The Public Service Association (PSA) is voicing concern about state sector job cuts biting too deeply into government departments.National made an election pledge to cap state sector positions and then set a cap for core government administration at
The Public Service Association (PSA) is voicing concern about state sector job cuts biting too deeply into government departments.
National made an election pledge to cap state sector positions and then set a cap for core government administration at 38,859 fulltime equivalent staff from December 2008.
State Services Minister Ryall yesterday said latest figures from the State Services Commission showed the number of fulltime equivalent staff positions in the core government administration, as at June 30 this year, was 36,771 -- about 2100 fewer than when the cap was imposed.
"New Zealand experienced huge growth of the core public service administration under the previous government -- out of all proportion to the numbers of front-line public servants like teachers and police," he said.
"This government has halted that growth."
Mr Ryall said many departments would have little or no increase in baseline funding over the next few years and further reductions would happen as chief executives managed budgets.
PSA national secretary Brenda Pilott said there were also many vacancies which were not likely to be filled. "The work contained in those positions hasn't gone away. We know because our members tell us about the unrealistic workloads they are trying to juggle."
Ms Pilott said having over-loaded and under-resourced teams affected the ability of agencies to deliver services that the New Zealand public needed.
While Mr Ryall had pledged to shift resources from the back office to the front-line, it was the front-lines that were being impacted.
"It's about time the government came clean on long-term vacancies not being filled, but simply getting rid of them is hardly a strategy for running an effective public service."
Labour Party state services spokesman Grant Robertson said experience from the 1990s showed that where administrative support was cut, staff who worked with the public spent more time filling out forms and less time providing services.
"The cuts made by the National government have been indiscriminate and have led to fewer front-line workers in areas like biosecurity, fisheries and the school library service, for example," he said.
Mr Robertson said there was nothing wrong with efficiency, but that was not what the government was achieving.
