Key confirms super-ministry plan

John Key
John Key
Prime Minister John Key has announced a new Ministry of Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment from the merger of four existing ministries.

The ministries to merge are the Ministry of Economic Development, the Department of Labour, the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Department of Building and Housing.

Mr Key has said he is resetting the cap of core public servants at 36,475 - although former State Services Minister Tony Ryall announced that in September last year.

And he has set out 10 areas in which he wants to see improvements in public service delivery.

Mr Key said the new ministry would be established on July 1 and have around 3200 employees, about the same as the Ministry of Justice.

He said having a single department focused on working with business would help drive the Government's aim of having a more productive and competitive economy.

"It will strengthen the public service's ability to work on business policy, regulation and engagement, so the Government will get a much more co-ordinated and focused resource."

It was the only merger the Government was considering at present but he did not rule out future ones.

The Minister for Economic Development, Steven Joyce, will be the minister responsible for the new ministry.

Mr Key's speech in Auckland on public sector reform follows one given this morning by Labour leader David Shearer which focused on education and sought to align Labour more with parents than teachers.

The new targets will be fleshed out by June.

"They are not a wish-list. They are a to-do list," Mr Key said.

Many of the results he identified would fall across responsibilities of different departments. That was the reason they were difficult.

"So achieving these results means changing the way the public sector works."

He announced that Education Minister Hekia Parata had set the target for increasing the proportion of 18-year-olds with NCEA level 2 or its equivalent at 85 percent within five year.

At present about 68 percent achieve that level of education.

"I don't want easy targets. I want targets that are going to stretch the ability of the public sector to deliver them, and that are going to force change.

"Because if they are easy targets, they aren't worth doing. This is not an exercise in ticking boxes."

Mr Key identified the following areas in which he wants to set tangible targets:

1. A reduction in welfare dependency.

2. Greater participation especially by Maori and Pacific Island children in early childhood education.

3. Child immunisations rates to increase.

4. A reduction in the number of assaults on children.

5. A higher proportion of 18-year-olds with NCEA level 2.

6. A more highly skilled workforce.

7. A reduction in the crime rate.

8. A cut in the rate of re-offending.

9. A one-stop online shop for all Government advice and support for businesses.

10. Transactions with Government completed easily in a digital environment.

- Audrey Young

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