A.13 ANNUAL REPORT 2014 - 2015 PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015 Presented to the House of Representatives pursuant to section 44(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989 ISSN 2324-2868 (Print) ISSN 2324-2876 (Online) Copyright Except for images with existing copyright and the Parliamentary Service logo, this copyright work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- Non-commercial-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand licence. You are free to copy, distribute and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes as long as you attribute the work to the Parliamentary Service and abide by the other licence terms. Note: the use of any Parliamentary logo [by any person or organisation outside of the New Zealand Parliament] is contrary to law. To view a copy of this licence visit http:// creativecommons.org/licences/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz Contents Performance highlights 4 Foreword from the Speaker of the House of Representatives 7 General Manager’s overview 8 Part 1 – Nature and scope of functions 12 Part 2 – Report on operating intentions 16 Part 3 – Measuring our success and reporting against appropriations 26 Part 4 – People and Culture 40 Statement of responsibility 45 Independent Auditor’s report 46 Financial information 50 Statements of expenses and capital expenditure 82 & 104 Schedule of expenditure on travel entitlements of former members and their spouse or partner 109 3 PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015 Performance highlights OF VISITORS TO PARLIAMENT RATED THEIR EXPERIENCE AS 87,000 98% GOOD OR EXCELLENT VISITORS TO PARLIAMENT TRIP ADVISOR AWARD - CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE RECOGNISING OUR CONSISTENTLY HIGH LEVEL OF FEEDBACK FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC 14,654 SCHOOL STUDENTS VISITED PARLIAMENT 1,306,931 HITS ON WWW.PARLIAMENT.NZ ANSWERING 11,183 10,500 VISITORS TO THE PUBLIC GALLERY LIBRARY RESEARCH REQUESTS 4 81% OVERALL SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES 101 72% LIBRARY RESEARCH OF OUT-OF-PARLIAMENT OFFICES HAVE PAPERS INCREASED SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS OUR ACHIEVEMENTS During 2014/15 Parliamentary Service also: • Successfully enabled the transition from the • Established a new security team, taking 50th to 51st Parliaments following Election an intelligence-led approach to security 2014 including establishing nearly 40 new and providing better support to out-of- out-of-Parliament offices for members. Parliament offices. • Successfully regenerated the area around • Rolled out a new Microsoft Lync-based the Cenotaph in Wellington (in conjunction telephony system enabling more flexible with Wellington City Council) by way means of communication for users. Over of steps linking it to the parliamentary 1,600 telephone extensions migrated to the forecourt, and providing seating around the new telephony platform. Cenotaph. • Upgraded 61 out-of-Parliament offices with • Commenced the implementation of the new network connectivity, known as ‘Office Government’s 29 Protective Security in a Box’. Requirements with Parliamentary Service • Continued the development of the leading work on the parliamentary precinct. Parliament sector with the Office of the • Developed a new learning and development Clerk, focusing on a plan to achieve system and a remuneration framework for common outcomes and implementation of member support staff. the Parliament Communications Strategy. • Made Parliament more accessible for the less abled by installing ‘talking’ lifts in the Executive Wing, and improving the visibility of glass doors and security bollards. 5 PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015 6 FOREWORD FROM THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Foreword from the Speaker of the House of Representatives The Parliamentary Service (the Service) supports the institution of Parliament by providing administrative and support services to the House of Representatives, members of Parliament, and the agencies working within the precinct of Parliament. This last year has been very busy for the Service with some great work undertaken - including the transition to a new Parliament - and there are exciting times ahead. During the course of the year, the Service has commenced a clear multi-year plan of where it wants to be by 2020 – the year of attaining its vision of “being recognised for excellence and innovation.” I have noted a capability shift in the Service’s people during 2014/15 to support and deliver on this work plan. There is a significant work programme in place to support elected members and the institution of Parliament; this will assist members to effectively represent the needs of New Zealanders. The key achievement for the Service in the past year was the planning of and successful transition to the 51st Parliament, following the general election held in September 2014. This involved implementing an extensively updated operating framework – comprising new Speaker’s Directions and Determinations from the Remuneration Authority - to support members in carrying out their work as elected representatives. During 2014/15, the Service has further developed an integrated Parliament sector approach with the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives (Office of the Clerk). The work under way in the sector complements and supports the achievement of common outcomes for Parliament. I have continued to appreciate the support that the Service has provided my office over the last year. The Rt Hon David Carter, MP Speaker of the House of Representatives and Responsible Minister for Vote Parliamentary Service 30 September 2015 7 PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015 General Manager’s overview I am pleased to present the 2014/15 annual report of the Parliamentary Service. This has been a particularly rewarding year and a period of re-building for the Service with many highlights to end a very positive year. Staff can be very proud of what we have achieved together. This past year saw the Service commence its journey towards achieving its 2020 vision of “being recognised for excellence and innovation.” Our focus has been informed by the Performance Improvement Framework (PIF) review and our efforts on the performance challenges identified by that review.1 While we have not achieved all of our performance measures, we acknowledge this was a busy year, with a key focus on delivering the transition between the 50th and 51st Parliaments. Throughout the year, the Parliament sector partnership approach with the Office of the Clerk has continued to evolve. Both organisations have worked closely together to facilitate a smooth transition between Parliaments. There continues to be a strong focus on promoting a more accessible Parliament for New Zealanders and ensuring that elected representatives are provided with the support required to carry out their duties both here in Wellington and around the country. Another year has ended and again we have many notable achievements and highlights. They demonstrate how we focussed on improving our support to elected members, developing our sector partnership and supporting New Zealand’s democratic system. These include: Supporting the 51st Parliament The transition to the 51st Parliament was an extensive time of change for the Service. A significant achievement was the reorganisation of appropriations brought about by changes to the Speaker’s Directions. These were implemented and training provided to members. The introduction of the Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Services) Act 2013 and additional responsibilities of the Remuneration Authority in determining various accommodation and travel entitlements, added a further complexity to the rules. 1 PIF review published in July 2014 – available at http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/parl-support/agencies/ps/corp-docs/50PSGMOPSPIF141/parliamentary-service-pif- report-2014. 8 GENERAL MANAGER’S OVERVIEW All changes have reflected the recommendations made by the fifth triennial Appropriations Review Committee (ARC) and provide elected members with greater flexibility in how they organise their offices and support staff. It creates the ability to transfer unspent funds across years and ring fences funding to align with the parliamentary term. Response to the PIF review The Service’s PIF review has been a valuable resource for steering change in the organisation. We are focussed and clear on where we want to be. The Service is on a journey, and we are listening to what the PIF reviewers identified, to our own evaluation – our metrics – and to our customers, principally the elected representatives. A key challenge over this and coming years is to realign our organisational structure to an optimal operating model. This will require some change and working with staff is fundamental to achieving this. In response to the review we developed six foundation themes (described in more detail in the Strategic Overview section in Part 1 of this report). These are the building blocks that we strive to achieve year on year towards achieving our 2020 vision. This report notes our performance in year one of our journey. Aside from the election, our focus has been on understanding and commencing the standardisation of our service provision, and providing better support to out-of-Parliament offices. Growing and developing our people Growing and developing our people is the highest priority for the coming year as all other pieces of work flow from the right level of capability and behaviour among staff. This is about achieving a more constructive organisational culture. During the past twelve months the Service has embarked on a significant people and