The Office of the Auditor-General has today published a case study of sector-level reporting for the transport sector.
Auditor-General, John Ryan said the Office looked at whether public reporting by transport sector agencies enables an integrated view of the outcomes the sector wants to achieve, and what it is doing to achieve them with the public spending it is responsible for.
“Each year, central government spends about $8 billion on the transport system, which plays a critical role in supporting New Zealand’s social, economic, cultural, and environmental well-being,” said Mr Ryan.
“To build and maintain trust and confidence in the public sector, it is important that Parliament and New Zealanders understand the value they are getting from public spending.”
Meaningful sector-level reporting requires having clearly defined outcomes at a sector level, measures for assessing progress, clear strategies and plans for achieving the outcomes, and consolidated and integrated reporting on what is being achieved, he said.
Mr Ryan said his Office found several good practice examples that other sectors can learn from.
This included having clearly defined outcomes set out in the Transport Outcomes Framework and outcome indicators that are relevant to the public and the performance of the sector.
“We also saw effective reporting that showed the progress the transport sector is making on some outcome areas, for example the Road to Zero monitoring report,” he said.
The Auditor-General also found some opportunities for the transport sector to improve how it reports on its performance.
“For example, we saw the need for better reporting on progress across all outcomes of the Transport Outcomes Framework, and to use outcomes and indicators that are relevant to Māori and reflect te ao Māori perspectives,” he said.
“We encourage all agencies within a sector to work together and use the findings to improve their reporting so that Parliament and the public have a clear understanding of how they are performing, the difference they make, and the value achieved from public spending.”
Read the case study here.
