General Publications
Carbon Neutral Public Service Programme Reduction Plan for the Department of Labour
The Government has committed to moving towards a carbon neutral Public Service. The Department of Labour is one of the 28 stage two core Public Service agencies that will be on the path to carbon neutrality by the year 2012.
Reducing emissions is an important step in the context of carbon neutrality. Having measured the emissions, it is necessary to undertake reduction activities that will reduce emissions as much as practical and cost effective. The remaining emissions will then be offset to make the core Public Service carbon neutral.
The role of the reduction plan is to identify and record opportunities and initiatives that help to reduce emissions.
Organisational Overview
As of 30 June 2007, the Department of Labour employed 1,926 staff in New Zealand and locally engaged staff offshore. The Department has 48 offices at 17 New Zealand locations, including the national office in Wellington. We also have 15 immigration offices overseas (one in Australia, eight in Asia, three in Europe and, three in the Pacific).
Structure
The Secretary of Labour chairs the Strategic Leadership Team, which is the governance committee for the Department. This team comprises the Secretary and five Deputy Secretaries. It leads the Department's strategic direction, organisational development and capability, and organisation performance and monitoring.
Ministers and Votes
The Minister of Labour is the Responsible Minister for the Department. The Department administers four Votes and reports to the Ministerial portfolios listed below.
Minister |
Vote |
Minister of Labour |
Labour |
Minister of Immigration |
Immigration |
Minister for Social Development and Employment |
Employment |
Minister for ACC |
ACC |
DEpartment of labour Strategic framework (2008-09)
Department Outcome
Productive Work and High-Quality Working Lives
INTERMEDIATE OUTCOMES
- OUR PLACE IN THE WORLD: New Zealand will prosper and be enriched through its connections with the rest of the world.
- OUR WORKPLACES: New Zealand workplaces will raise the value of work and the quality of working lives.
- OUR WORKFORCE: New Zealand businesses will be able to recruit and retain the skilled workers they need to be internationally competitive.
- OUR PEOPLE: All New Zealanders will be able to grow and develop through access to meaningful employment.
KEY AREAS OF FOCUS
Supporting New Zealand’s prosperity and reputation through:
- immigration services that add to the productivity of our economy and to the richness of our society
- border security arrangements that manage risk
- assisting migrants to settle
- contributing to effective international standards
- building relationships and partnering with other countries including the Pacific region
- managing the humanitarian stream of the immigration programme
Supporting and promoting productive workplace cultures through:
- effective labour market regulation
- ensuring fundamental rights at work
- promoting social dialogue on workplaces of the future
- raising awareness and expectations to facilitate improved workplace practices
- focusing attention on workplace productivity
- building firm capability to support managers and workers to better develop and utilise skills
Influencing the supply of skilled labour by:
- targeting immigration to assist New Zealand businesses to access the skills they need
- working with industry and education sectors to help match education and training to the needs of our workers and employers
Supporting increased labour market participation by advising government on:
- enhancing parents’ and other carers’ choices about work and family arrangements
- enabling youth to transition into employment and to access relevant education and training
- transitioning people back to work and independence after an injury
- enhancing employment for groups under-represented in the labour force
Core Activities
Core activities to achieve the Department’s priorities and goals include:
- Facilitating entry to New Zealand
- Immigration Change Programme
- Border security arrangements that manage risk
- Multilateral and bilateral international activity
- Contributing to international free trade initiatives
- Supporting international and domestic labour policy, law and practice
- Settlement of migrants and refugees
- Providing services and interventions for workplaces
- Information about labour market and workplace practices
- Policy, research and ministerial servicing
- Skilled migrant recruitment
- Issue of work visas and permits
- Settlement of new migrants
- Working Holiday Scheme
- Effective responses to skill and talent shortages
- Unified Skills Strategy to develop and use the skills needed in workplaces
- Upskilling the Existing Workforce
- Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme
- Tertiary Education Reforms and Strategy
- Choices for Living, Caring and Working
- Security and resilience in changing circumstances
- Schools Plus and other work on youth issues
- Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs
- ACC work programme
- Working New Zealand, focus on employment, training, and services for employers.
Department of Labour’s Current Position
The Department submitted its emissions inventory report on 31 October 2007. This covered the period of the 2006/2007 financial year. The key information that emerged in the report was:
- The Department produced about 6,329 tonnes of emissions in the year.
- Of the total, 3,368 were emitted through air travel and 2,185 through electricity use and associated transmission losses.
These are evidently the most important areas to focus improvement efforts on.
The Govt3 survey reports show that the Department is reducing the number of air miles travelled by staff:
|
Distance (kms), 2005-06 |
Distance(kms), 2006-07 |
Domestic flights |
6,599,204 |
4,758,698 |
Trans-Tasman flights |
848,518 |
762,760 |
International flights |
20,815,665 |
18,156,070 |
This reflects the development of new and better systems for managing air travel, and there may be further room for improvement.
The Department started a new Sustainability and Energy Management contract on 1 September 2007. This has involved purchasing electricity brokerage services and contracting out energy management in the Department. The contract is expected to produce financial and electricity savings. It is structured to monitor the progress made. This should increase in the course of the year.
At this point, the Department has not set targets around emissions reductions.
Responsibility to deliver on the overall CNPS programme in the Department lies with the Deputy Secretary - Corporate.
Supporting Policies, Plans and Resources
The Department has a range of policies plans and arrangements in place that will help to address and support reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. These include:
- the Govt3 Sustainable Practice Action Plan (which is due for review in 2008)
- a sustainable Procurement Policy, which has developed a range of mandatory clauses related to sustainability in tendering documents
- a range of contracts that include sustainability criteria, and will reduce emissions
- a model for waste streaming that is progressively being adopted by interested areas across the Department. Waste streaming is currently in place on 4 floors at Head Office
- a national syndicated contract for stationery with Office Max focused on recycled and chlorine free paper.
Energy
Energy (Electricity) is responsible for 34% of the Department's greenhouse gas emissions.
The Sustainability and Energy Management contract is the central Department-wide initiative that began on 1 September 2007. This identifies high electricity users so energy audits and improvement efforts can be focused for greatest gains.
The Department also has in place a new national contract for multifunctional devices that will, as it rolls out, reduce the number of machines, and energy and materials used.
Actions listed below aim to:
Action |
Responsibility |
Timeframes |
Measure of Success |
Provide quarterly reports on the profile and cost of electricity consumption in the Department |
Property and Procurement Manager |
Quarterly, commencing March 2008 |
Receipt of accurate timely and useful reports. |
Develop an energy management plan, including an action plan which will be informed and modified following successive quarterly reports |
Property and Procurement Manager |
First draft, 30 June 2008 |
First draft in place by end June 2008. 15% reduction in electricity use per FTE on the three highest consuming sites by 31 June 2009 (after one full year and one part year of the contract). |
Mobilise the DoL Govt3 network of staff interested in sustainability to support the action plan activities by influencing staff behaviour for alignment |
Principal Advisor, Business Improvement |
After the action plan is developed |
Staff discussing and actively supporting the energy action plan in relevant sites. |
Monitor, assess and review the roll out of MFDs to ensure that a clear record of improvements is developed |
Procurement Manager |
30 June 2008 |
10% reduction in machines (printers, photocopiers, and scanners). |
Transport
Transport (including vehicle fleet use, rental cars, taxis, and air travel) is responsible for 65% of the Department's greenhouse gas emissions.
Initiatives already undertaken:
- Fleet Audit completed.
- Fleet management contract in place.
- Vehicle fleet management arrangements that are progressively focusing vehicle replacement decisions on sustainability criteria, such as whole of life costing, emissions levels, and size of vehicle.
- Review completed of air travel policy with new arrangements implemented.
Actions listed below aim to:
- enhance actions already in hand
- develop new initiatives, like travel planning, that can act as a broad heading for a range of improvement activities.
Action |
Responsibility |
Timeframes |
Measure of Success |
Undertake the travel planning process |
Principal Advisor, Business Improvement |
By 2010 |
Travel planning process has been completed and a travel plan is now in place. Relevant actions have been included in CNPS reduction plan. |
Review the new arrangements for air travel, to assess what further reductions in air miles may be achievable |
Finance Director |
By 2010 |
Review completed and further improvements identified and planned. |
Monitor effect of new fleet management arrangements |
Procurement Manager |
Ongoing |
Vehicles, when replacements are required, are diesel in line with Govt3 recommendations. |
Waste to Landfill
Waste to landfill accounts for 1% of the Department's greenhouse gas emissions.
Initiatives already undertaken:
- A sustainability pilot was undertaken in 2006.
- The Department's approach has been proactive opportunism - where an opportunity to roll out waste streaming exists, it has been grasped.
- There are two strands to the approach:
- The formal strand relates to procurement and the progressive development of national contracts that promote sustainability. In this case, notably, the national contract for office supplies and confidential paper recycling.
- The other strand is voluntary local action by staff, supported and sometimes generated by the DoL Govt3 group of staff who have a personal interest in sustainability. This is coordinated by the Principal Advisor Business Improvement.
Actions listed below aim to:
- reduce overall waste produced
- make information about waste streaming more readily available to staff.
Action |
Responsibility |
Timeframes |
Measure of Success |
Publicise and promote the work happening in the Department by quarterly articles in the staff magazine 'Making Connexions' and the Managers' Update |
Principal Advisor, Business Improvement |
Quarterly |
4 articles appear per year. Numbers on the DoL Govt3 email group continue to build. |
Develop a sustainability web space for internal departmental use |
Principal Advisor, Business Improvement |
30 June 2008 |
Web pages in place. |
Continued adoption of waste streaming in new areas |
Principal Advisor, Business Improvement |
30 June 2008 |
One new floor adopts waste streaming. |
Review of arrangements to support the waste streaming work and the wider sustainability agenda |
Principal Advisor, Business Improvement |
30 June 2008 |
Decision on way forward agreed with Director and Deputy Secretary. |