English backs freer access to state data

Bill English. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Government could release screeds more of the data it holds in order to encourage private-sector problem solving, says Finance Minister Bill English.

A ministerial committee is exploring the concept, which he termed "inside-out government".

"If information is power then you can distribute power by distributing information," he told an audience of about 300 public servants at the Beehive.

"Inside-out government" required the Government to be open to good ideas.

"We want to see ideas generated in the private sector and ngo [non-government organisations] sector genuinely considered and appraised - not simply ruled out on the basis that these sectors might not understand all aspects of government."

He said he was not talking about personal information, such as tax or health records.

In response to questions, he suggested that the management of the Crown's own $100 billion in assets could benefit from such an approach. Much more information could be released, so long as it was not commercially sensitive.

"There's a whole lot of people out there who also manage assets and many of them do it much better than us because they are subject to heightened constraints, particularly around supply of capital and return on capital."

He suggested that more information could be released about 3600 schools, $10 billion of hospitals and $13 billion of houses.

"They can tell us how we can do a better job with it."

Mr English's office later referred to moves in London to release more information which, together with Google Earth, had resulted in a new approach to fixing potholes in London.

The minister also suggested what he called a "single-window" approach to providing public services in which, for example, there could be a single IT window into tax and income support provided by Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Social Development.

There were 600 websites of government departments and at least two agencies had 20 separate toll-free numbers.

Mr English said the Government was borrowing at the rate of $400 million a week and the impact of the latest recession would continue to be felt on governments' books for another 30 years.

By 2014, government debt would have doubled at $40 billion "but I think anyone can see that additional borrowing on that scale cannot continue indefinitely".

Mr English said his message was straightforward: "We simply cannot afford to continue the public sector growth we have seen in recent years. It cannot be wished away and it cannot be voted away."

He said there would be no extra spending in the next Budget apart from the $1.1 billion already signalled. He wanted departments to focus not on minor incremental spending but onan in-depth analysis of overall spending.

He said the Government supported innovation "even with a risk of failure" and the public sector should encourage career rewards for taking risks.

"The biggest political risk in the next five years is unpopular or ineffective policy, and ministers - not public servants - should take responsibility when such policies fail."

Victoria University professor of public policy Jonathan Boston, however, suggested that there was little political tolerance by opposition parties towards failure in the public service.