Our Medium Term Measures of Success
The State Services Commission has developed a set of measures we will use to assess the contribution we make to our outcomes over the medium term. Because of the complex and interrelated nature of our interventions, objectives and outcomes, each measure is not solely attributable to one outcome.
As many other factors influence outcomes, to suggest that the Commission's activities alone have resulted in a particular outcome would be incorrect and would not reflect the work of other individuals and agencies. The measures outlined below are intended as the best indicators of our contribution to achieving these outcomes.
Trustworthiness of the State Services - Integrity and Conduct survey
The Integrity and Conduct survey administered by the Commission asks State servants about their perceptions of integrity and conduct within parts of the State Services. The survey reflects a view from inside the State sector of how well failings in integrity and conduct are dealt with. Approximately 4,600 State servants (65% of those surveyed) from 38 agencies took part in the 2007 survey.
In the 2007 survey the proportion of State servants that reported witnessing misconduct by their colleagues in the previous 12 months was 33%. The Commission measures success in this area by monitoring this figure over time. The survey is due to run again in early 2010 and the results will be available in July 2010.
New Zealanders' satisfaction with the public services they receive - Kiwis Count survey
The Commission's work with chief executives, agencies and Ministers influences the way that services are delivered to New Zealanders and over time we would expect to see increasing levels of satisfaction with these services.
The New Zealanders' Experience research programme is a multi-year programme that provides information on New Zealanders' experiences of the services they receive from government. The Commission will be using the overall satisfaction measure from the Kiwis Count survey to gauge its success in contributing towards our own outcomes as well as the shared central agency objective: State sector performance is improved.
The first set of results from the biannual Kiwis Count survey was released in 2008 and the second set in 2010. The next iteration of the Kiwis Count survey will be in 2011, with the results available in 2012.
Previous average satisfaction scores were 68 (2008) and 69 (2010). The central agencies measure success in this area by an improvement in this score over time. The target for the next survey is an improvement of at least two points.
Public Sector Wage Growth
The Commission will use the Labour Cost Index published by Statistics New Zealand as an indicator of its success in moderating Public Service wage growth over time. The Index tracks the salary and wage growth of industries in New Zealand and will enable us to determine if wage growth in the Public Service is appropriate.
The Commission measures success in this area by rate of growth in Public Service wages remaining the same or less than the rate of growth in the private sector.
Public sector expenditure is consistent with the Government's fiscal strategy
The Government's Fiscal Strategy Report (FSR) is published with the Budget. The FSR must state the Government's long term objectives for fiscal policy over a period of at least 10 years and the Government's short term intentions for fiscal policy over a period of three years. In addition, the Treasury is required to publish a Statement of the Long Term Fiscal Position at least every four years. This has a horizon of at least 40 years and identifies how demographic and other changes may impact the fiscal position.
One of the central agencies' key roles is the provision of economic, tax and expenditure advice to support the Government to develop and achieve a fiscal strategy. One of the measures of success is the alignment between actual fiscal outcomes and the objectives for key fiscal indicators, such as debt objectives, outlined in the Government's Fiscal Strategy Reports.
Developing measure - Impact evaluations of significant advice
The provision of advice to Ministers and agencies is a significant means of promoting change within agencies and the wider State sector. The Commission will be identifying areas of significant advice and implementing a programme of independent evaluations to determine the impact that this advice has, and its effectiveness in improving State sector performance.