Our public services ‘not fit for purpose’

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Much of our public service structure is not fit for purpose and this compounds a wider malaise of low productivity in our economy, Rob Campbell writes in a recent opinion piece in the Post.

The former chair of Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ — who has an extensive background in trade unionism, business leadership and governance as well as public service — says: “This problem is not about laziness or even skills; rather it is about management competency and technology adoption. We invest, govern and manage poorly.”

He gave the example of Te Whatu Ora having more than 600 people working on payroll and still being too slow because it has too many systems that are too old.

“In health, education, training and in social services — the soft infrastructure of a sound society and economy — to the physical infrastructure issues which are so familiar, one can observe a repetition of inadequacy.”

Campbell says both major parties and senior management bear responsibility.

There is a need to set targets, and also to be prepared to take the steps to get the targets done: “This fails thoughout our systems. From the top.”

For example, the Reserve Bank has a clear target that it has not met in recent years — with no consequence for board and management.

“There seldom is. Politicians come and go, but the public service top leadership simply self-congratulates and moves on.”

Campbell writes of the appetite at community, iwi and local government levels for the decentralisation of a lot of management and control, and that there is “evidence and logic that this can (not will, that depends) lead to more effective public services”.

Such change required planning, training and financing preparation, as well as focus, competency and accountability at central levels.

“Letting go is fine so long as you really know what you are letting go of, to what, and how it is ready to work.”

Wherever he went in the public sector he saw people who genuinely want to deliver efficient and effective public service, “prevented from this by poor process and structure”.

It was partly about setting clear goals and priorities, and finding public service leaders who could guide this inclusively and without getting bogged down in reviews, taskforces and consultations; partly about setting targets and accountabilities for delivery that were transparent and acted on; and partly about working with private and community sectors as partners, “not as dependents, competitors or outsiders”.

Campbell finishes by saying, “There is plenty of insecurity experienced by those delivering and using public services, but none of it is at the top.”