Labour would review Govt departments

Press, 24 February 1977, Page 11

Labour would review Govt departments

PA Wellington A Labour government would ‘'upgrade” the Select Committee system of Parliament to give committees a chance to review ‘‘in some detail” the functions of ail departments of Stale during a three-year parliamentary term. Spelling out this policy proposal in a speech to the Civil Service Institute in Wellington, the Leader of the Opposition, (Mr Rowling) said he thought a “sunset” proposal of President .Jimmy Carter was very worth while. “This, in essence, requires departments to justify the continuation of given programmes. If they can't, the programme will be discontinued. “This means, of course, that the ordinary member of Parliament will become much more involved in the business of Government and less decision making will be left to the Cabinet exclusively.” Mr Rowling said he would like to see as many as possible of these committee hearings open to public scrutiny.

He said the work of the committees could lead to restructuring, and perhaps even the disappearnace, of some departments. Some workers would find that their jobs might be changed, but not their prospects. There would be a constant liaison with the Public Service Association to ensure adequate protection of individual rights and smooth transition. Mr Rowling said the Opposition wanted to resist the trend that as things got more complex there was a tendency for experts to take over. “We want to go to the people and say, ‘Here are the choices.’ We want to inspire an informed debate about the alternatives. We want to involve local communities more in the decisions about where schools and hospitals go before I hey are presented with a fait accompli.” He referred to criticisms voiced by public servants during a recent survey of attitudes to their jobs. Among the criticisms

were: “Bureaucratic idiot,” “All the decisions are made from the top down — our department’s bosses don’t seem to have any idea what we are ail I about,” “Having to pretend to work when there is nothing to do,” Mr Rowling said that that might not be a fair sample of the comments made, but “the fact is that no-one should feel like that in a job.” He said public servants ■ did not have the spur of I competition that some I parts of the private sector : had, but they did have / some pride in their de- I partment and their coun- I try. “This must reflect | down through the staff to ; the very latest recruit.” ; Mr Rowling also reite- I rated Labour’s determina- i tion to change the tax I structure — “The present ! system has let income tax I rise 20 per cent over the I last year when incomes ; haven’t risen anything like ; this amount.” He said Labour wanted ' a system that rewarded I initiative, rather than pe- ' nalised it. - i