Ministerial Servicing Performance

The performance measure set in the Statement of Intent 2006/07 aimed to:

• provide responses on time in 95% or more cases; and
• achieve a ministerial satisfaction rating of “good”, “very good”, or “excellent” in the four monthly survey of ministerial satisfaction.

Te Puni Kōkiri met the agreed ministerial servicing timelines across all output classes as outlined below, in 96.5% of cases in 2006/07. This is an improvement on 2002/03, 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06 performance where 79%, 86%, 87% and 93% of ministerial documents respectively met the timelines. This upward trend is an extremely pleasing result.

Quality Assurance

The Te Puni Kōkiri approach to quality is to ensure our written and oral policy advice is of a consistent standard which meets the expectations of the Minister of Māori Affairs.

Te Puni Kōkiri seeks formal feedback from the Minister of Māori Affairs, in a quarterly survey, on his assessment of the quantity, quality and timeliness of policy advice (including oral advice). This was in addition to the regular meetings between the Chief Executive and his officials and the Minister of Māori Affairs throughout the year, where oral feedback was obtained and detailed discussions on issues or priorities occurred. In response to the survey the Minister said he was satisfied that “good” progress had occurred in the quality and timeliness of papers received.

In addition to the Minister’s satisfaction survey, the completion and referral of high quality policy advice (as defined by the quality characteristics) was assessed by an independent expert in Public Sector policy.

The assessment was based on the quality of criteria outlined in the Te Puni Kōkiri Quality Assurance Handbook. The assessed papers were chosen at random or for their potential significance.

The independent reviewer rated the quality of policy advice on a scale of 1 to 6, where 1 = poor, 2 = adequate, 3 = satisfactory, 4 = good, 5 = very good, and 6 = excellent. The results are reported below:

In addition, all advice provided was supported by a quality management process listed below:

• internal peer review
• adherence to the standards of the Te Puni Kōkiri Quality Assurance Handbook which defines quality standards; describes how the standards are determined, assessed and reported; describes the process of developing quality policy advice; and outlines the corporate support for these practices and processes.
• all Cabinet papers complied with the Cabinet Office Manual.

Performance Agreements

Performance agreements are developed annually for permanent staff. The performance agreement forms the basis for six monthly (as at December and June) individual performance reviews. The core competencies that are in the agreement have been identified as skills fundamental to the work of Te Puni Kōkiri. This process is an important part of the organisation’s evaluation of each individual’s contribution to the work of Te Puni Kōkiri, and is an effective vehicle for continuous improvement.