KEY POINTS:
A review of spending on Parliament has called for a shake-up of the parliamentary bureaucracy so it complies with the law.
Parliament is required to commission an independent review of its spending on MPs, their staff and offices every three years and the latest by businessman John Goulter has reflected huge dissatisfaction about the service provided.
Among the wide-ranging recommendations was contracting out security services and a whole new body to run Parliament.
The review comes after the Auditor-General's report on the unlawful use of parliamentary funding for election expenses.
Mr Goulter said there was no doubt the experience left many in the Parliamentary Service - the main agency responsible for running Parliament and supporting MPs - feeling "bruised".
He said there were "considerable problems" with the service and a need for change.
"Unfortunately, many of the practices and processes used since 2000 have not generally been in compliance with the Parliamentary Service Act."
Changes in practice had not kept pace with changes in legislation.
He called for a more "customer focused" and commercial Parliament Corporation to replace the Parliamentary Service to help compliance with the law.
Because of concerns about governance, accountability, leadership as well as employment and staffing issues, the new organisation should have an independent advisory board to assist it.
Mr Goulter also said he had serious concerns about security in Parliament, although he refused to "advertise" what these were.
Security was a specialist area which should be outsourced to an organisation such as the Aviation Security Service.
The security issues were not just focused on Parliament but on the 152 out-of-Parliament offices run by MPs as well as MPs' homes and their families.
Mr Goulter also took issue with Parliament's caterers, Bellamy's, and said his personal experience matched the "considerable dissatisfaction".
"I would have thought the product quality, supply and service here would have been of the highest order. Parliament is the flagship of the nation - all elements of the output of Bellamy's should reflect this image."
Mr Goulter also said there needed to be increases in some allowances and funding pools.
More money was needed to run MPs' offices around the country.
The leader's base funding should be doubled from $50,000 to $100,000 and there should also be an increase in leaders' funding based on the number of MPs they had.
Allowances for accommodation in Wellington had also not kept pace with rents.
He recommended a move to bulk funding instead of the current bureaucratic system of spending approvals be looked at, but said it might not be the cure-all that some MPs believed.
Mr Goulter also suggested scrapping the air fare subsidies for retired MPs, MPs' international air travel and domestic air travel for spouses which cost $3 million in 2005/2006.
Mr Goulter said he was not able to quantify how much his 68 recommendations would cost but was certain they would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Parliament.
- NZPA
