Govt spends $245,000 to get 11 chiefs

Press, 30 December 1988, Page 6

Govt spends $245,000 to get 11 chiefs

PA Wellington Since the State Sector Act came into force nine months ago more than $245,000 has been spent in appointing 11 chief executives to head Government departments.

About a quarter of the Public Service’s top personnel have been replaced since the act became law on April 1, the “Evening Post” said. Jobs filled in the last nine months include chief executive positions in Conservation, Commerce, Defence, Education, Forestry, Housing, Inland Revenue, Maori Affairs, National Library, Transport, and Women’s Affairs. The head of the State Services Commission’s top appointments unit, Mr Geoff Parkinson, said that of the $245,696 spent on advertising, $66,844 had gone on consultants engaged to help the commission obtain suitable applicants.

He said the commission had also budgeted another $50,000 for obtaining new chief executives before the end of the June financial year. Mr Parkinson was responding to a request from the newspaper made under the Official Information Act. The costs did not include the salaries of commission administrative staff who made the advertising arrangements, the “Post” said.

Eleven appointments had been made since April 1, and others were pending. Most notable was

chief executive of the new Ministry of External Relations and Trade (M.E.R.T.), advertised in September. This appointment was expected in January, it said.

M.E.R.T., with a budget of about $290 million and a staff of 1350, will combine the functions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry. The job of DirectorGeneral of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is vacant after the retirement of the chief executive, Mr Malcolm Cameron, on December 2.

Some top positions are now held by “acting” chief executives, including Energy, Government Superannuation Fund, and Lands.

Answering questions sent by the “Evening Post” to the commission on November 25, Mr Parkinson could not give a breakdown on the cost of filling the top vacancies as this would require “substantial research.” Mr Parkinson was also asked to provide details if one position had required significantly higher or lower expenditure than another.

He did not provide this information, but said the positions advertised overseas could be expected to have incurred

higher advertising costs. Advertising costs were met by the commission, Mr Parkinson said, and he could not compare that expenditure with the cost of appointing permanent heads under the Public Service system before the State Sector Act became law. “Substantial work would be necessary to extract information to enable a comparison to be made.” However, he said that the costs of advertising for chief executives were likely to have been higher. “This results largely from the greater emphasis now placed on ensuring that all persons, whether within the Public Service or not, get an opportunity to apply for chief executive positions now that the barriers to entry to the Public Service have been removed.”

Mr Parkinson said seven consultants had been engaged in assisting the commission. He was not prepared to provide information on costs on an individual basis as this would disclose private information about the seven consultants.

The commission contended this information was of “a commercial nature,” and to release it could prejudice or disadvantage the commission in future.