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The Department of Corrections has been told to find more than $100 million of cost savings annually after the Government promised its planned cuts would not affect front-line services.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis this week restated to the Herald her pre-election promise that savings from Corrections’cost-cutting would be recycled to its front-line services.
But the department itself stopped short of committing not to cut frontline services as part of the cost-cutting.
It said decisions on its final savings package would be up to Cabinet as part of Budget 2024.
On Thursday, Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot emailed staff to tell them how the Government’s cost-cutting would affect the Department, which was funded last year to the tune of about $2.2 billion.
Lightfoot said Corrections was required to make savings of 6.5 per cent, or $106m per year, as part of the $1.5b in savings the Government asked agencies to find.
The department employs about 10,000 full-time-equivalent staff, and 89 per cent of those are deemed front line.
Lightfoot told staff the Corrections executive leadership team had come up with a range of savings options to be considered by ministers as part of this year’s budget, but said he was unable to go into specifics on those options.
However, he outlined a range of cost-cutting measures the department was already implementing, with a focus on vacant back-office roles.
Some of those vacant roles could be removed to reduce the number of back-office staff, he said.
Lightfoot said the department had paused recruitment of roles not considered critical, and a small number of staff had been told their current secondment or fixed-term role would end earlier than anticipated.
A larger group had been told their secondment or fixed-term contract would not be extended past its end date, the email said.
When a role became vacant a panel would assess the vacancy before launching a recruitment process and may decide to defer recruitment, Lightfoot said.
He encouraged staff to book annual leave to reduce leave balances on the books and also urged them to be mindful of their catering spend.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said Corrections' cost savings would be recycled back into the front line. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The email stopped short of committing not to cut costs on the front line, such as among Corrections or probation officers.
A fortnight before last year’s election, then National finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis said certain agencies, including Corrections, police and the Defence Force, would be excluded from overall spending reductions by having their savings recycled from the back office to the frontline.
“These agencies will still be expected to reduce wasteful bureaucracy spending, but any savings will be recycled into the front line,” Willis said.
Now Finance Minister, Willis this week reiterated that pledge in a statement to the Herald.
“I can confirm that all cost savings made by the Department of Corrections will be recycled back to that agency to help fund frontline prison services,” she said.
“The Government has committed to tough law and order policies which we anticipate will result in stronger sentences for serious offenders. We will ensure the Department of Corrections has the additional funding it needs to support the likely increase in the prison population that will result from this.”
Hawke's Bay Regional Prison. Of the 10,000 full-time equivalent roles within Corrections, 89 per cent are considered front-line. Photo / NZME
The Herald twice asked Corrections whether all back-office savings would indeed flow back into the frontline, but the department would not commit.
“Decisions on our final savings package will be made by Cabinet during Budget 2024,” a spokeswoman said.
“Corrections respects the Budget process and confidentiality needed for Budget-sensitive information, so we are not able to provide further information at this stage.”
Lightfoot said fewer than five staff had been told their fixed-term contract would be required to end earlier than expected.
“No staff have been made redundant, however we have determined that some vacant permanent roles will not be filled,” he said.
“We have chosen to focus on vacant roles to minimise the impact on our people as much as possible, but I know this is a tough time for our staff. Listening to them and supporting them is my focus as we move forward.”
Meanwhile, the prison population has continued to rise after reaching a low under the previous Labour Government.
The total prison population declined from more than 10,000 in 2020 to a little under 8000 at the end of 2021.
Since then, it has been generally on the increase, driven in part by a significant rise in the number of prisoners on remand awaiting trial or sentence amid court backlogs.
On Friday, there were 9491 people in prison, a Corrections spokeswoman said.
George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.
