PUBLIC WORKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 288, 5 December 1932, Page 8

PUBLIC WORKS.

REORGANISATION TASK

LOAN RESOURCES DROP.

REVJtJN VHI - FILLING THE GAP.

(By-Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) V: ' WELLINGTON, this day. The reorganisation of the Public Works Department which is now actively in hand, is likely to result in considerable change in nomenclature, though, the Government does not anticipate, heavy economies, excepting on the clerical side. This Department,, though being , rapidly deprived of its former heavy loan resources, is now administering millions of revenue, and its professional staff is not much more than ie needed to deal with the changing pro-i gramme. Clerical operations can, it is expected, be concentrated more effectively, and savings will result.

. For years the Public Works Department has been the principal spending agency for borrowed millions, and now that :, these resources have been cut to the barest minimum, it is found that its annual revenue, independent of the London, loan market, ie so- substantial that it must continue to be a highly important and, busy Department of State. In 1929 . and 1931, the Department was upending the record loan outlays of over £8,000,000 per annum. This is , in strong, contrast with this year's loan resources," which amount to only £13786,000. - Yet the Department's estimates provide, for a cash outlay of £3,620,000, showing how remarkably it has.adapted itself to changed times. Hytirq-electric undertakings' are now responsible for a yearly expenditure of £61'2,06(), : ,.but as there.are some nncomis xequired..ironu

loan money for capital purposes. A complete cessation of loan money would, however, etill leave the Department with large cash resources. Highways and Unemployment. • The operations of the Main Highways Board and. the Department are so closely interwoven that the Public Works Department now finds iteelf the agent of a •body having an annual income closely approaching .■. £1,000,000.. . The forthcoming reorganisation is likely to resultin interesting changes affecting the Highways Board, the Transport Department,,and the Public Works Department, resulting in some substantial administrative economies.

> The large growth of. unemployment relief .works in recent years.has caused further changes in the Department on the financial side. It has become responsible for the administration of large sums from the Unemployment Fund, as well as utilising some of its own resources in this direction. Curtailment of loan income has been accompanied .by an extension of revenue from the Unemployment Fund, and the Department is getting better financial recognition for the supervisory and planning work of its technical staffs in this sphere. The Unemployment Board, during the current year, has allocated £50,000 to pay its fair share of the cost of engineering service rendered by the Public Works Department.

Retrenching for Three Years. When loan expenditure was at its £8,000,000 peak point, the . responsible heads of the Department were busy making plans for a future which would not be rosy with borrowed millions. For at least three years, retrenchment has been taking place, and the fact that this process hat gone a considerable distance in 1930 is shown by the comment of the Minister then in charge, the Hon. W. B. Taverner. He expressed some concern over the weight of . responsibility borne by the technical staff in particular, and demonstrated that the Department in this reepect was really understaffed in face of its additional duty of providing work and supervising the operations of 5000' relief . workers. Contrasting the duties over a period of ten years, he said that while the work per engineer had nearly trebled, and the liioney spent nearly, quadrupled, the engineers and engineering cadets had puljr -increased from, HI to 221, Iu-

dividual responsibility had, he showed, been increased as follows:— 1020. 1930. Number of men per engineer 42 59 Amount spent per officer , ; , £13,311 £33,081 Since these figures were published, the overseeing staff liae been heavily reduced by retirements on superannuation, and many of these experienced men have found openings in the supervision of relief work for local authorities. Thus, from a staff point of view, it seems that the Department is not overloaded, though it is , recognised .that reorganisation, in line with changed ifiodern conditions muet lead to increased eflicieney and saving of money.