Policy Project newsletter: December 2023

Looking ahead to 2024#

As the year draws to a close, we’ve been reflecting on changes for us as a team and the Public Service.  

Our new manager Craig Salmon joined us in November and the team has been focusing how we can best provide support to Public Service agencies.

The change of government has brought renewed focus on delivering professional policy advice. Look out for a continued rollout of our cross-agency training offerings at the Beehive, which will take place each month on a relevant topic and for different policy cohorts. We’re starting the year with a focus on good commissioning with our Start Right training for policy managers.

The Policy Project is here to work with agencies to promote best practice in public policy and strengthen policy systems.  If you're interested in having our team present to your agencies group or directorate meetings, or have any suggestions on how we can improve the Policy Project’s resources, you can contact Craig Salmon at [email protected].

Cross agency training offerings in February#

In February we’ll be offering cross-agency workshops for policy managers on Start Right. This training offers a guide to good commissioning conversations with your policy teams and processes, and tools for designing and planning your policy projects.

If you’re a new manager or work with policy teams to commission policy projects in the Public Service, or plan to make a new year’s resolution to improve your commissioning, you can register now by contacting [email protected]

Government Economics Network: 
Get involved!#

Economics is a core capability of government: it provides a set of tools to interpret the world, to identify and assess opportunities, design policy and regulations and evaluate their effectiveness. The Government Economics Network (GEN) is committed to improving government’s economic capability and supports the goal of the Policy Project to promote best practice in public policy and strengthen policy systems.

In 2023, GEN undertook interviews with 11 Chief Economists to understand the current capability of the New Zealand public sector. This study identified a gap in economic knowledge and skills in government, as well as limited opportunities for professional training.  The full report is available on the GEN website.

A second research project is currently underway. This survey of economists and non-economists in government seeks to measure specific training needs and to identify economics topics that would provide the most immediate value for policy analysts and others.  

You can get involved by completing this survey now.

Change of government and focus on delivering high quality policy advice#

The new Government has been sworn in and the State Opening of Parliament was held on Wednesday, 6 December. A guide to the Government’s strategic direction and objectives is now set out in the coalition agreements, Coalition government 100 day plan, and the Speech from the Throne. The Ministerial List and the directory of Ministerial portfolios have also been published which set out the responsibilities of every minister. The directory includes the agencies and organisations reporting to each minister, their vote responsibilities, and the legislation they administer.

The Business Committee has also recommended an agreed Parliamentary sitting programme for 2024 which is helpful when planning your policy projects in the new year.

With the change of Government, the role of the Public Service is to support the new government as it establishes its work programme. This includes providing high quality advice that helps new ministers implement their policies and deliver services for New Zealand. As always, it's important to maintain our standards of integrity and the quality of advice.

The fundamental purpose, principles and values that guide public servants as they carry out their work are set out on the Public Service Commission website.  The Policy Project’s Policy Quality Framework also sets out the standard for written and oral policy advice. Peter Mersi, Acting Head of the Policy Profession recently took the opportunity to reinforce the following messages about the characteristics of good quality advice – which is particularly important when supporting new ministers. Policy advice papers need:

• clear purpose statements that directly tie into the recommendations or decisions being sought
• succinct explanations of the context and ‘why now’ (situate the advice for the decision maker)
• options, that set out relative trade-offs and any key risks,
• clear next steps and any implementation matters.

The Policy Project will continue to run forums, webinars, and workshops in 2024 to support agencies as they deliver on the government priorities.

Update on improvements to policy quality assessments#

This year we have focused on improvements to policy quality assessments across the Public Service. Every agency with a policy appropriation is required to assess a random sample of their papers across the year and report an aggregated policy score out of 5 in their annual report.  

Independent Panel Review of Papers#

An independent panel review of policy papers was undertaken to check for consistency in assessment and policy scoring.

This review found that the policy quality assessment process and the Policy Quality Framework are fit for purpose and that there was a high level of consistency in the scoring of policy papers across agencies. However, the panel did find, that some key characteristics of the Policy Quality Framework were often missing. You can read more about the panel’s findings in their report Policy Quality Framework – Independent Panel Review of Papers (October 2023).

Revised guidance to support policy quality assessments#

Revised guidance to support agencies in their policy quality assessments will be available on our web in the New Year. The guidance will include more information on sampling approaches, documenting panel processes, the fitness for purpose of advice, scoring judgements, and timeliness of feedback to authors and managers.

Exploring changes to the Policy Quality Framework#

As a next step we are looking to make refinements to the Policy Quality Framework so that it:

• better aligns with the recently refreshed Policy Skills Framework
• ensures that there is more focus on advice that enables a clear and informed decision or next steps
• has more focus on implementation.

If you’re interested in being involved in this work, please write to [email protected].  

New development pathways for policy skills published#

Development pathways have now been published for three of the new skills in the refreshed Policy Skills Framework: Te Ao Māori, Treaty and Māori Crown Relationships, Stewardship and Strategic and Futures Thinking.

The pathways can be viewed within the Development Pathways Tool or users can link to the pathways from within the Policy Skills Framework. The pathways set out a range of practical actions policy practitioners can take to develop their skills. The actions provide a useful basis for conversations between policy managers and staff when preparing development plans for the year ahead.

If you are interested in having one of the Policy Project team talk to your directorate or policy group about the Policy Skills Framework and related pathways, then please contact [email protected].

Can we help you?#

We’re available to work with agencies and policy leaders to support strengthening your policy capability.  We can tailor our support to what works for your policy team or agency, wherever you're at on your journey of building policy capability.  In the last year, we’ve worked with policy teams and agencies to support and strengthen policy capability through training sessions and workshops.

Introduction to the Policy Project#

A walk through our frameworks, Policy Methods Toolbox, resources, and course offerings. Customised to suit policy teams or oganisational development teams to learn more about our resources and tools.

What is policy making?#

An introduction to the policy process using a case study example. Suitable for graduates, new policy advisors, those new to the Public Service or in policy adjacent roles.

Strengthening policy analysis and advice#

A range of short courses aimed at policy advisors and senior advisors to strengthen analytical tools and the quality of policy advice, including:

• Developing quality policy advice using the Policy Quality Framework
• Start Right – Commissioning Policy Projects
• Defining policy issues
• Intervention logic – assessing policy options, costs, benefits, and risks
• Risk analysis in a policy context
• Community engagement process and impact analysis tools.

Policy Analysis Fundamentals programme#

Agencies may also want to join the Policy Analysis Fundamentals programme. We deliver a three half-day course (over three weeks) primarily for policy analysts with some experience. This course uses case studies relevant to your agency to apply core policy analysis concepts and tools to the policy analysis cycle. As part of the programme, we train principal advisors interested in coaching and mentoring to adapt and delivering the Policy Analysis Fundamentals on an ongoing basis.

Strengthening policy skills#

Short courses on using the Policy Skills Framework and Development Pathways Tool to build policy skills, including:

• mapping and identifying actions to develop policy skills – can be tailored for policy practitioners at all levels
• assessing policy team composition and planning for skills gaps – for policy managers and policy team leaders
• policy recruitment or complementing your organisation's policy capability resources and programme – for organisational development and human resources teams.

Strengthening policy quality assessment#

Using the Policy Quality Framework to assess the quality of advice and applying the panel assessment guidance – this can be tailored for those new to sitting on policy quality advice panels, organisations setting up quality assessment panels, or policy peer review teams.

Please feel free to contact us on [email protected], especially if:

•   you’d like to discuss how we can help your team or agency
•   you have questions, comments, or suggestions of topics for future newsletters.

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Please have a safe and happy holiday period, and we look forward to hearing from you in the new year!

For additional information and support, visit the Policy Project webpages where you'll find a wide range of tools, frameworks, and advice.