Public sector targets doomed to fail - PSA

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Public sector targets doomed to fail - PSA

3News NZ

PSA's Brenda Pilott

PSA's Brenda Pilott

Public servants could face pay cuts if they fail to meet tough new targets set down by the Government.

In five years it wants 7,500 fewer violent crimes, a 30 percent reduction in the number of long term beneficiaries, and better support for vulnerable children.

But the Public Service Association (PSA) say the Government is setting itself up to fail by introducing the targets and cutting resources at the same time.

Brenda Pilott, National Secretary of the PSA, says the Government has not done its homework.

“I don’t think the Government has thought this through very careful, I think they are going to find that the targets are going to be extremely difficult to achieve [and] we rather fear that they’re going to be disappointed at the end of this process,” says Ms Pilott.

She says there is nothing wrong with the goals but now seems an odd time to be setting them.

“The concern we have is not so much with the content of the goals that have been set but the difficulty of doing that at the same time as the Government is taking the axe to a lot of public services and cutting them and imposing a lot of restructuring.” 

Even the Government admits its performance goals are going to be difficult to achieve.

“I don’t want easy targets because if they’re easy targets they aren’t worth doing,” says Prime Minister John Key.

“This is not an exercise in ticking the boxes.”

But Labour’s Chris Hipkins says the goal of a 30 percent cut in the number of long-term beneficiaries is lacking in inspiration.

“If the Government were being generally ambitious they wouldn’t be talking about booting people off benefits, they would be talking about creating more jobs and creating higher paid jobs so that New Zealanders can earn as much money by staying here in New Zealand as they can by moving to Australia.”

Labour says the targets are an attempt to distract from National’s controversial asset sales legislation which is expected to be passed today.

Departments have until 2017 to meet the new targets.

3 News/RadioLIVE

 

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Comments

27/06/2012 5:28:12 p.m.

fmacskasy.wordpress.com wrote:

Mike wrote: "What is Labours alternative? No Target, no direcetion, spend more, send NZ towards being a Greece of the south pacific?" Too late, Mike. Your precious National have already borrowed $50 billion-plus. And now they're flogging off our state assets to pay for their incompetance. This has to be the worst government since the Year Dot. The Nats have no clue how to grow the economy nor reduce unemployment, and can only take punitive action against the state sector and welfare recipients. God help this country; every time National get elected, they stuff everything up. And we pay for the mess they leave. Roll on the next election.

26/06/2012 11:23:22 p.m.

David wrote:

Oh Mike, you are such a whiney little girl. You keep stating that labour would take us to the same place that Greece is... yet that is exactly what John Key and National have done. Greece is being forced by the bankers to cut welfare expenditure, to sell off state assets and to cut back public services. How is it in your tiny mind that you cant see that John Key is voluntarily doing what Greece is being forced to do to get aid?. And by the way... now under National we have a large number of sick people being forced off ACC onto a Winz benefit.

26/06/2012 1:51:11 p.m.

vicki wrote:

I think this is more unimaginative policy by this government. The seem to just repeat old policies, based on ideology rather than anything that might make a change in this society. We need to think seriously about where this country is heading, we are a small country, with a small population and have the opportunity for innovation and positive change but instead the Nats keep rehashing old policies to satisfy their voters views. We pay these people a lot of money to improve our country and yet the gap between rich and poor grows wider by the day. This country is being seriously mismanaged by the government and polls are showing the growing mistrust in the Nats.

26/06/2012 9:51:22 a.m.

Aron wrote:

Roll on 2015 This government is gone burgers!!!

26/06/2012 9:36:27 a.m.

bukster wrote:

This style of management rather reminds me of when I worked in a primary school. The headmaster would hand teachers little notes with things like, "No repeat of the incident at assembly is to occur" and expect that to be all the effort required. If somebody said it would take more than a little note to achieve that goal, he would tell you that you had your orders so make it happen. If the goal on the little note failed to happen, he would slam his fist on his desk and roar with fury about staff who don't do as they are told. John Key seems to be behaving in the same way. Perhaps he should consider a career in primary school education.

26/06/2012 8:51:58 a.m.

Moera wrote:

What a pity John Key govt is not subjected to performance pay reviews. Maybe then Key will realise that his policies are unreasonable and unacheiveable. Mid to low income NZders are stretched to breaking point as it is without introducing new legislation to improve Nationals stats. Pure nonsense and waste of time

26/06/2012 8:30:32 a.m.

Mike wrote:

What is Labours alternative?

No Target, no direcetion, spend more, send NZ towards being a Greece of the south pacific?

Take Shearer saying we need to fix super, but in the same week saying we need to lower the age of entitlement for 'Hard Workers' which he thinks vote Labour?

Wanting less violent crime? Is this a bad thing? Wanting less long term beneficaries? Is this a bad thing? According to the opposition, good things are bad for NZ? If violent criminals are killing people, Labour would prefer to see their rights protected to continue killing people than to adress the problem and protect the rights of the victims.

Under the last Labour administration we had huge numbers of people moved off the unemployment benefit to long term welfare to hide unemployment. We had Labour change debt measurement from a $ amount to % GDP to claim debt repayment without repaying debt. We had Labour move debt from government to State Owned Enterprises to hide government borrowing. We had Labour wined and dined and collected finders fees from Madoff for their involvement in the losses of ACC/Kiwisaver that lost $29 billion pre 2008 election. If there ever was a bunch of corrupt and mismanaging individuals much worse than Canterbury Finance - we had them right here in government 1999-2008! I look at Labour today and I dont see any change from that same corruption.