PUBLIC WORKS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17955, 6 December 1932, Page 9

PUBLIC WORKS

REORGANISATION TASK LOAN RESOURCES DROP REVENUE FILLING THE GAP (Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. The reorganisation of the Piuilic Works Department now actively in naiul is likely to result in a considerable change in nomenclature, though the Government docs nut anticipate heavy economies excepting on the clerical side. The interesting fact is that tins department, though being rapidly deprived of its former heavy loan resources, is now administering millions iff revenue, and its professional staff is not much more than needed to deal with the changing Clerical operations can, it Ts expected, be concentrated mure cffeetivciy, and savings will result.

For decades the Public Works Department has been the principal spending agency for borrowed millions, and now timt these resources have been cut to the barest minimum, the interesting! discovery is made that its annual revenue, independent of the London money market, is so substantial that it must continue to be a highly important and busy department of State. In 1929 and 1931, the department was spending the record loan outlays of over £8,(100,000 per annum, which is in strong contrast with this year’s loan resources, which amount to only £1,786,000. Yet its estimates provide for a cash outlay of £3,620,000, showing how remarkably it has adapted itself to changed times. Hydro-electric undertakings are now responsible for a yearly expenditure of £612,000, but as there are some uncompleted works, £396,000 is required from loan money for capital purposes. A complete cessation of loan income would, however, still leave the department with large cash resources.

The operations of the Main Highways Board and the department are so closely interwoven that the Public Works Department now fiuds itself the managing agent of a body having an annual income closely approaching £1,900,000. Reorganisation is likely to result in some 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 work of recent years has caused further changes in the department on the financial side. It has become responsible fur the administration of large sums from the unemployment fund, as well as utilising some of its own resources in the same direction. Curla.ilnicnt of loan income has been accompanied by an extension oi. revenue from the unemployment, fund, and the department is getting better financial recognition for the supervisory and planning work of its technical stabs in this sphere. The Unemployment Board during tlic current year has allocated £50,000 to pay its fair share of the cost, of engineering service rendered by the Public Works Department. When loan expenditure was at its £8.003.000 peak point, the responsible heads of Mm department were making plans for a. future which would not be rosy with borrowed millions. Fov at least three years, steady retrenchment, has been taking place, and the fact that this process had gone a considerable distance in 1930 is shown by tho comment of the Don. W. B. Taverner, Hum the Minister in charge. He expressed some concern over the heavy weight of responsibility borne by the technical staff in particular, and demonstrated that the department in this respect was really under-staffed in face of its additional duty of providing work and supervising the operations of £OO9 relief workers. Contrasting the duties over a period of 10 years, ho stated that while the work per engineer had nearly trebled, and the. money spent nearly quadrupled, the engineers and engineering cadets had only increased from lit to 221. Individual responsibility bad, lie showed, been increased as follows 1920 1930

Number of men per engineer ... 42 o 9 Amount spent per officer ... ... £13,411 £33.001

Since these figures were published, the overseeing) staff has been heavily retimed by retirements on superannuation, and many of these experienced men have found openings in the supervision ot relief work for local authorities, thus, from a staff point of view, the depart meat, is not overloaded, though, it .u> recognised that reorganisation in line willf changed modern conditions must lend to increased efficiency and saving of money.