The Ministry of Justice has begun consulting with its staff on a change proposal aimed at making significant savings, while ensuring its core services continue to be delivered.
Under the proposal:
• 178 roles will be disestablished – of these, 67 are currently vacant
• 55 new roles would be created
This would result in a net reduction of 123 roles, almost exclusively involving staff carrying out National Office functions, Secretary for Justice Andrew Kibblewhite says.
Under the proposal, 11 per cent of the 1569 roles performing National Office functions would be disestablished.
Since November, there has been a gradual reduction of 139 full-time equivalent (FTE) roles, through actively managing vacancies. Decisions on whether to fill or hold vacancies across the Ministry are made on a case-by-case basis. Some of these vacancies will be disestablished through this change process.
“At the heart of our savings decisions has been the need to deliver on our core functions and strategy. We want to keep doing the things that make the strongest contribution to strengthening people’s trust in the law of Aotearoa New Zealand,” Mr Kibblewhite says.
While finding cost savings has been necessary, Mr Kibblewhite acknowledges it has been “a difficult and uncertain time for staff across the Ministry and wider public service”.
Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of measures initiated by the Ministry to identify efficiencies and ensure the agency’s long-term fiscal sustainability.
These have included:
• actively identifying savings in non-personnel areas by reducing travel, printing, SIM cards and other operational costs, and
• significantly reducing the use of contractors and consultants
“These actions have helped us to manage our cost pressures, but have not, in themselves, been enough to put us in a sustainable fiscal position. This has formed the backdrop to the change proposal that we are presenting to staff.
“The Ministry has grown since 2017 as we have brought in additional people to assist with the increasing demands on the court system, and our need to address longstanding gaps in some of our systems and teams.
“Over the past 18 months, we have seen our financial pressures increase, including stronger than expected inflationary pressures, as well as meeting the Government’s request for savings,” Mr Kibblewhite says.
National Office functions include corporate services, policy, legal and strategy functions, as well as operational support. The proposal includes disestablishing four frontline administrative roles, three of which are currently vacant.
A four-week consultation period with staff is now underway, with no decisions being made until the Ministry has carefully considered all feedback. Decisions are expected to be announced in August.
The Ministry is not able to confirm the final impact on staff numbers until then.