General Publications
Department of Labour Annual Report 2006
Vote Labour
Output class: Policy advice
Description
This output class includes policy advice, research and evaluation about the labour market and workplace issues; ministerial servicing; and administrative and advisory support to the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women (NACEW) and the National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee (NOHSAC).
This output class contributed to the Department’s medium-term goals of:
- Labour market participants use their knowledge and understanding of labour market dynamics and drivers by increasing understanding of and providing evidence of the link between excellent workplace practices and greater workplace productivity.
- Increased awareness and uptake of excellent workplace practices by defining excellent workplace practices and setting minimum workplace standards.
- Sectors and regions engage in identifying labour market constraints and opportunities through research and evaluations that increase knowledge about labour market trends.
- Responsive labour market regulation supports economic and social development by ensuring that policy advice is well informed, complements the policy and outcomes of other government agencies and contributes to wider government goals.
- New Zealand workplaces balance employers’ and employees’ needs and interests by developing advice and policy around workplace practices and obligations, in particular those relating to work-life balance.
Activities
Activities carried out included:
- advising on workplace best practice, regulation, issues and gaps, and interventions that will support the Government’s labour market, employment relations, and workplace health and safety goals
- research and evaluation to understand labour market trends, international developments, identify issues and gaps, and assess the effectiveness of the Department’s interventions
- administrative, advisory and research services to NACEW, and administrative support for NOHSAC
- ministerial servicing.
Performance information
Results measures
Performance standard
Performance to 30 June 2006
The Minister is satisfied with the quality of the Department’s policy advice. The Appendix to this part of the Annual Report sets out the quality standards for policy advice.
The Department sought feedback from the Minister on the quality of policy advice through six-monthly satisfaction surveys.
For the six months ending 31 December 2005, the Minister gave an average rating of 3.8 (on a scale of 1 to 5) for the quality of policy advice provided by the Department. For the six months ending 30 June 2006, the Minister gave an average rating of 3.6.
The policy process and advice is assessed as good quality through external and internal review of specific projects.
The development of the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy has been assessed through Key Informant Interviews with the Department of Labour’s employees and external stakeholders involved in the Strategy’s development.
The interviews identified areas where the Department of Labour performed well, but also indicated areas where improvements could be made in the future development of the Strategy.
The Minister is satisfied with the quality of the Department’s ministerial servicing.
The Department sought feedback from the Minister on the quality of ministerial servicing, through six-monthly satisfaction surveys.
For the six months ending 31 December 2005, the Minister gave an average rating of 3.8 (on a scale of 1 to 5) for the quality of ministerial servicing provided by the Department. For the six months ending 30 June 2006, the Minister gave an average rating of 3.5.
The National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women and the National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee are satisfied with the quality of the Department’s support services.
The Chair and members of the National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee completed a survey for the July 2005 to June 2006 period. The support services provided by the Department were rated at 9 on a 0 to 9 scale (with 9 being the highest).
The Chair and members of the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women completed an annual survey. Overall, Council members reported an adequate level of satisfaction with the services provided by the Department. An area of improvement is the quality of administrative support to the committee (such as organisation of meetings, travel arrangements and processing payments). This will be addressed over the coming year with increased emphasis on processes and procedures.
Activity information
Policy advice and ministerial servicing will be delivered as agreed with the Minister of Labour and as detailed in the Vote Labour Output Plan for 2005/06.
Policy advice and ministerial servicing were delivered as agreed with the Minister of Labour and as detailed in the Vote Labour Output Plan for 2005/06.
The Minister of Labour agreed to a revised policy work programme in February 2006, which had revised activities and milestones.
General Publications
Department of Labour Annual Report 2006
The increase in appropriation of $2.964 million in the Supplementary Estimates was due to:
- additional funding to enable the delivery of the Workplace Productivity Agenda
- funding to implement the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy for New Zealand to 2015
- the final amount of expenditure transfers from 2004/05 for:
- the Workplace Work Productivity Group, due to the full year’s programme not being achieved in the 2004/05 financial year
- the Pure Business Project (previously called Building Good Regulatory Policy), due to scoping of research projects taking longer than first anticipated and therefore subsequent phases also being delayed
- Department of Labour restructure and initial capability requirements transitional costs not incurred until 2005/06.
- a fiscally neutral transfer for the allocation of corporate costs.
Offset by expenditure transfers to the 2006/07 financial year for:
- the Work-Life Balance project. Progress has been slower than planned. The transfer will fund commitments with existing consultants who are working with the participating organisations where the work is expected to extend beyond 30 June 2006
- the Enhancing Parents’ and Other Caregivers’ Choices project is dependent on progress in the Work-life Balance project. The Work-life Balance project progress is slower than planned and is not expected to progress to the stage where work can begin on the Enhancing Parents’ and Other Caregivers’ Choices project before 30 June 2006.
The $0.569 million actual surplus in Revenue over Expenditure was due to staffing vacancies earlier in the year. Successful recruitment enabled projects to commence, albeit later than planned.