The development of Open Government Partnership (OGP) Fourth National Action Plan (NAP4) was a dispiriting experience for civil society participants who had hopes of co-design and ambition. In the end most of the commitments came from public sector work already underway. The few new initiatives came with no funding.
At the end of June Te Kawa Mataaho (Public Service Commission) ran a session on progress of commitments signed up to under the NAP4.The update session is part of the reporting process under OGP, and despite the context we were glad to hear about progress on the NAP4 commitments. You can expect to find these on the Te Kawa Mataaho website shortly.
From our notes,
Commitment 1 – Adopt a community engagement tool. Te Kawa Mataaho (TKM) has begun the development of a model guidance standard under Section 19 of the Public Sector Act. TKM is engaging on this tool with Kāpuia, a Ministerial advisory group with diverse membership. A draft standard is being developed for consultation with the final standard in place by the end of 2023.
Commitment 2 – Research deliberative processes for community engagement - led by Te Kawa Mataaho. A steering group will be set up. The most that can be achieved without funding is general advice about how this could be applied.
Commitment 3 – Establish an inclusive, multi-channel approach to the delivery of government information and services - led by Te Kawa Mataaho. This was accepted into the plan very late in the process due to civil society pressure including the Citizens Advice Bureau of NZ. The aim is to ensure that all members of the public can access public services irrespective of their digital capacity.
Commitment 4 – Design and implement a National Counter Fraud and Corruption Strategy - led by the Serious Fraud Office. The work has been underway for some time. With no consultation process to date we still struggle to understand its place in an Open Government Partnership plan. We are advocating for broader consultation.
Commitment 5 – Increase transparency of beneficial ownership of companies and limited partnership – led by MBIE. Another pre-mixed cake since the policy approach was approved by Cabinet in March 2022. Nevertheless good progress is being made on those policy commitments.
Commitment 6 – Improve government procurement transparency. MBIE started this work in 2021, with Cabinet signing off on a paper in June 2022. Work on this has involved a good deal of engagement with the private sector. Improvements to GETS can be expected by early 2024.
Commitment 7 – Strengthen scrutiny of the Official Information Act exemption clauses in legislation. The main focus reported on is changes to the Cabinet manual to require a discussion with the Ombudsman when OIA exemptions are being considered for new legislation.
Removing access to public information from legislation should be a very rare consideration. As noted by the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties we need a first principles discussion on whether OIA exemptions breach Section 14.4 of the Bill of Rights Act. Section 14.4 is the right concerning Freedom of Expression
"Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form."
Commitment 8 – Improve transparency and accountability of algorithm use across government. This work progresses the 2020 development of the algorithm charter which 28 agencies have signed up to. Guidelines, and a community of practice are in planning.
