Public Service Minister Judith Collins shared articles about the UK civil service trimming back staff with New Zealand's Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Talk of an article mentioning “underperforming” civil servants losing their jobs in the UK and discussions about contractor and consultant woes make up the messages between Sir Brian Roche and Judith Collins, during a period of change in the public sector.
Texts and WhatsApp communications, released to Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act (OIA), show Collins, the Public Service Minister, shared a Telegraph article with Roche, the Public Service Commissioner, in March, titled “Under-performing civil servants to be pushed out”. The minister captioned her WhatsApp message “Meanwhile, in the UK ... ” and shared screenshots of the article.
Roche replied “I’ll read it with interest”, with the remainder of the message redacted out.
The story, published by the Telegraph‘s chief political correspondent, quoted British Cabinet minister Pat McFadden as saying the public sector was “not match-fit” and “unable to deliver” on his plans to shrink the size of the workforce.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had signalled “slowness and lethargy baked into the system” in his call for public sector reform, as outlined in the piece shared between Collins and Roche.
McFadden signalled plans to focus on delivery – a similar tactic to that which has been playing out in New Zealand for the past few years.
“To do this, we must ensure that we go further to ensure those brilliant people who can deliver are incentivised and rewarded, and those who can’t are able to move on. The changes will result in a more focused and productive Civil Service and more efficient delivery of the change working people need,” McFadden was quoted as saying.
In a statement, the commission said Roche was merely acknowledging the economic challenges that a lot of jurisdictions, including the UK, are facing.
Just days after the article was published, Collins messaged the commissioner a separate story, again from the Telegraph, in which Starmer was interviewed on his overhaul of the public sector.
In the piece, which Collins appeared to screenshot in full and send to Roche, Starmer describes the public sector in Britain as “overstretched” and “unfocused”.
The UK Prime Minister, who gained a resounding election victory in 2024, reiterated the importance of operating at “maximum efficiency and strength”, as the amount of British public servants increased in recent years, but many claim frontline services are yet to see improvement.
“The problem isn’t our fantastic civil servants – it’s the system they’re stuck in,” Starmer said in the article shared by Collins.
“What makes sense for New Zealand in the UK context is the British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer talking about the need for the public service to operate at maximum efficiency and strength,” the Public Service Commission told Newstalk ZB.
On the article, Roche wrote back to Collins, saying: “This all makes a lot of sense and isn’t too different from the situation we face. I’ll be interested to see more detail on their plans.”
Collins gave a thumbs-up to the commissioner’s words.
“It’s also worth noting that Sir Keir wrote ‘the problem isn’t our fantastic civil servants – it’s the system they’re stuck in’. Like Sir Keir, the commissioner says our public servants do a great job but too often are hampered by bureaucratic processes," the commissioner’s office added in a statement to Newstalk ZB.
Like Sir Keir [Starmer], the Commissioner says our public servants do a great job but too often are hampered by bureaucratic processes.
The day after the piece was shared, another story relating to the British Civil Service was shared in the duo’s WhatsApp messages, from the minister to the commissioner.
An article from the Guardian outlined concerns with “polygamous working”, as a UK Cabinet Office investigation found a public servant held multiple fulltime jobs.
The report found the person held three roles in three Government agencies during two separate timeframes, and added “polygamous working” had become an “emerging risk area” as more people were working from home.
In a statement, the Public Service Commission said the commissioner had not received any information suggesting “polygamous working” is a problem in the New Zealand public service.
“If there are any instances of this happening, he [the commissioner] would expect chief executives, as the employer, to manage this.”
Roche replied to Collins, suggesting the fact a public servant in the UK worked multiple government jobs at once was “appalling”.
Roche told Collins he would check to ensure it was not happening in New Zealand, adding “a number of audit firms run the same type of methodology on expenses and payroll for individual entities”.
“I think it’s good to look at who is in consultancy as well,” Collins replied, with the rest of her block of text redacted under the OIA.
The minister then gave out suggestions as to what could happen, saying “one of the things might be to put into employment contracts [is] a clause about this and to ensure [chief executives] are checking in on it”.
“A central registry of all employees and those working as consultants should sort it too,” she added.
On the matter of a potential central registry of employees, the Public Service Commission statement said: “The commission is looking into whether this is an issue that needs to be addressed across the public service.”
Collins took over the public service portfolio from Finance Minister Nicola Willis in a New Year’s portfolio reshuffle. When asked to comment, Collins referred Newstalk ZB to the Public Service Commission’s statement.
The Public Service Minister has also suggested openness for performance management for public sector bosses, and proposals to cull certain diversity requirements. In recent days, she’s announced plans to boost responsible artificial intelligence use in the sector.
Azaria Howell is a multimedia reporter working from Parliament’s press gallery. She joined NZME in 2022 and became a Newstalk ZB political reporter in late 2024, with a keen interest in public service agency reform and government spending.