Public management

Public policy is about the what and why of government action. Public management deals with the how – what structures, what set of relationships, what is the nature of our activity?

This used to be simple. Departments were government’s tool for undertaking activity; local authorities automatically did things in-house; when the public sector did something it was natural to use taxes or rates to cover the cost unless it was quite clearly a good or service for sale.

Those days have gone. Governments and local authorities choose among a plethora of possible structural and other arrangements. The type of organisation best suited to the purpose is now a matter of careful analysis. Transparency and accountability are key factors. And the choice between tax or ratepayer funding and user pays has become much more complex and often controversial.

We have nearly 20 years of experience helping public sector clients make effective choices. We can help you:

• Define the issues.
• Decide what structure will best fit a given activity.
• Address the “whole of government” issues you will need to resolve.
• Work through how current public policy settings should determine the nature of the service – is user pays or tax/ratepayer funding more appropriate?

Feature project: Strategic Implications of Third Party Charging

In 2003 the New Zealand Customs Service was engaged in a ‘first principles’ review of how to fund its border control activity. The immediate context was the need to commit to substantial investment in technology and additional staff to meet increased standards resulting from international agreements on what was required in a post 9/11 environment to monitor the cross-border movement of goods and people.

Customs operates in a complex environment acting not just in support of its own mission but also as agent for the more than 20 government departments whose own activities require intervention at the border. MDL was asked to review the principles for charging for customs services with a particular emphasis on whether border control services were properly public goods, and should therefore be taxpayer funded, or whether there was such an element of private benefit that user pays funding was more appropriate.

Our report included consideration of public/private good issues, an overview of international practice and an assessment of the extent to which different options might generate positive incentives for firms and others engaged in cross-border activity that would support the objective of improving border security.

The report is available in our library.