Auditor-General Publishes Four Reports - PGF, NZTA, Inland Revenue, Public Housing

Today the Auditor-General published four reports, which are all available on our website:

· Managing the Provincial Growth Fund

· New Zealand Transport Agency: Maintaining state highways through Network Outcomes Contracts

· Inland Revenue Department: Benefits management for the Business Transformation programme

· Using information to improve public housing services – Progress in responding to the Auditor-General’s recommendations

Managing the Provincial Growth Fund

The Government established the Provincial Growth Fund to increase growth and development in regional New Zealand. There has been a high level of public interest in the Fund. Therefore, we have completed additional annual audit work on the departments responsible for administering the Fund, briefed select committees about the Fund, and carried out a more in-depth review of the systems and processes for managing, monitoring, and evaluating the Fund. This report brings together the results of all of our work to date on the Fund.

The Fund was set up quickly which meant that systems and processes used to administer the Fund early on were still being developed. Agencies have responded well to the recommendations we have made to date, and their systems and processes have improved over time. We have identified some further areas for improvement and have made recommendations to strengthen the transparency, reporting, and evaluation related to the Fund as a whole.

It is important that, where public money is being spent, information about how applications are assessed, how money is allocated, and what is being achieved is transparent to Parliament and the public.

New Zealand Transport Agency: Maintaining state highways through Network Outcomes Contracts

In 2013 the New Zealand Transport Agency decided it could more effectively and efficiently maintain state highways by using Network Outcomes Contracts with suppliers. These are contracts between the Agency and suppliers to provide all management and maintenance activities for state highways.

Our audit found the Agency has achieved some benefits through these contracts, though it could better understand how they contribute to its overall outcomes, and better manage strategic risks. The Agency has accepted our recommendations, and is making changes to address these.

Inland Revenue Department: Benefits management for the Business Transformation programme

In 2011, Inland Revenue began its Business Transformation programme to modernise New Zealand’s revenue system and address the underlying risks in its technology infrastructure. We’ve published reports in 2015 and 2018 looking at aspects of the programme’s governance structure and procurement. This is our third report on the programme and looks at whether Inland Revenue had a robust framework for managing, measuring, and reporting benefits from the programme.

Inland Revenue maintains a strong and deliberate focus on benefits management, and appears well positioned to realise the benefits of the Business Transformation programme. However, Inland Revenue still needs to achieve a significant amount of benefits between now and 2023/24, when its monitoring of the programme’s benefits is due to finish. We will not be able to say with certainty that the significant investment in the programme represents value for money until the benefits from the completed project are measured.

Using information to improve public housing services – Progress in responding to the Auditor-General’s recommendations

In 2017, we published a report describing how well Housing New Zealand Corporation used information to manage tenancies, maintain its properties, and manage and invest in new and existing public housing. We’ve published a follow-up report that looks at how well Kāinga Ora, the Ministry of Social Development, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have responded to the recommendations in our 2017 report.

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