and services designed to assist the House in the fulfilment of its constitutional functions, and enabling participation in, and understanding of, parliamentary proceedings.

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Output Class: Inter-Parliamentary Relations This appropriation is limited to services to improve relations between the New Zealand Parliament and other parliaments, including providing advice on inter-parliamentary relations to the Speaker and members, establishing and implementing an annual programme of incoming and outgoing visits, developing and implementing individual visit programmes, assisting to build the capacity of the Pacific Island parliaments, supporting (including through travel to meetings overseas) the New Zealand Parliament’s contribution on global issues at parliamentary organisations and hosting international parliamentary conferences.

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Strategic direction The Office of the Clerk is a small, highly-focused servicing agency providing secretariat services to the House of Representatives. The House determines, dominates, and influences the work of the Office. The Office’s outputs, systems, and structure have evolved in response to the needs of the House and those who interact with it. Most of the Office’s activities take the form of a longstanding range of advisory, information, and administrative services – our outputs. The Office also advocates for the effectiveness of Parliament as a democratic institution. It does this on a day-to-day basis by providing procedural advice and advice on constitutional and administrative law issues, and from time to time it also takes a more visible role through speeches, papers, and articles. It may also make submissions to select committees and other forums. The Office’s strategy is focused on continuing to be able to deliver its outputs, and reviewing and improving those outputs. The Office aligns its outcome and outputs to the priorities of Parliament, rather than government priorities. Parliament’s priorities are determined by its members and expressed in its day-to-day operations by the Speaker, and in a more strategic sense by the Standing Orders Committee. They are codified in Standing Orders and most of the Office’s activities flow from that document. We live in a changing world and Parliament as an institution is not static. It evolves, and its support requirements change. The Office has a role to identify opportunities for improvements in how it services Parliament. In all cases it references these opportunities against the needs of the House and its committees, and for the more significant ones, it refers them to the House to consider via the Speaker or the Standing Orders Committee. The Office has developed four impacts or intermediate outcomes, through which it will contribute value to enhance the effectiveness of Parliament as an institution:

Parliament remains relevant because it has the capacity to adapt its procedures

Effective parliamentary scrutiny enhances government outcomes

Public respect for the institution of Parliament grows because the public is informed about what Parliament is doing and able to participate

Parliament’s capacity is enhanced by members’ engagement with other parliaments and inter-parliamentary organisations.

The end-to-end process linking the Office’s outcome, its outputs, and its impacts to Parliament’s needs can be seen in the diagram on the following page.

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Operating intentions What are we seeking to achieve?

Delivery of outputs In summary, we seek to achieve continued delivery of our existing outputs, and the majority of our effort will be spent here. Our outputs are set out below.

Output Class: Secretariat Services for the House of Representatives

Services to the House and committees of the whole House

procedural and operational advice to the Speaker and presiding officers and members

servicing sittings of the House

recording proceedings of the House

maintenance of House records

scrutiny of questions for oral and written answer

certification of bills and their preparation for Royal assent

Te Reo Māori interpretation and translation

Services to select committees

procedural and operational advice to committee chairpersons and members

servicing committee meetings

informing committee consideration

recording decisions of committees

maintenance of committee records

drafting committee reports

brokering sources of subject advice to committees

Information about the proceedings of the House and its committees

publishing the proceedings of the House and select committees

covering and broadcasting the House on radio, television, and the Parliament website

providing on-demand replay television coverage of the House

providing television feeds to broadcasters and websites

publishing summary information about the proceedings of Parliament

Specialist procedural and legal services

specialist and high-level procedural and legal advice

parliamentary policy development and advice

parliamentary education services

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members’ legislative drafting service

administration of statutory functions under the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993 and the Electoral Act 1993

administration of the Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament

Output Class: Inter-Parliamentary Relations advice to the Speaker and members about inter-parliamentary relations

development and management of the annual visit programme

advice and services to individual visits

advice and services aimed at building parliamentary capacity in Pacific parliaments

planning, advice, and services supporting the hosting of parliamentary conferences

secretariat services to local branches of inter-parliamentary agencies

advice and services supporting engagement with inter-parliamentary organisations Performance measures for the achievement of these outputs are set out in the Performance Information for Appropriations.

Strategic drivers and themes A strategy of continuous improvement consistent with Parliament’s priorities underpins our planning and performance. The Office looks on an ongoing basis to enhance the services it provides to the House and its committees. It is also in a unique position to contribute to the ongoing development of the parliamentary process itself. The drivers and themes for this strategy of continuous improvement and development over the next three years are set out below, followed by specific objectives under each of the impact headings.

Options to deal with variations in volume Demand for the Office’s services remains in an upward trend. High volumes of legislative activity are expected to continue, creating challenges for all parts of the Office. Governments always seek more time in the House for the passage of government legislation. The Standing Orders were changed in late 2011 to allow for extended sitting times, in certain circumstances, without the use of urgency. The Office will monitor this innovation and use its institutional knowledge to review its effectiveness and present other options for the sittings of the House, and the committee of the whole House, to ensure good-quality legislative outcomes. Similarly, the Office will continue using a wider team approach to servicing committees with high volumes of legislation and major bills that require extensive hearings. Parliament operates over a three-year cycle and has a distinctive operational pattern, with high levels of activity in the first two years tailing off over the second half of the term. The Office would like to be able to recognise this pattern to conserve funds freed up over the quieter period to use during the busy period. The Office is interested in options that are coming available to deal with these variations in the parliamentary cycle by adopting a three-year appropriation, or further use of forward loading/carry forwards from year to year. We plan to examine the options over the next year and, in conjunction with Treasury advice, develop a preferred strategy.

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Support for parliamentary scrutiny We identified opportunities to enhance support of the House’s financial scrutiny functions which will make the House’s financial scrutiny as rigorous as its legislative scrutiny. As part of the review process, a range of options to develop understanding of the financial information presented to the House, along with well targeted and focused support for financial scrutiny, have been proposed. We will now analyse those options and consult widely on them. We will also consider any changes to the Government’s financial management systems that may arise as a result of the Government’s drive for better public services and the accountability implications of these. The House’s legislative system is highly regarded, particularly the contribution that public participation makes. Bills and the policy they seek to deliver receive rigorous scrutiny. However, there is room to enhance scrutiny of constitutional and administrative law issues and, regulatory impact, including cost benefit and value for money considerations in legislation –issues that policy advisers do not always address. The Office will develop its policy and legal resources to provide improved assistance to select committees in these areas.

Meeting expectations for access to and the ability to participate in parliamentary proceedings Public expectation for access to and participation in parliamentary proceedings continues to grow. The Office will continue to support Parliament’s response to this trend towards much greater openness. The Office recognises that, despite the availability of much more information, it can still be difficult for members of the public to easily find the information they are seeking about Parliament, and there is now a need for a more integrated approach to the provision of information. The public increasingly expects to be able to choose the means by which they access information, and they also expect to be able to easily search for a topic and find related information. In order for Parliament to remain relevant to today’s public, the Office must support it to meet these expectations. Part of this work will involve the development of an overarching communications strategy for Parliament. We need to better understand our stakeholders’ requirements for openness and access to parliamentary proceedings and information about Parliament. The work will also give us information to prioritise the most cost-effective means of communication. We anticipate demands for captioning of the proceedings of the House in order to enhance accessibility for the hearing-impaired community. We will prepare proposals for consideration by the Standing Orders Committee. The service may be developed as part of the review of the Hansard Production System. The funding of such a new service will require wider consideration. In addition, given the Office’s primary role in informing the public about what Parliament is doing and facilitating public input to Parliament, the Parliament website will come under the Office’s full control from 2012. The Parliament website now includes all select committee proceedings. This is a significant amount of material and we will examine the way in which it is presented into the future to ensure a high level of accessibility. We are also in the early stages of examining options to film select committee hearings of evidence and make them available to the public via webcasts and podcasts. This project will commence with a pilot designed to establish the feasibility of webcasting select committee hearings of evidence from two committee rooms. The Office’s role as a broadcaster is a limited one, focused solely on broadcasting the proceedings of Parliament. There are many potential directions in which the broadcasting of Parliament could be expanded beyond the broadcasting of the live proceedings, replays, and summary programmes, but these would require levels of broadcasting expertise and resources that do not fit well with the Office’s core functions.

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In 2013 the Office will undertake the renegotiation of the suite of contracts that cover the televising of Parliament. Cost pressures are expected to be a significant part of the negotiation. The expectation is that the full range of radio and television broadcasting may not be able to be sustained over the longer term and some trade-offs may be needed. This will involve consultation with the different stakeholders, but it is anticipated that the solution may be able to be designed so as to enable costs to be absorbed within existing resources.

Increasing the effectiveness of the inter-parliamentary relations function An inter-parliamentary relations programme of inward and outward visits focused on promoting relationships with other parliaments and strengthening bilateral relationships will be the priority. There is scope to enhance the inter-parliamentary travel programme to provide greater opportunities for the New Zealand Parliament and its members to reciprocate visits and participate actively in events organised by inter-parliamentary organisations, to increase participation of select committees and parliamentary friendship groups, and to contribute further to members’ professional development. The Office will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to combine the attendance by members at events organised by inter-parliamentary organisations with bilateral visits to countries in the area. This will allow the New Zealand Parliament to fulfil two of its obligations for virtually the same cost. The programme will be reviewed with the Speaker, MFAT, and the Visits and Ceremonial Office (VCO) of the Executive Government Support Group of the Department of Internal Affairs. The aim of this review is to develop a core programme that will support the uptake of members’ professional development opportunities arising from programmes run through international parliamentary organisations, following reform of members’ international travel entitlements funded through the Parliamentary Service. A particular emphasis in the programme is on supporting developing parliamentary democracy in the Pacific through leading the co-ordination of international initiatives, and delivering programmes for new members and presiding officers, Commonwealth women parliamentarians, and clerks of parliaments. The Office will continue to work in co-operation with strategic partners such as MFAT, AusAid, Australian parliaments, and the United Nations Development Programme to achieve a more targeted and effective level of support where the Office provides its expertise with funding from those organisations. As part of meeting its international obligations the New Zealand Parliament will host the 22nd Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth early in 2014. This will involve additional one-off costs. The Office is working with VCO to find fiscally neutral solutions from the Vote Ministerial Services funding for the guest of Parliament programme. If this is not possible, a small injection of operating funds may be required to meet this important international obligation.

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What will we do to achieve this? Our strategic planning has identified a number of objectives that will support the four impacts the Office is seeking to achieve. These are set out below, under each of the impact statements:

Impact 1 Parliament remains relevant because it has the capacity to adapt its procedures

Objectives

Parliamentary knowledge management system implemented

How will the Office measure success in achieving this objective?

The Office intends to continue to develop a knowledge management system to enhance the timely capture and dissemination of procedural information and precedents, information critical to the accuracy of the Office’s core function – the delivery of procedural advice. This work includes the encouragement of a knowledge-sharing environment within the Office and the development of business processes and tools to support this environment. This initiative will underpin people capability development over the next three years, providing readily accessible, accurate, and up-to-date procedural information for clerks-at-the-Table and clerks of committees, and provide a means to assist in the preparation of the fourth edition of Parliamentary Practice in New Zealand.

Key knowledge-sharing principles are developed and communicated, business processes for sharing knowledge throughout the Office are aligned, and tools to support knowledge sharing are selected and implemented.

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Impact 3 Public respect for the institution of Parliament grows because the public is informed about what Parliament is doing and able to participate

Objectives

Communications strategy for Parliament developed


This will involve the development of a consistent overarching communications plan that identifies current and potential audiences, and users of parliamentary information by sector. It will draw together Parliament’s communications to provide a framework that will enable more effective and efficient access to information and enhance decision making about the use of current resources, new development, and the management of issues and risks. Special focus will be given to accessing information about select committee proceedings now that the eCommittee system is in place. The Office will also examine options to film select committee hearings of evidence and make them available to the public via webcasts and podcasts. The Office will also explore options to introduce captioning of the House’s proceedings on Parliament TV. In recognition of the Office’s primary role in informing the public about what Parliament is doing and facilitating public input to Parliament, the Parliament website will come under the Office’s full control in 2012

The convergence of communication technologies and consistency of services delivered evaluated against defined success criteria, ongoing analysis of website usage statistics, and surveys and discussions with service users and other stakeholders to determine whether the range and quality of services are meeting their requirements.

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Impact 4 Parliament’s capacity is enhanced by members’ engagement with other parliaments and inter-parliamentary organisations

Objectives

Support to Pacific parliaments is enhanced


The Office will develop a plan for the provision of assistance to Pacific parliaments that ensures programmes are tailored to meet specific identified needs, and input is well co-ordinated.

Success will be measured through evaluation, feedback, and discussions with visiting members of parliament and parliamentary staff on whether the organisation and quality of programmes has met their needs. Evaluation and feedback from New Zealand members participating in the inter-parliamentary relations programme determines whether events should continue to be included in the programme.

Take up of opportunities for members’ professional development arising from programmes run through international parliamentary organisations is enhanced


The Office will investigate the inclusion in the inter-parliamentary relations programme of specific opportunities for members’ professional development arising from programmes run through international parliamentary organisations.

Success will be measured through evaluation, feedback, and discussion with members about the relevance of events included in the programme.

Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth is planned and delivered


The Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth in January 2014 will be planned and delivered

Success will be measured through evaluation and feedback from delegates and the conference’s secretariat

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Managing in a changeable operating environment External environment Any assessment of the environment during the period of this Statement of Intent will continue to be dominated by the economy and, in particular, the fiscal situation as it affects the State sector. For these reasons, the medium-term future will remain a period of consolidation, with service improvements being incremental and funded internally except where new or particular one-off services are required. Looking ahead, there are underway a number of significant reviews with implications for Parliament and our system of representative parliamentary democracy. While the outcomes of this are not yet certain, there will be challenges and opportunities for the Office. In addition, changes in public sector management arising from a greater focus on primary outcomes and sector delivery are likely to require a legislative response and procedural changes. Public expectation of openness and public participation will undoubtedly create pressure for greater and more immediate access to the proceedings of Parliament, requiring information technology responses that keep pace with advances in information communication technology. This along with the pressures to deliver high-level procedural advice, and support increased activity in the House and committees, will put pressure on the Office’s resources.

Relationships with other agencies in the parliamentary complex The Office is distinct from the other agencies in the parliamentary complex in that it is almost entirely focused on servicing the institutions of Parliament: the House and its committees, rather than members or Ministers in their individual capacities, or the Government. Despite this, the Office has a close relationship with the Parliamentary Service for information technology, website hosting, general administration, facilities, security, and accommodation matters. It also collaborates with the three agencies of government located in the parliamentary complex (the Parliamentary Counsel Office, the Department of Internal Affairs (Executive Government Support Group), and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet) to ensure the efficient utilisation of resources, particularly in the area of information and communication technology, while preserving its independence from the Executive. The development of Parliament sector outcomes and the enhancement, where appropriate, of shared services to deliver on these will be examined. This raises issues of governance that will be addressed in the next year.

Risks The internal risks to the Office can be considered in terms of the assets that deliver the services: people and information technology. In order to enhance its ability to manage business process risks, the Office continues to develop its risk management framework, which allows for examining business risks and formulating responses systematically. A Risk and Assurance Committee provides oversight of the risk framework. The final part of the framework to be addressed in the period of this plan is an internal audit function appropriate to the size and nature of risk faced by the Office.

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The Office sees the “human” risks to its ability to service Parliament coming from the potential loss of key staff, and any erosion of its traditional high standards of personal propriety and ethics. The Office will continue to work on developing backup and overlap capability between key personnel, and succession planning for key roles, particularly those supporting and providing high-level procedural advice. Reinforcement will also be given to the importance and day-to-day relevance of the Office’s values – impartiality, expertise, accuracy, and integrity – to its reputation. The Office will continue to review its business continuity plan to ensure it is practical and useable, and will develop a testing programme. The Office will also work with other agencies on the parliamentary complex to complete a project, led by the Parliamentary Service, to develop a complex-wide plan in the event of a serious disaster that makes the complex uninhabitable. Further work will be carried out on the Office’s offsite backup facility for the information technology activities that support the institution of Parliament, in particular, processes supporting key publications required for the sittings of the House and committees, such as the Order Paper, Hansard, questions for oral answer, the Journal, and select committee reports. Whilst short-term processing can be undertaken manually, the damage caused to information technology services in even a moderate incident could take several weeks, if not months, to repair, and has the potential to seriously impede the operation of the House and its committees. In this context we are working with the Parliamentary Service to provide the same level of protection for the Parliament website. The website is now the major source of information on parliamentary proceedings. It is critical to the operation of Parliament and public participation in the parliamentary process.

Capability Objective

Business continuity plans are reviewed, updated, and tested


Business continuity plans across the Office will be reviewed and updated. The scope will include business systems, resilience of technical systems, and staffing plans to support Parliament in the face of adverse events.

Business continuity plan updated. Desktop and technical testing completed to ensure plans are effective.

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Assessing organisational health and capability People The need to deliver more on what is, at best, a static funding base affects the way we organise and develop our people. Our structure and development strategies will be examined to ensure that it provides: clearer accountabilities to ensure we attend to all aspects of our outcome, particularly to

ensure “interested parties are informed and able to participate” and, in so doing, enhance respect for and relevancy of Parliament

capacity to enhance our institutional knowledge and advocacy for Parliament, in order

to keep Parliament relevant by having the capacity to change its procedures the opportunity to develop pools of talent for succession purposes, and provide career

opportunities for our staff in a tight fiscal climate effectiveness and efficiency gains, to allow the Office to navigate successfully through

a period of fiscal restraint the opportunity to strengthen innovation through rationalising management and

administration support structures, and focusing on good risk and process management One of the areas the Office has committed to is maintaining the high calibre of its staff and developing their professional and managerial skills. This will continue during the forecast period with the implementation of an Office-wide coaching programme, and continued investment in professional and managerial skill training.


Coaching programme is delivered to managers and team leaders


This is a new initiative for the forecast period. Its purpose is to provide managers and team leaders with support and tools to assist them in their leadership function.

The effectiveness of the programme will be measured by surveying participants, and managers of participants, with a post-implementation report going to the Office’s senior management team. In the longer term the Office will use measures such as appraisal completion rates and a staff survey.

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Information technology Our technology environment has had significant investment, over the last five years, designed to enhance services to the House and committees. Investment has also been made in the computing infrastructure with the implementation of virtualisation and storage-area network technologies, which increase resilience and improve efficiencies in management and capacity allocation. This phase of new investments has largely come to an end, and the technology focus for the Office is now on using what it has more effectively and efficiently. Areas for attention over this period will be the convergence of the various types of technology we have to enable cost savings and assist in the ease of gathering information. Some existing major publishing applications are nearing the end of their design life. This has been planned for and depreciation funding has been set aside to ensure systems are updated without interruption. Systems coming up for review are those that underpin the Hansard publication and questions for written answer. As this occurs, the opportunity will be taken to develop replacements that integrate well with other applications, and enable us to offer enhanced services such as captioning. The Parliament website’s underlying content management system is another of the systems reaching the end of its life and the Office, in partnership with the Parliamentary Service, has selected a replacement, which will be implemented in 2012. The technology vision is to have a singly authoring interface, one pre-publishing system, and one system to store, manage, and preserve information. Data that is re-used often will be held in one place, to provide a single definitive record. This vision aligns strongly with the Office’s impact of growing respect in the institution of Parliament, through informing the public about what Parliament is doing in order to enable their participation. The Office will continue to enhance its publishing expertise, at the same time as working with the Parliamentary Service on shared network and infrastructure services that will provide members with seamless access to parliamentary proceedings.


IT operating and desktop systems upgraded


A key prerequisite for the effective operation of the Office’s publishing, audio, and television systems is reliable and up-to-date operating and desktop systems that are aligned to other organisations, particularly those in the parliamentary complex. A comprehensive review and upgrade of these systems was undertaken in 2011/12. The next stage is to evaluate shared service arrangements with the Parliamentary Service and the appropriate governance and service-level requirements.

An independent evaluation undertaken along with cost benefit analysis. Formal project management methodology used for implementation of shared services during the 2012/13 financial year.

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Equal employment opportunities The Office has a range of policies that assist with promotion of equal employment opportunities. Systems are in place to ensure that starting salaries are consistent across the Office and over time. It is satisfied that its pay and employment systems are being applied equitably. The median female pay rate on 30 June 2011 was 94% of the median male pay rate – the same as in 2010. While there are gender differences in triennial staff survey results, these tend to balance out. The next staff survey is due in August 2012. The Office continues to strive to ensure that it is seen as representative of the New Zealand population, and responsive in providing its services to the diverse range of New Zealanders. On 30 June 2011, 14.2% of employees claimed Māori ethnicity, compared with 7.4% in 2007. Recruitment of staff of other ethnicities (in particular, Pacific and Asian) has also increased, so that the proportion of employees who declared ethnicity other than Pākeha/European in 2011 was 25 % compared with 15.4 % in 2007.

Departmental capital intentions The Office has invested in a number of capital developments in the past to help in the achievement of its objectives. Most of these are information technology based with a smaller investment in furniture and office equipment. These investments are reviewed regularly and upgraded to maintain the Office’s capability. During the coming three-year period, the Office intends to enhance its operations with the following capital developments:

review and upgrade of computer software for the central data store for the retention and tracking of parliamentary business – the Core Parliamentary Data System (CPD System)

review and upgrade of the Hansard Production System (HPS) and development of a captioning service for Parliament TV

review and upgrade of the Questions for Written Answer System (QWA System) application

ongoing upgrades for other publishing and document management systems.

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The investments associated with these developments are estimated as follows:

Asset 2012/13

($000) 2013/14

($000) 2014/15

($000)

Intangible

Core Parliamentary Data System 250 - -

Hansard Production System 583 222 230

Questions for Written Answer - 446 -

Computer Hardware

Network 198

Office Equipment 5 7 3

Documents

Statement of Intent · Reviews of MMP and wider constitutional issues may require advice on procedural responses from my Office. Similarly, changes in public sector financial management