Disclosure of Chief Executive expenses, gifts and hospitality - Frequently Asked Questions
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Where do I find the letter from the State Services Commissioner to chief executives outlining plans to introduce the chief executive expense, gifts and hospitality initiative and the November 2010 letter that confirmed the initiative?
All correspondence and information about the chief executives expense disclosure including templates can be found online at http://www.ssc.govt.nz/ce-expenses-disclosure .
What is the reporting period for disclosing chief executive expenses, gifts and hospitality?
Quarterly disclosures may be made, at your discretion, but disclosures are only required to be made at six monthly intervals (30 June and 31 December).
Should we send our information to SSC?
No, SSC will not be collecting the information. Please upload information on your website and provide a link to the information at www.data.govt.nz.
Where can I go if I need extra help filling out the expense form for our chief executive?
If you have any specific questions about definitions or other matters, these can be addressed to: integrityandconduct@ssc.govt.nz. Technical questions about www.data.govt.nz should be addressed to Internal Affairs staff, at info@data.govt.nz. You may also find that reviewing the 31 December 2010 disclosures (www.data.govt.nz ) will assist.
Does the initiative apply to subsidiaries?
No, the chief executive expense disclosure initiative does not apply to Crown entity subsidiaries. It applies to public service departments and statutory Crown entities (including Corporations sole).
Should the information include GST?
Yes, all expenses disclosed should be GST-inclusive.
For agencies that use one credit card for all expenses, do disclosures apply to CE expenses or all the organisation’s expenses?
If an agency and its chief executive use one card for all expenses, the disclosure should only include those expenses that the chief executive has incurred or that are incurred on behalf of the chief executive. Expenses incurred on behalf of the agency as a whole would not be included in the disclosure.
Does a chief executive have to include details about the purpose of non-credit card expenses as well as for the credit card expenses?
Please ensure you provide enough information to describe the purpose of the expense. Full, transparent disclosure helps show the reader how public money is being used.
What if we don’t have full information for expenses incurred during the last 6 months?
Please provide as much information as you have available to complete the report. Any information not provided in this reporting period should be added to the next six monthly reporting period.
Gifts and farewells
Should the disclosure include farewell functions and/or gifts that the agency pays for?
Only if they have been paid for by the chief executive either with his/her credit card or through other non-credit card means that fall within the chief executive’s budget.
Should the costs of Koha, Hui or Tangi be disclosed?
Only if those costs are paid for by the chief executive, using his/her credit card and/or through any non-credit card means that fall under his/her budget.
Should the cost of staff functions be disclosed if they are paid for from the CE's credit card?
Yes
What should an agency do about farewells?
Farewells and farewell gifts paid for by the chief executive either with his/her credit card and /or through other non-credit card payments should be disclosed. Farewell gifts given to a departing chief executive should be disclosed on the gifts template, together with an estimated cost if they were paid for by public funds.
Should gifts from Embassies and High Commissions be disclosed?
Gifts from Embassies, High Commissions and overseas delegations should be disclosed but the estimated value of such gifts is not necessary. Please provide sufficient information that describes the nature of the gift.
Functions
If a staff member pays for a staff function and gets reimbursed by the agency should that be disclosed?
Yes if the staff member gets a reimbursement from the chief executive's budget.
Should the costs of a Winter solstice or similar type of event for staff be included?
Yes, if the costs of any event or function for staff are paid for by the chief executive, please disclose the costs in the appropriate fields of the spreadsheet.
If a staff member pays for a staff function and gets reimbursed by the agency should that be disclosed?
Yes if the staff member gets a reimbursement from the chief executive's budget.
Should the costs of a Winter solstice or similar type of event for staff be included?
Yes, if the costs of any event or function for staff are paid for by the chief executive, please disclose the costs in the appropriate fields of the spreadsheet.
Travel
Should the costs of taxis and airfare be declared?
Yes, if the costs of taxis and airfares that the chief executive uses are paid with his/her credit card and/or through other non-credit card means that fall under the chief executive’s budget, they should be disclosed.
Does expenditure for travel, aside from airfares, have to be disclosed?
All travel-related costs that the chief executive incurs should be disclosed. This would include, for example, meals, accommodation and taxi fares.
Should petrol costs and vehicle maintenance be included?
Petrol costs and vehicle maintenance for a chief executive’s vehicle that are paid for using the chief executive’s credit card, or by any other non-credit card means that fall under the chief executive’s budget should be included.
Should cellphone costs be included?
Cellphone costs that are paid for either by the chief executive’s credit card or by any other non-credit card means that fall under the chief executive’s budget should be included.
What should go in the “Other” category of the template?
Any expenses that the chief executive incurs that do not fit neatly within the other template headings should be added to the “other” field of the spreadsheet.
Does the disclosure include every single item of travel, for example car costs to the airport to the value of $5?
Chief executives are encouraged to disclose as much detail as possible to promote transparency in reporting.
Should the CE’s disclosure include hospitality given as well as received?
Yes.
What does “Description” mean?
The description field in the spreadsheet should be used to provide enough information about the type and nature of the expense, to allow data users to compare information between agencies.
What does “Offered by” mean?
"Offered by" relates to the name of the person/s and/or organisation/s that has provided gifts and/or hospitality. Where there are particularly sensitive aspects, for instance a ‘ceremonial’ gift from an overseas government, it may be appropriate not to include the estimated value of a gift.
What should an agency do if it doesn’t have a chief executive?
The agency should provide a disclosure for whoever heads the organisation.
Should repeated (but different) credit card entries be disclosed separately? For example, four separate taxi trips during a single journey overseas for which we don’t have information about the purpose/destination of the journey: should these be separate entries or an aggregate entry?
Chief executives should provide as much information as possible, to provide a clear picture of how public money is being spent. Single entries, even if no descriptive information exists, provide more information to the reader than aggregated information.
What happens if the chief executive conducts agency business while on other business that may be paid for by a third party? Should the costs of any non-Ministry business be disclosed?
In those circumstances, the chief executive should account for only those expenses incurred that are directly related to the agency’s business.
Can agencies seek extensions if they are unable to meet the deadline?
Agencies are expected to meet the deadline. Any requests for extensions will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. If agencies require an extension to post information, please contact SSC at integrityandconduct@ssc.govt.nz.
Can agencies aggregate non-credit card expenditure?
Providing information transparently is one of the objectives of this initiative. Please provide line-by –line breakdowns for each expense.
Should agencies include purchase and credit card transaction costs?
If account transaction fees have been incurred from the chief executive’s budget, this information should be disclosed.
How are the disclosures to be listed on www.data.govt.nz ? How do we link data to www.data.govt.nz?
The following information has been provided by the Department of Internal Affairs, which administers www.data.govt.nz:
Set up a page on your website where the data will be published six-monthly. This is where your disclosed information should be included, either with a link to your Excel spreadsheet, or embedded on your web page. You should also keep any previous or subsequent disclosures on this webpage.
NOTE: if your disclosure is in a PDF file then you will also need to add a spreadsheet or CSV file version to your website. This is in accordance with the New Zealand Data and Information Management Principle of 'Reusable' (see: http://ict.govt.nz/programme/opening-government-data-and-information/new-zealand-data-and-information-management-princi).
If the disclosure for the last period was previously listed on data.govt.nz then you can update that listing by following the directions below on 'Updating a dataset listing'.
Updating a dataset listing
Go to http://data.govt.nz/catalog/ and use the 'Agency' drop down filter to find datasets listed by your agency (click on the 'Go' button to action the filter selection).
Find the Chief Executive Expenses disclosure for your agency in the search result and click on the title to enter the dataset listing page.
Once on the Chief Executive Expense dataset page, click on the green 'Update' button under the title. This will display an update form with all the current information about the dataset.
Update the dataset information:
- Link to dataset: this is the webpage where the dataset can be downloaded from - check this is still correct
- Description: add to the bottom of the list '1 July to 31 December 2011'
- Keywords: add 'CEexp Jul-Dec2011'
- Available Formats: check this is still correct
- Date dataset was last updated: the date latest file was last saved
Then enter your email address in the last field.
Once submitted the form will then be moderated, before being published. You will be notified by email when it is published.
If your agency's disclosure has not previously been listed on data.govt.nz then follow the directions below on 'Adding a dataset listing'.
Adding a dataset listing
Go to http://www.data.govt.nz/add-dataset/ and fill in the web form
- Dataset title: [Your agency's name] Chief Executive expenses
- Link to dataset: this is the link to the web page on your agency's site where the disclosure file can be downloaded
- Description: Disclosure of Chief Executive expenses for the period of: 1 July - 31 December 2011
- Category: State sector performance
- Keywords: CEexp Jul-Dec2011
- Available formats: Spreadsheet (and/or CSV)
- Re-use rights: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence
- Date of creation: date the spreadsheet was created
- Date of last update: date the spreadsheet was last updated
- Frequency of update: 6-Monthly
- Responsible agency: Your agency's name
- Agency contact: The contact person in your agency for this dataset (will be published on the page)
- Agency telephone: The contact phone number for enquires about this dataset (will be published on the page)
- Agency email: The contact email address for enquires about this dataset (will be published on the page)
- Cost: No
- Your email address: (will not be published on the page)
Once submitted the form will then be moderated, before being published. You will be notified by email when it is published.
Can SSC provide technical assistance to link information to www.data.govt.nz ?
SSC is unable to provide you with any technical assistance about how to link information to www.data.govt.nz but the Department of Internal Affairs will be able to assist. Their contact details can be found at www.data.govt.nz, or contact the data.govt.nz team by email: info@data.govt.nz.
What file format should be used to upload information on websites?
We encourage agencies to upload information in Excel or CSV format on their websites. Files stored in this format allow data users to compare information readily. Agencies, may if they wish, upload information in PDF or HTML in addition to the Excel file.
