'Frontline jobs' also casualties of big cuts

Public service employment numbers continue to plunge. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Public service job numbers have continued to fall under State Services Minister Tony Ryall's "cap" on core state sector job numbers but recent months have seen losses in areas previously classed as "frontline services".

Mr Ryall, who capped core state sector job numbers at 38,859 fulltime equivalent staff from December 2008, yesterday released data showing 2100 jobs had been shed since then, a reduction of 5.4 per cent over 18 months. About 1100 of the cuts were by redundancies, 500 were via attrition and further 500 were via the cancellation of vacant positions.

"Capping the core government administration frees up resources for improved frontline services, which is better value for money for New Zealand taxpayers," Mr Ryall said yesterday. However, his data shows that in the past six months 93 jobs were lost from departments Mr Ryall has previously described as "key frontline agencies" which are excluded from the cap such as Prison Services, Child Youth and Family, Work and Income and Community Probation.

Earlier this year Mr Ryall highlighted the 540 jobs added in these areas since December 2008 but yesterday he told the Herald numbers "are always going to fluctuate". However, it was incorrect to take the reduction as an indicator of what was happening generally in frontline services.

"It's going to fluctuate and it's going to improve as part of increasing frontline staff numbers in a number of key areas such as more police, doctors and nurses."

But Labour's State Services spokesman Grant Robertson said Mr Ryall's claims that backroom cuts were funding increased frontline services were "just nonsense".

"The cuts made by the National Government have been indiscriminate and have led to fewer frontline workers in areas like biosecurity, fisheries and the school library service, for example," he said.

"Labour supports making efficiencies, but that is not what National is doing."

Meanwhile, Public Service Association national secretary Brenda Pilott said it was more than likely the 2645 public sector vacancies would also go - that would amount to 4733 public sector job cuts.

While Mr Ryall had talked of shifting resources from the so-called backroom office to the frontline, "actually the real agenda is overall cuts," said Ms Pilott.

Yesterday's figures show the Government has been as good as its word in tackling what it said was an excess of communications staff.

In 18 months, 58 communications and public relations advisers jobs were cut, an 18 per cent reduction.

The Department of Internal Affairs, which employed the most also lost the most, with eight jobs going, leaving it with 45.

STATE SECTOR STAFF REDUCTIONS
Inland Revenue:
* 6,310 (21/12/08)
* 5,874 (30/06/10)
* Change -436

Health:
* 1,675 (21/12/08)
* 1,350 (30/06/10)
* Change -325

Conservation:
* 2,524 (21/12/08)
* 2,212 (30/06/10)
* Change -312

Social Development:
* 2,506 (21/12/08)
* 2,293 (30/06/10)
* Change -213

Education:
* 2,834 (21/12/08)
* 2,710 (30/06/10)
* Change -124

State Services Commission:
* 260 (21/12/08)
* 167 (30/06/10)
* Change -93