Our Leadership Team is supported by a robust governance structure  - Annual Report 2019 - 2020

Our internal governance system ensures effective stewardship

It sets out where we are going and how we are going to get there, takes a strong leadership role in our organisational culture, and ensures effective compliance with our legislative and regulatory obligations.

The following principles serve as a foundation for our governance system:

  • openness and transparency
  • integrity and accountability
  • effectiveness and delivery
  • leadership
  • strong decision-making
  • strategic thinking
  • working with agility.　

Our governance discussions and decisions actively consider the impact on and outcomes for Māori, acknowledging our role as a partner in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

A centralised declarations of interest register is maintained for all those in a governance role. The Leadership Team also completes annual Related Parties Transactions declarations, and a standing item on all governance meeting agendas supports acknowledgement of any emerging interests.

The Leadership Team is our primary governance body

The Leadership Team sets our strategic direction and organisational priorities and oversees organisational risk. It consists of the Chief Executive and her direct reports. A brief summary of the work of each member of the Leadership Team can be found here.

In 2019/20 Leadership Team meetings were arranged on a weekly basis, complemented by quarterly strategic meetings. Key responsibilities and priorities have included:

  • stewardship of Te Pae Tawhiti, Te Pae Tata and Pacific Prosperity
  • our future state and operating model
  • approving new MSD Values
  • establishing and embedding our organisational changes
  • prioritising flexibility and adaptiveness to meet changing needs.

The Leadership Team is supported to deliver on its long-term strategic vision by governance committees. Each committee is chaired by a member of the Leadership Team, is made up of senior managers from across the organisation, and acts as a sub-committee of the Leadership Team with oversight of particular areas of responsibility. Decision-making and risk oversight are from a whole-of-organisation point of view.

Our governance structure has evolved to help us deliver on our strategic direction and respond to the impact of COVID-19

The chart below shows how the committee structure has changed during 2019/20.

Download a chart of our committee structure (PDF 52.61KB)

Until 31 October 2019 we had four committees in place supporting the Leadership Team:

  • The Investment Committee was responsible for ensuring our investments were robust, strategic and effective, and supported delivery on our strategic objectives, purpose and outcomes.
  • The Performance Committee was responsible for setting, tracking and understanding our performance, with a continual focus on how performance can be lifted.
  • The Integrity Committee was responsible for ensuring we met our responsibilities, complied with requirements, and functioned optimally in the present and into the future.
  • The People Committee was responsible for ensuring that we had the people capability and culture we needed to meet current and future challenges and expectations.

In September 2019 we took the opportunity to align our governance structure with the new organisational structure that took effect at that time. Three new committees came into being from 1 November 2019.

  • The Investment Committee took responsibility for ensuring our investments were robust, strategic and effective, and that organisational performance supported delivery of our strategic objectives, purpose and outcomes. The Committee met fortnightly before COVID-19. Key areas of responsibility and focus included:
    • setting direction and priority for investment, including agreeing new investment principles to support robust investment choices
    • overseeing organisational performance and accountability
    • driving investment and performance maturity and capability
    • overseeing the external and internal budget processes.
  • The Organisational Health Committee took responsibility for ensuring people, capability, systems and infrastructure were strategically aligned and functioning optimally. The Committee met fortnightly before COVID-19. Key areas of responsibility and focus included:
    • ensuring people are at the core of what we do
    • overseeing development of the new MSD Values
    • managing organisational integrity and risk
    • overseeing our assets and infrastructure
    • providing governance of our corporate strategies and policies framework.
  • The Transformation Committee took responsibility for ensuring the effective and efficient delivery of our strategies and priorities. The Committee met fortnightly before COVID-19. Key areas of responsibility and focus included:
    • providing advice and direction on the delivery of our strategies and change management
    • ensuring that the high-level design of services and capabilities (e.g. people, process, organisation, information, systems) is effective in delivering the required performance.

The initial COVID-19 response made it necessary to reset our governance arrangements

Following the move to Alert Level 4 in March 2020, we paused our committees and centralised governance in the Leadership Team, which met daily throughout Levels 4 and 3. This enabled fast, responsive decision-making during the immediate COVID-19 response period, when MSD played a pivotal role.

From March 2020 we paused our three fortnightly committees and set up a centralised Business Committee to share governance with the Leadership Team. This allowed us to maintain efficiencies in the way we governed through the immediate response and take a concerted approach to our new COVID-19-related work programme, in addition to addressing broader governance responsibilities. The Business Committee comprises all Deputy Chief Executives and key leads from across the organisation. There is crossover from the three paused committees, ensuring continuity and institutional knowledge for these interim arrangements.

The Business Committee met weekly from April 2020. Key responsibilities and priorities have included:

  • MSD’s operating model and work programme
  • emerging issues and risks
  • staff wellbeing
  • sound investment decisions
  • organisational performance and accountability
  • an integrated portfolio of activity across MSD that will progressively deliver the strategies and near-term priorities.

Two independent advisory groups support the Chief Executive and Leadership Team

Risk and Audit Committee

We operate in a complex, changing environment that requires us to ensure effective risk management while maintaining and improving our services to New Zealanders. Our Risk and Audit Committee provides independent advice to the Chief Executive on risk management, internal controls, internal assurance, external audit, financial and performance matters, and governance frameworks and processes.

The Committee comprises the following independent external members, who collectively have risk management, financial, public sector and wider commercial or private sector experience:

  • Kristy McDonald ONZM QC (Chair) – Kristy is an experienced Barrister and Queen’s Counsel in Wellington with a wide range of legal, governance and regulatory experience. Kristy is the Chair of Kiwifruit New Zealand, Director of the Accident Compensation Corporation, Director of the Racing Industry Transition Authority, and Deputy Chair of the Wairarapa Building Society
  • Donna Flavell – Donna is the Chief Executive of Te Whakakitenga o Waikato Inc, the iwi organisation for Waikato–Tainui where she holds key responsibilities for providing leadership on a wide range of complex issues. Prior to this, Donna led the Waikato–Tainui team that provided technical and administrative support to the co-negotiators for the Waikato River Claim and subsequent settlement with the Crown
  • Ian Fitzgerald – Ian is a Blenheim-based company director and advisor and is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors. Ian’s current governance roles include Chair of Public Trust, Chair of the Niue Development Bank, Director of World of Wearable Arts, member of the Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō Investment Committee, and a trustee of the Marlborough Hospice Trust
  • David Smol – David was Chief Executive of the Ministry of Economic Development from 2008 to 2012 and of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment from 2012 to 2017. He currently holds a number of governance roles in the public and private sectors.

The Committee met quarterly in 2019/20 and provided advice and assurance on the following key areas of our work:

  1. risk management policy
  2. risk and assurance reporting
  3. the ACC Accredited Employers Programme
  4. financial reporting
  5. health, safety and security
  6. internal and external fraud
  7. legislative compliance
  8. emerging COVID-19-related risks.

　

Membership fees paid to the independent members of the Risk and Audit Committee fall under the category Group 4, Level 3 body of the Cabinet Fees Framework.

The annualised daily fee for independent members of the Committee is considered as an exception to the Framework with ministerial approval.

Māori Reference Group

The Māori Reference Group was established to provide a strategic reference point and advice on the design and implementation of social strategies and policies that impact Māori.

The Reference Group advises the Leadership Team on matters relating to positively transforming outcomes for Māori and the implementation of our policies, services and initiatives that impact Māori.

The Group comprises the following Māori leaders who have specialist skills, knowledge and expertise in areas such as Kaupapa Māori/Te Reo Māori, family violence, policy, legal and social service infrastructure:

  • Roku Mihinui (Chair) – Roku is an independent contractor at the Te Arawa Lakes Trust, the post-settlement entity established to manage the 14 lakes returned to Te Arawa under the Te Arawa Lakes Settlement Act 2006. Roku has held senior management positions in the forestry, tourism, justice and education sectors and in social services organisations in the community, public and private sectors
  • Tā Mark Solomon KNZM – Tā Mark is an experienced and respected leader of his hapū, his iwi and the wider New Zealand business community. As a strong supporter of the E Tū Whānau kaupapa since its inception, Tā Mark is an outspoken advocate for violence-free whānau
  • Katie Murray – Katie is the Kai Arahi of Waitomo Papakāinga, a whānau-based and focused kaupapa Māori-based social service agency in Kaitāia. Katie is actively involved in her community of Te Hiku o Te Ika and is Chair of Te Hiku Social Accord
  • Toa Faneva – Toa is the CEO of Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa, which provides a range of services to the community including emergency housing, financial capability and social services. Under his leadership, the rūnanga has developed an innovative emergency and transitional housing complex on Whangaroa Harbour and an ambitious ‘Violence-Free Whangaroa/Kaeo’ kaupapa
  • Donna Matahaere-Atariki – Donna chairs the Otakou Rūnanga and the Ministry of Health NGO Council. She is also a member of the University of Otago Council, Trustee of Well South Primary Health Network, Alternate for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, and a Gambling Commissioner
  • Richard Steedman – Richard has over many years held a number of governance and management roles for the furtherance of the rangatiratanga of hapū and iwi o Mōkai Pātea. He is Chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whitikaupeka, and a member of three iwi councils – Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hauiti, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Tamakōpiri, and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Te Ohuake.
  • Haami Piripi – Haami has spearheaded key Māori development projects in the public sector and served as Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission). He is an inaugural member of the Hiku-o-Te-Ika Social Wellbeing and Development Accord, which monitors the delivery of social services in the Far North by 16 statutory agencies.
  • Merepeka Raukawa-Tait – Merepeka is an elected member of the Rotorua District Council and the Lakes District Health Board and a trustee of her hapū, Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi. She has been actively involved with the establishment of Whānau Ora as the Deputy Chair of the Te Arawa Whānau Ora Regional Leadership Group.
  • Ruahine (Roni) Albert – Roni is CEO of Waikato Women’s Refuge, Te Whakaruruhau. She is one of a group of Māori women who helped to set up the first Māori Women’s Safehouse in 1986, which still operates today.

Membership fees for the Māori Reference Group fall under the category Group 4, Level 2 body of the Cabinet Fees Framework.

Managing risk in a challenging environment

Our internal Risk and Assurance team supports the Leadership Team by:

  • overseeing the process for managing Ministry-wide risks
  • providing support and advice in applying the risk management framework across all business groups
  • providing objective advice that enhances our organisational risk management and assurance capability
  • maintaining our organisational relationship with Audit New Zealand and the Office of the Auditor- General.

This year we:

  • reviewed and updated our Risk Management Policy and Risk and Assurance Charter to provide a fit-for-purpose risk framework that supports consistency in its approach and assessments and supports informed decision-making
  • supported the initial response to COVID-19 by ensuring that a record of identified risks and mitigations was maintained – the pace, scale and complexity of responding to the pandemic meant that getting the fundamentals right, which includes robust risk management, was and remains important.

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