National’s Broken Promise to Cut Wellington Pen Pushers

9 APRIL 2014

“National should stick to its promises to rein in the public service if it is to plug the shortfall in forecast tax revenue and get back into surplus in the 2014 budget,” says Jordan Williams, the Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ Union.

The comments come after this morning’s Dominion Post report on the State Services Commission figures showing that Wellington’s bureaucracy is the largest its been under the current Government. It’s also in the context of today’s warnings that the Government's tax take is $1.1 billion below forecast.

“National promised to tighten the belt of Wellington so more money could be directed at frontline services. Instead, the bureaucracy is just shy of where it was under the previous government.”

“What’s alarming is the breakdown of occupation groups. The number of managers is growing, while the number of staff which interact with the public is reducing. That’s the wrong way round.”

“We need medical doctors in hospitals, not spin doctors in Wellington.”

The relevant State Services Commission report is available here:http://www.ssc.govt.nz/sites/all/files/HRC2013.pdf
ENDS

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