Organisational health and capability

Providing value for money

Reviewing expenditure

Each year, as part of the development of its output plan, the Ministry reviews its services and the costs of delivering the services. The review is aimed at providing value for money by ensuring the services are relevant to government priorities and are being delivered in an efficient and effective manner, and that the Ministry is able to provide the services from within the approved appropriation.

More recently, the Ministry has undertaken the line by line expenditure review required of all government departments and agencies. Savings of around 7 per cent of Crown revenue were achieved – a significant portion of the Ministry’s baseline.

Within this value-for-money review process, the Ministry has indicated to Government reviews of other services that could assist in improving the performance of the seafood sector, and also provide benefit to amateur and customary fishers.

The review of Observer Services Strategy will consider the level of demand for these services and identify cost-effective delivery options. The review commenced in 2008/09, with the aim of having improved arrangements in place by 1 July 2010.

The review of Research Services Strategy will consider opportunities for alternative provision of stock assessments, as well as research planning, tendering and contract management processes and will identify cost-effective options for delivery of research services. Options for reform will be identified by the end of 2009.

Governance

Appropriate organisational governance is important to achieve good outcomes and efficiently use the resources made available to the Ministry. The repositioning of the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) in late 2007 provided a new platform of governance in the Ministry. The SLT’s objectives are to ensure:

• Clear objectives, performance standards and accountabilities for delivery of the agreed outcomes, outputs and services are in place.
• Maximum value is obtained from taxpayer funds.
• Core operating infrastructure and capability is maintained and developed.
• Appropriate risk identification and management processes are established.
• Governance mechanisms are continually reviewed and adapted to meet emerging needs.

Information management and technology

The priorities for 2009/2010 include collecting better information describing fishing by amateur charter vessels, measuring catch and assessing the interests of amateur fishers, and enabling the New Zealand fishing industry to achieve cost savings as a consequence of being able to submit returns electronically. The Ministry will implement computer systems that will allow it to pull together information from previously separate sources (for example, the commercial fishing industry, fisheries observers, and contracted research), and use the Internet to provide stakeholders, tangata whenua and the public with greater access to fisheries information.

In subsequent years, the Ministry anticipates a continued focus on using the Internet to both gather and provide greater access to information, collecting better information on customary fishing and aquaculture, and migrating half of its older systems onto a more modern technology platform.