Six months after 12 priorities launched, Government still working on indicators for progress

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with Winston Peters and James Shaw following the launch of the Coalition Government's blueprint last September. Photo / Greg Bowker

The Government has had to delay its first scorecard because it is still working out how to measure its progress.

In September last year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern used a TEDx-style talk in Auckland, alongside Coalition partners New Zealand First and the Green Party, to launch and talk up the Government's 12 priorities, a blueprint for the country.

She also reiterated the importance of the blueprint in her statement to Parliament last week.

Ardern promised to report back to the public regularly on how they were progressing, with the first update due this month.

But a spokesman for Ardern has told the Herald that the first update had been delayed because at the time the work was begun on delivering the 12 priorities, it was realised there was a range of things that weren't measured.

"We have had to create some new indicators which has slowed down their public release," the spokesman said.

About 36 measures – three indicators for each priority - would be released shortly that would cover the economic, social and environmental progress of the Government.

"This work has taken a little longer than expected as in some instances we have had to start from scratch and we have also had to align with the work Stats NZ and Treasury are doing with their measures," the spokesman said.

With Treasury's Living Standards Framework and Statistics New Zealand's Indicators Aotearoa project, the Government would have a much fuller set of measures to show the progress of its agenda than previous governments set.

"The focus is on the combined impact of the suite of policies or initiatives relating to the 12 priority areas rather than measuring each individual policy initiative within it."

The spokesman said that as well as the 36 indicators, both the progress report and the first review of the work programme would also be released soon.

"The most important thing is that we get the indicators right rather than rush them. The Government's 12 priorities were only announced in September and the first reporting of the indicators will occur shortly, within six to seven months of their announcement. We consider that to be pretty quick and broadly on track.

"We would also point out that the previous government's Better Public Service goals were only introduced in 2012, four years after they were in government, so having this framework established so soon is a marked improvement on that," the spokesman said.

The Government announced early last year it was scrapping the specifically focused Better Public Service targets, saying they didn't give it the systemic change required for the big challenges facing the country.

National leader Simon Bridges said it was clear little had happened since Ardern's speech in September.

"The Prime Minister gave a speech with all the fanfare you could possibly imagine but inside the fancy packaging there's nothing there, it's hollow," Bridges said.

"Not only are there no new measurements or targets, what's more concerning is that the Government has scrapped the old ones in the meantime, such as our Better Public Service targets.

"That's a real worry because already we can see the negative impact in areas like health where, anecdotally, people seem to be waiting longer."

"They should have at least kept our measurements and targets while they were putting in place their preferred ones," Bridges said.

The Government's themes

Build a productive, sustainable and inclusive economy
• Grow and share more fairly New Zealand's prosperity.
• Deliver responsible governance with a broader measure of success.
• Support thriving and sustainable regions.
• Transition to a clean, green and carbon-neutral New Zealand.

Improve the wellbeing of New Zealanders and their families
• Ensure everyone is earning, learning, caring or volunteering.
• Support healthier, safer, and more connected communities.
• Ensure everyone has a warm, dry home.
• Make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child.

Provide new leadership by government
• Deliver transparent, transformative and compassionate government.
• Build closer partnerships with Māori.
• Value who we are as a country.
• Create an international reputation we can be proud of.