Remuneration of Senior State Sector Staff 2011

15 September 2011

The State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie, today released a report containing the remuneration figures for senior state sector staff for 2011.

Overall, the total bill for Public Service chief executives (those chief executives whose remuneration is set by the State Services Commissioner) has decreased over the last year by 2 percent.

This lower expenditure reflects the environment of fiscal restraint, the Commissioner setting modest remuneration expectations and a reduced number of Public Service chief executives, as a result of agency amalgamations.
“While the economy is recovering from the effects of the global recession, the Government expects that remuneration changes across the State sector will be met within existing funding levels, reflect high performance, be responsible, and demonstrate value for money.

“My ongoing expectation is that those entities where I do not set remuneration, such as councils and boards, will also exercise restraint when considering increases to chief executive remuneration, and to propose increases only where the chief executive has performed strongly or in exceptional circumstances,” Iain Rennie said.

The data covers total chief executive remuneration, which includes performance pay, employer contributions to superannuation, the value of the use of a vehicle, and any annual leave in excess of 20 days per annum. In a few cases, this also includes entitlements on the last day of duty, which for career public servants, can be a significant sum.

The report also includes the number of employees receiving $100,000 or more, a figure that has increased 10 percent this year, compared with 4 percent last year, driven in part by the number of agencies undergoing restructuring and a consequential increase in payments on termination.

This year, as part of standardising the reporting period, the period for Tertiary Education Institution chief executive remuneration has changed from the calendar year to a July to June year. To ensure that this data is fully reported during this transition, the report also lists data for the financial year 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010.

This data has traditionally been published in the State Services Commission’s Annual Report, but in the interests of more timely disclosure the Commissioner has directed that it be released online once completed and again in the Annual Report when that is tabled later this year.

The full report is available on the SSC website: http://www.ssc.govt.nz/

[Scoop copy: remseniorstatesectorstaffat30june11.pdf]

ENDS

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