In Mid November Te Kawa Mataaho (Public Service Commission) published its second Long Term Insights Briefing (LTIB).
The requirement for government agencies to provide their Ministers with an LTIB at least once every three years was embedded in the Public Service Act 2020 after a long period of policy development following the Living Standards Framework back in 2011. The intent was to assist Ministers to look outwards to trends, risks and opportunities that might affect New Zealand in the medium and long term. It looks at social problems that stretch beyond electoral cycles, providing forecasting and some policy options.
The coalition government replaced that requirement in 2025 with a single LTIB to be prepared on behalf of the public service by the CE of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC), starting in June 2026.
There may be more to be learned from the ‘one LTIB to rule them all’ but it is hard to see how Ministry responsibilities as broad as social services and roading can be summarised without losing the quality of analysis that would improve the decision-making capacity of our lawmakers.
The Public Service Commission LTIB focusses on integrity, aiming to “help the public and decision-makers think about the future of public service integrity in New Zealand.” It asks: How can New Zealand proactively address and prepare for public service integrity challenges in 2040?
It considers the public integrity system which encompasses the policies, practices, and integrity institutions that “contribute to the integrity performance of the government (national or local) at the heart of the integrity system.” In New Zealand, the public integrity system supports the integrity of the political and electoral system and judiciary (judges and other officers), as well as public agencies. Its performance is influenced by the national context which includes media, civil society, business and societal values and attitudes
The LTIB makes interesting reading, especially for TINZ supporters, who will be pleased to see reference to our 2024 assessment report as well as TI global tools such as the Corruption Perceptions Index. The LTIB also looks at options such as a single independent anti-corruption agency and whilst the message on that is ‘there’s more to talk about’, it is good to see PSC starting the discussion on this concept.
The LTIB doesn’t make recommendation as such, but it does highlight areas “where international examples and expert recommendations suggest our efforts would pay off”
- Measurement – improving the consistency and comprehensiveness of data about integrity performance;
- Workforce development – bringing integrity further into training offerings, and recruitment screening for integrity risks;
- Public education – expanding the focus and building public understanding of integrity through education programmes;
- Fraud and corruption – focussing on reducing specific integrity risks of fraud and corruption;
- Coordination and alignment – having a clearly articulated understanding of what the integrity system looks like, how it operates, and what the operating context involves.
TINZ would like to see more focus on strengthening the regulatory environment and a deeper dive into integrity risks such as groupthink which has been identified as an issue in several independent inquiries including the most recent IPCA report.
