More than 400 jobs will be lost at Oranga Tamariki - the Ministry for Children - as public service agencies come under scrutiny in the lead-up to Budget Day.
Communications to staff detail about 1900 of 5100 positions are “in the scope of this change”, including all positions in the national office below the chief executive, and, in regional offices, all roles below chief executive and above site manager, youth justice manager, and residence manager, or equivalent front-line roles. This does not mean all of these jobs are proposed to be cut.
According to the change proposals sent to staff, seen by NZME, 632 roles are proposed to be disestablished in total, with 185 proposed to be created. That leaves 447 total net jobs to go.
The agency has vowed to keep essential roles out of the firing line.
An OT social worker told the Herald “these cuts are significant - even extreme - because most of these positions are held by the kaimahi with the most knowledge, skills and experience. For our children this will mean a poorer service.”
Casual employees are deemed out of the scope, and those seconded to roles are set to continue unless their jobs are disestablished or reduced in size.
Oranga Tamariki’s front-line managers, and key staff reporting to them, are not part of the cost-slashing plan. Instead, the agency’s axe looms over back-office staff and functions, something deemed a focus by Public Service and Finance Minister Nicola Willis, responsible for the upcoming Budget.
Oranga Tamariki chief executive Chappie Te Kani said the changes were the next step in a transformation project that started in 2021.
“Our transformation started in 2021 ... now we are proposing a new organisational structure as the next step in our transformation journey.”
Leaked documents show plans to bring together three teams within three regions and six districts under a new group - the documents suggest the agency is looking at merging care and protection, youth justice, and caregiver recruitment across some spaces.
The agency is looking at disestablishing its leadership team and reducing the roles in its executive from eight to six.
The office of the chief social worker is proposed to be merged with the quality practice and experiences team. Support provided in the office of the chief executive is said to be slimmed down and simplified under the change proposal.
Meanwhile, internal documents show the agency seeking to refocus its Māori, partnerships, and communities plans on a national strategy - with the group getting a new title of “enabling communities and investment”.
Under the proposal, 33 roles would be disestablished from the residences and community homes team - with 26 new roles to be set up.
Four per cent of roles from the agency’s tamariki and whānau service would be chopped. A total of 183 roles are proposed to be disestablished, with 28 new roles proposed to be established in a bid to streamline leadership and specialist services.
The change proposal outlines an aim of bringing together adoptions, business operations and the national contact centre.
Under the ministry’s chief social worker and professional practice group, a 19 per cent proposed reduction in roles is floated, with 92 jobs planned to be disestablished and 44 new ones to be created.
In “enabling communities and investment”, 53 per cent of roles will be reduced. In total, 53 jobs in the group would be axed, with eight new ones to be set up.
And 35 per cent of roles under people, culture, and enabling services would be cut, with 93 roles proposed to be disestablished and 31 proposed to be created.
The agency has been directed to cut back on spending by 6.5 per cent.
As of December 2023, Oranga Tamariki’s headcount was 4904, according to data from the Public Service Commission. Over the latter half of last year, the staff headcount rose by 254 people - an increase of 5.5 per cent. In the six-month period from June to December last year, $16.6 million was spent on contractors and consultants at Oranga Tamariki.
A temporary back-office hiring freeze had been put in place alongside a halt on all non-essential travel, although this was not enough for the ministry to meet its target to reduce spending by 6.5 per cent.
Staff were told last month that further changes would likely mean work programmes and contracts would stop or be reduced. Workers were informed there might be a proposal for a reduction in staffing numbers.
“Firstly, the safety of children will always remain the core purpose of Oranga Tamariki, and any potential changes will prioritise this. Frontline managers and staff on the front line reporting to them will not be part of this process,” Oranga Tamariki chief executive Chappie Te Kani said in March.
The documents, seen by NZME, show a proposal to bring together “core functions” at the ministry.
It showcases a focus on strengthening “safe and secure management” of young people in the care of Oranga Tamariki - and the change proposal describes wanting to “empower the frontline” to work more effectively as one organisation.
Public Service Association assistant secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said their “hearts go out” to the people impacted by the proposal.
“The Government promised no impact on social workers, but in a complex organisation like Oranga Tamariki with many moving parts, all workers play an important role in supporting rangatahi and tamariki,” she said.
Fitzsimons, an ex-Labour candidate, suggested the cuts will impact the ability of Oranga Tamariki to deliver services and partner with community agencies.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters in Thailand today the proposed cuts at the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki announced today would be from the back office.
“I am being very clear with the New Zealand people ... There has been a massive amount of bureaucracy built-up in the system,” he said.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins slammed the Government’s cost-cutting directive, calling today’s job loss proposal “devastating”.
Devastating news for staff working with some of our most vulnerable children today. The people losing their jobs at Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Education do amazing work. They have homes and families too. Once again we see how wrong this government’s priorities are.
— Chris Hipkins (@chrishipkins) April 16, 2024
Hipkins said in a statement: “Oranga Tamariki works directly with kids who by no fault of their own haven’t had the best start in life. These are the very kids we should be investing in, supporting, so they can go on to live the best, most fulfilling lives and not lives of trauma and crime.
“Those who work at Oranga Tamariki have some of the toughest jobs of any agency within the public service. They deal with children who are abused, hurt or in danger.”
He said Oranga Tamariki “hasn’t always got it right”, however, cutting its budget and 447 staff “will only make outcomes worse.”
“If we fail the children in our care, we are creating a lifetime of pain for those children and for society,” Hipkins said.
Te Kani acknowledged it was a tough time for staff and had promised to discuss the details in-depth with staff, unions, and partner agencies.
Te Kani had been paying out-of-pocket for flights across the country to discuss the cost-cutting plans with impacted staff in person.
Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform and transport.
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