Three cheers for John Whitehead
Erect a stake, pile wood around it as a pyre, tie Treasury Head John Whitehead to it and throw in a match.
The man has committed heresy. He said the public service needed to rethink its approach, trim its fat, move out of its comfort zone and generally get its act together or someone else will come and do it.
Shocking. Dreadful. Appalling.
Next he'll be advocating that the world is not flat and that the Earth revolves around the sun.
The reactions to that sensible speech were so predictably knee-jerk mid-numbingly stupid.
"The groundwork is being laid here for privatisation and further deeper job cuts", says Labour's State Services spokesman Grant Robertson.
No it isn't. Whitehead talked of contracting out some services if it made sense. If a department could get say cheaper legal or accounting services from the private sector, why wouldn't it look at that option rather than retain or expand its in-house services?
The PSA's Brenda Pilott chimes in, "We're amazed Mr Whitehead says we should be privatising public services when bad management in the private sector has created the worst global recession since the Great Depression."
If this is the PSA's grasp of economics and world finance then God help its members.
Ms Pilott might be interested to know the recession arose out of the credit crunch brought on by the failure of the US subprime mortgage market. Basically a relatively small group of bankers went greedily mad in a largely unregulated market.
To condemn the entire private sector for the failure of one small part of the capitalist system is nuts.
So primary producers, manufacturers, the services sector and any other part of the private sector nationally and internationally must all beat the blame for the recession?
Would we condemn the entire public service because of the single failure of, say, the Corrections Department? Tempting but unfair.
A horrified Grant Robertson claimed it signalled the resurgence of Treasury's influence over the public sector.
Hang on. "Resurgence of Treasury's influence?" Hadn't his previous Labour government somehow banished Treasury to a corner where it could not exercise any influence over the financial performance of the public service?
This explains a lot.
No wonder the core public service grew 44% since 1999.
Anyone notice a 44% increase in delivery of government services?
Are our prisons 44% more effective?
Is the health system 44% better off?
Are you getting 44% more for your tax dollar?
Fat chance.
Without the watchdog role of Treasury no wonder SOEs consistently produced abysmally low dividends or return on capital.
Those I know in the public service genuinely wish to excel and produce the best quality outcome for people. They all, at some time, have complained to me of unnecessary red tape, bureaucratic waste and internal systems that are entirely devoted to "process" rather than performance.
They talk of a public service culture that has become completely risk averse and obsessed with meetings where the outcome is the fact that the meeting itself was held.
Whitehead is right. It is time the public service took a long hard look at itself and resolved to make some serious changes so that the public it is supposed to service really did feel it was getting some value for money.
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Thank God some people are finally speaking some sense. I myself been getting increasingly frustrated with the notion that just because some heads of some companies were greedy and thus helped cause the recession, all private companies must be evil. I have been hoping that all this hysteria will not lead to more government ownership (leading to further drops in productivity) - and with people such as John Whitehead and you, Bill, it seems that this may actually be avoided
Bravo. I have been reading the reactionist ravings of posters on the news piece and have been concerned by how little sense they seem to offer. Thanks for this, I am pleased that some are thinking rather than just reacting!
Couldn't agree more. I have worked in the public service from time to time, as a contractor, and i have never seen so little achieved by so many in so much time. Nothing gets done if it can be avoided. Labout increased the public service by 44% because they know people riding on the pigs back are votes in the bank!
Typical verbal diarrhoea from a hackneyed failure.
I'm a public servant, I work my butt off from 7am to 7pm. I don't take morning or afternoon tea breaks and my lunchbreak consists of the time it takes to eat my sandwich at my desk. I even come in on weekends to make sure that the people who rely on our services have what they need when they need it. I earn just above the average wage and I can't afford a mortgage on the average home. I don't get paid overtime or get bonus payments. I don't get a drinks cart at 3pm on a Friday, I don't get to wear mufti and I don't have access to the corporate gym or get koru club membership. Don't tell me I'm lazy and lack productivity.
Now to the facts ... the 44% increase in the Public Service includes ALL people who work for the tax payer and includes MPs, parliamentary services, ministerial services, judges, teachers, nurses, doctors, police, fireman etc it does not only refer to the core Wellington based public service which is - incidentally - at a lower level today than when national came into Government in 1990.
Being productive is a relevant call to make - but it shouldn't just be focused at the Public Service. The Private sector needs to do their bit as well - we all do. Be productive and be relevant to the recovery.
Its fair enough if you can get cheaper services from the private sector. The problem is you can't. A senior lawyer in their own business is likely to cost in excess of $250 an hour. You can run a legal staff of 4 for less than that!
And as for red tape...everything the state sector does has to be right. Most of the so-called red-tape is needed to make sure of that. It would be okay if the public sector was allowed to make the mistakes the private sector gets away with (2 decimal places anyone?. But the point is it can't.
And the public are more impatient than ever. While it may have been acceptable to take 6 weeks to process something 20 years ago, now its expected in a week. Or immediately. Complaints can start rolling in before an application for something has even been looked at.
Yes there's probably places where cost savings can be made. But its not going to be by outsourcing core services. The only things left to work with would be from doing away with entire functions. At a time when the government is placing ever increasing demands on the state sector for accountability and planning.
There's a thought. How about the politicians start to put their money where their mouths are and stop asking silly questions that have to be responded to instantly?
Well, well Billy boy, Genghis Khan lives again.This begins a new world order for N Z and you want to have your bit of being a tough guy and get your palms greased by the right wing idolatrists who want to subjugate the poor old working class!
Two comments seem related, but are curiously quite a long way apart....
"He said the public service needed ....generally get its act together.... " and "fat chance"....I'm sure they should be closer together.....
Get over it, and get over yourself Bill.
This would all be well and good except that, anyone who has ever worked in the public service can tell you that most of the "unnecessary red tape, bureaucratic waste and internal systems that are entirely devoted to "process" rather than performance" are found in Treasury.
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Well said