Kibblewhite said since November, there has been a “gradual reduction” of 139 full-time equivalent roles, through actively managing vacancies.
“Decisions on whether to fill or hold vacancies across the ministry are made on a case-by-case basis. Some of these vacancies will be disestablished through this change process.
“At the heart of our savings decisions has been the need to deliver on our core functions and strategy. We want to keep doing the things that make the strongest contribution to strengthening people’s trust in the law of Aotearoa New Zealand,” Kibblewhite said.
He acknowledged it has been “a difficult and uncertain time for staff across the ministry and wider public service”.
The latest cuts come after NZME reported how leaked documents suggested the squeeze on the public sector would go well beyond the Budget.
Agencies have been chasing cost-savings of between 6.5 and 7.5 per cent on average – some finding less and some slashing more, to strike the Government’s desired balance.
Agencies under the latter directive are tasked with cutting more from their budgets if their staff numbers have seen a more significant increase since 2017.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said this week the cuts could lead to an overall loss of 3900 jobs, comprising about 2750 currently filled roles and about 1150 vacancies.
Union responds to latest proposed cuts
Union the Public Service Association’s response to the proposed cuts was unsurprisingly critical.
The PSA said in a statement it would impact 11 per cent of roles at the Ministry of Justice’s head office.
It also claimed the cuts would impact on the Government’s pre-election stance of getting tough on law and order.
“The wheels of justice may turn slow and for good reason, but they are set to turn even slower,” PSA secretary Duane Leo said.
“The proposed loss of roles at the Ministry of Justice again exposes how poorly thought through the Government’s rushed spending cuts have become.”
The Government’s stance on law and order meant “more people who break the law will have to be processed by the justice system”.
“On top of that, other New Zealanders have various reasons to connect with the justice system including the whānau of those ending up in court. We should be investing more, not less in Justice,” Leo said.
“Instead, as we have seen with many other restructures, the Government is blind to how its rushed spending cuts, could end up undermining the very policies it wants to trumpet.”
Cuts would slow decision-making and “bottlenecks” would grow, Leo claimed.
“Once again, we see the fiction of no impacts on the frontline. How can this lead to the better public services the Government promises? And all to fund tax cuts. It makes no sense.”
Cuts to Environment; Ministry of Education taken to court
Yesterday it was revealed the Ministry for the Environment’s workforce is set to be slashed by a third, meeting some criticism.
The Public Service Association national secretary Duane Leo has hit out against the flagged cuts – arguing they made “no sense”.
He accused the Government of “turning a blind eye” to the country’s environmental challenges, “and again ignoring the evidence of its own experts so it can fund tax cuts”.
“The very people charged with monitoring environment standards and analysing data are also under threat in this proposal,” Leo said.
Labour’s environment spokeswoman Rachel Brooking hit out at the cuts claiming they would undermine previous work to clean up fresh water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The pending cuts come as the Government faces criticism for the Fast-Track Approvals Bill - critics have emotively labelled some of the coalition Government’s policies as a “war on nature”.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) is being taken to court over job cuts forced by a Government directive to reduce spending.
A total of 755 roles are proposed to be slashed, covering people working in regional offices, the Curriculum Centre, central services, those working directly with the education sector and supporting the wider education sector workforce.
The Public Service Association (PSA), a union representing public servants, said it had taken legal action through the Employment Relations Authority.
“The ministry is not complying with the collective agreement requirement that it must do everything it can to find other roles for staff it is laying off,” said Duane Leo, national secretary for the PSA.
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage offered staff voluntary redundancy in May as they announced a 17.6 per cent reduction in jobs.
A further 836 public sector jobs were cut as part of reductions by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and the Department of Conservation (DOC).
