Strategic intentions
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This section outlines our strategic intentions over the next four years. This includes the outcomes we are seeking to achieve for individuals, families and communities; the government priorities and results to which we will contribute; and our strategic direction of developing a people-centred Ministry.
Outcomes we are seeking to achieve
Helping New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent is at the heart of everything we do.
Our aspiration is that the people with whom we work are ultimately able to succeed on their own and play an active role in helping themselves get there. The Ministry, however, will always be there to help those in need.
To fulfil our purpose, we have a clear focus on achieving outcomes for New Zealanders. We will know we are successful when:
- more people are in sustainable work and out of welfare dependency
- more people are able to participate in and contribute positively to their communities and society
- fewer children and people are vulnerable
- more communities are strong and thriving
- fewer children and young people commit crime
- fewer people commit fraud and the system operates with fairness and integrity.
All parts of the Ministry contribute to the outcomes we are seeking to achieve.
The link between our outcomes, intermediate outcomes and the Government’s priorities for Better Public Services is provided in the diagram on page 10.
Contributing to government priorities
Our work also contributes to the Government’s four key priorities:
- responsibly managing the Government’s finances
- building a more competitive and productive economy
- delivering better public services
- rebuilding Christchurch.
Delivering Better Public Services
A focus on achieving targets that matter for New Zealanders is changing the way agencies work together and with communities to deliver better public services.
Over the next four years, we will lead and contribute to cross-agency work to deliver better public services and achieve results that make a real difference for New Zealanders.
Reducing long-term welfare dependence
We are leading efforts to reduce the number of people who have been on a Jobseeker Support benefit for more than 12 months.
To achieve this we will consolidate welfare reforms that have fundamentally changed the benefit system.
We will actively help people get into sustainable work, with a focus on intensive case management for those who need it most. Through an investment approach we will prioritise resources up front to help into work people that are most at risk of long-term welfare dependency and that have a greater lifetime cost to New Zealand.
Supporting vulnerable children
We are leading cross-agency efforts to achieve all three key results within this priority area:
- increase participation in early childhood education, led by the Ministry of Education
- increase infant immunisation rates and reduce the incidence of rheumatic fever, led by the Ministry of Health
- reduce the number of assaults on children.
We will work closely with the social sector[1] to reduce the number of vulnerable children through the Children’s Action Plan and Vulnerable Children Act. This work represents a new interagency approach to ensure there are strong, effective and joined-up social services to better identify, support and protect vulnerable children.
We will also continue to work with communities to help support families with at-risk children to be strong and resilient, and able to give their children the best possible start to life.
Boosting skills and employment
We are contributing to cross-agency efforts to increase the proportion of 18-year-olds with NCEA Level 2 or an equivalent qualification.
We will support young people at risk of long-term welfare dependency to get into education, training or work-based learning. Through Youth Services we will provide individualised services to support at-risk 16 to 19-year-olds. We will apply expectations for young people and wrap support and services around them to help them succeed.
Through the Social Sector Trials, we will work with the Ministries of Education, Health and Justice and the New Zealand Police to improve outcomes for children and young people by increasing their participation in education, training and employment.
We will also support young people to make positive life choices and encourage them to contribute to and participate in society.
Reducing crime
We are contributing to cross-agency efforts to reduce the rates of total crime, violent crime and youth crime and reduce reoffending.
With the justice sector[2] we will reduce youth crime by identifying and managing children and young people who have offended or are likely to offend, and stop them from graduating to more serious offences. This includes leading specific actions within the Youth Crime Action Plan and working with Social Sector Trial leads to reduce youth offending.
We will work with their families and victims to improve outcomes for people in the youth justice system and help them to build an offending-free future.
We will tackle welfare fraud by implementing reforms and continuing to enhance systems to prevent, detect and investigate instances of fraud, so that financial assistance is received only by those who are entitled to it.
Improving interaction with government
We are contributing to cross-agency efforts to ensure New Zealanders can complete their transactions with the Government easily in a digital environment.
We will use technology to support continuous innovation that makes it more convenient for people to interact with the Ministry, when and how they need to. We will enhance and simplify our self-service delivery options for people requiring lower-level services.
We will make it easier for New Zealanders to interact with the Ministry by increasing the online options for more of our services, and aligning our ICT investment with the Government ICT Strategy and Action Plan to 2017.
[1] The social sector includes the Ministries of Social Development, Justice, Education, Health, and Pacific Island Affairs, Te Puni Kōkiri, Housing New Zealand Corporation and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. It also includes community partners, service providers, non-government organisations, charities, Crown agencies, local government and district health boards.
[2] The justice sector comprises the New Zealand Police, the Department of Corrections, the Crown Law Office, the Serious Fraud Office, and Child, Youth and Family (as part of the Ministry of Social Development). The sector collaborates to reduce crime and enhance public safety, and to provide access to justice by delivering modern, effective and affordable services.
Contributing to the Canterbury rebuild
Supporting the rebuild of Canterbury will remain a high priority for the Ministry.
Through our day-to-day work we will make a direct and indirect contribution to the region’s recovery, supporting the multi-agency response and recognising the unique environment created by the earthquakes.
We are contributing to revitalisation in the region by:
- connecting people with employment opportunities created by the rebuild and repair programme, including supporting increased labour mobility from other regions to Canterbury
- re-establishing a Ministry presence in the Christchurch CBD and suburban areas and supporting the Christchurch Integrated Government Accommodation project
- working with government and NGO agencies to support psychosocial recovery, including the Community in Mind Strategy and its Programme of Action
- facilitating youth input into helping shape the recovery and revitalisation programme
- assisting homeowners and renters who need help finding suitable accommodation while their house is repaired
- helping to improve preparedness to meet public welfare needs in large scale emergency events
- assisting our staff in Canterbury to rebuild their resilience and wellbeing, and supporting them to continue delivering efficient and effective services in the region.
Strategic direction
Our operating environment is changing
New Zealand society continues to evolve and change, bringing with it opportunities but also challenges for many individuals, families and communities.
The Ministry is dealing with some of the most complex social issues facing New Zealand today. Our population is ageing, while also becoming more diverse. Cases of violence, abuse and neglect still affect too many children and families. The economy is moving out of recession and starting to grow, but there is still persistent disadvantage in some communities.
At the same time, people’s expectations of how they interact with government, and the sorts of services they can get, are changing. New Zealanders are expecting us to be more responsive and to use technology to make services more accessible and convenient.
As a government agency we need to clearly demonstrate the long-term cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the services we deliver. Sustainable financial management needs to underpin all of our work so that we can improve the quality of government spending to make a bigger difference.
We need to ensure that New Zealanders’ investment in people, through the Ministry’s services, is achieving positive results for people and their families – and consequently for New Zealand’s economy and society as a whole.
The Ministry is adapting to new challenges
The Ministry is delivering significant Government reforms that are making a difference for New Zealanders.
We have successfully delivered reforms to the welfare system. We are implementing changes to better protect vulnerable children, and to improve engagement with the NGO sector to focus on delivering outcomes. The integration of new social housing assessments means people can now come to a single agency for all their income, employment and housing needs.
However, to build on this success and achieve a sustained improvement in outcomes and results, the Ministry must adapt to the changing needs and expectations of people, communities and government.
Understanding what people need and tailoring services to deliver better results
The Ministry is responding to these challenges by moving to an integrated, people-centred operating model. Across the Ministry, we will more effectively tailor our services and support to what people really need, and achieve better outcomes, by:
- putting New Zealanders at the centre of our services and purchasing models
- providing leadership across the social sector and working alongside communities
- operating as a single, cohesive agency, working together for collective impact.
Our strategic direction and priorities for changing what we do, and how we are enabling change, are shown in the diagram on page 13.
The link between the Ministry’s outcomes and strategic priorities is provided in Appendix A on page 43.
People-centred services
Over the next four years the services we deliver and fund will be designed around what people need rather than Ministry and government silos, structures and boundaries.
Through better use of data and information to understand what people need, we will be able to target our services and support to where we can have the biggest long-term impact.
We will put more resources up front in these areas to achieve better outcomes and greater savings in the future. This approach will be expanded across more of the Ministry’s services to transform the way we help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent.
We will make it easy and efficient for people to get the services they need, allowing the Ministry to provide more intensive support for those with greater needs. Essential services such as financial assistance, job search support and social housing assessment will be accessible through a single door.
Social sector leadership
We will take an active leadership role through arrangements such as the Social Sector Forum[3] to ensure that, as a sector, we understand the people who need our support and wrap our services around them.
We know that the Ministry cannot resolve complex social issues by working alone. We will continue to join up with other sector agencies, providers and communities to innovate and invest collective resources in the right areas to deliver results.
We will increasingly take a lifetime view to identify when social support will make the greatest impact, and then collectively deliver the right services to the right person at the right time.
A single, cohesive agency
To enable these changes we are taking a ‘whole-of-Ministry’ approach that will better integrate our services, resources and support.
We are trialling new ways of working to streamline and improve people’s service experience.
We are investing in systems and processes that will allow us to more easily connect and co-ordinate information to provide a more comprehensive picture of a person’s needs and understand where to best target our support. This investment will provide robust and reliable data and information and improve our ability to match data with other agencies.
We will continue to build a collaborative and constructive internal culture that supports a co-ordinated and integrated way of working, and strengthen our corporate and governance capability to better manage risks and opportunities.
[3] Refer to page 24 for Social Sector Forum’s priorities over the next year.
Ministry of Social Development four-year strategic direction
The link between the Ministry’s outcomes and strategic priorities is provided in Appendix A on page 43.
Click on the image to enlarge.
