Beyond the Beehive: lessons on government reform from New Zealand

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government

News, Politics, Government

4.6 • 252 Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2022

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

New Zealand is often seen as a poster child for government reform. In this special edition of Inside Briefing Professor Rodney Scott, the chief policy advisor to the New Zealand Public Service Commission, joins Alex Thomas, Emma Norris and Rhys Clyne to discuss the history of government reform in New Zealand, explore similarities and differences with the UK and explain what difference reform has made in New Zealand. From the new public management of the 1980s to the 2020 public service reforms, this conversation covers a range of topics including: cross-government co-ordination, long-term policy making and ‘stewardship’, and accountability in government. Produced by Candice McKenzie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Inside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Government.
0:14.0	I'm Alex Thomas and in a bonus edition of the podcast, we are taking a break from analysing the
0:19.0	ins and outs of Westminster politics and
0:21.2	travelling the world to take a closer look at a country that is often held up as a poster
0:25.4	child for government reform New Zealand it's often suggested that the UK could
0:30.1	learn a lot from our friends in New Zealand when it comes to how government works
0:32.8	I've lost count of the number of times people have argued we need a UK beehive
0:36.3	gathering all ministers together in one building, but more on that later.
0:40.8	Today the plan is to get beyond the beehive.
0:43.6	We'll look at the history of public service reform in New Zealand.
0:46.5	What have their governments done differently?
0:48.4	How has this changed things, if at all?
0:50.5	And what should we learn to improve government reform here in the UK?
0:59.2	To help answer these questions and more, I am glad to be joined in the studio by Professor Rodney Scott,
1:02.3	who is Chief Policy Advisor to the New Zealand Public Service Commission,
1:05.2	and was closely involved in New Zealand's public service reforms,
1:09.1	and has patiently explained them to us at the IFG on more than one occasion.
1:28.3	In fact, he has literally written the book on the topic, two, in fact, and we will get a plug in later, Rodney. Don't worry. Rodney, welcome to the IFG. You're in the UK for a few months as part of work you're doing with Cambridge University's Bennett Institute of Public Policy. How are you enjoying your time here? It's been great so far. I've been learning a lot, been talking to lots of different people,
1:33.9	both from the UK and around Europe. It's been a long time now of being stuck in New Zealand and not having the chance to learn from other countries. So it's good to be out and engaging in the
1:38.1	world again. And you managed to navigate the horses that prevented your Queen's birthday,
1:44.1	trooping the colour horses that nearly prevented
1:45.9	you getting to IFG towers. So well done on that. I'm also joined by the IFG's Director of
	...

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