29 November 2019
Mr Jeremy Puger
[FYI request #11367 email]
Dear Mr Puger
Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), received
on 3 October 2019. This request was extended by 20 working days on 25 October 2019.
I will answer each of your questions in turn below.
Air Travel
Question 1. How many of your staff has travelled by air (obviously with all of these I mean
where the agency has paid for it), and how many the total flights were and how much it
cost all up?
Inland Revenue has received detailed travel information from its travel agent, Orbit, to
respond to your request. The below tables show the number of staff that have travelled by
air, as well as the total number of flights they have taken, separated into three categories
(Domestic, Tasman, and International).
For the 2014/15 and 2015/16 financial years, providing the number of staff who travelled
by air, and the total number of flights taken, would involve substantive manual effort.
Accordingly, I am refusing this part of your request under section 18(f) of the OIA, on the
basis that it would require substantial collation and research to provide the information.
2016/17 Financial Year
Region
Total # of Travellers
Total # of Flights
Domestic
2,014
13,482
Tasman
89
246
International
59
468
Total
2,162
14,196
2017/18 Financial Year
Region
Total # of Travellers
Total # of Flights
Domestic
2,079
22,105
Tasman
106
314
International
64
543
Total
2,249
22,962
Ref: 20OIA1108
IN CONFIDENCE
2018/19 Financial Year
Region
Total # of Travellers
Total # of Flights
Domestic
2,251
30,219
Tasman
82
244
International
66
446
Total
2,399
30,909
Inland Revenue regularly releases information regarding the cost of air travel as part of its
response to the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee (FEC) Annual Review. I am
therefore refusing your request for the total cost of travel under section 18(d) of the OIA,
as this information is publicly available. You can find this information on the Parliament
website using the link below:
FEC Annual Review 2018/19
•
parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/52SCFE_EVI_92665_FE24711/c3ecf67126266871c
590fbb1c5a3fe7b72e088be
• Q117 (pg. 235) provides domestic travel cost for the 2014/15 – 2017/18 financial
years
• Q119 (pg. 238) provides international travel costs for the 2014/15 – 2017/18
financial years
Question 2. What was the purpose and benefit to the taxpayer of each trip?
International travel
For international travel, the purpose of each trip is included in Inland Revenue’s response
to the FEC Annual Review. I am refusing this part of your request under section 18(d) of
the OIA, as this information is publicly available. You can find this information on the
parliament website using the links below:
FEC Annual Review 2014/15 – Q98 pg. 137
•
parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/51SCFE_EVI_00DBSCH_ANR_66444_1_A457400/e
bab0903a17a2a74ea897ae1ad9d338da71cca5e
FEC Annual Review 2015/16 – Q93 pg. 177
•
parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/51SCFE_EVI_00DBSCH_ANR_71327_1_A537288/e
5a2cee7f19142e680ddc03462a60120219b8be2
FEC Annual Review 2016/17 – Q92 pg. 202
•
parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/52SCFE_EVI_75224_642/41fe9cce4318a5f1042fe8
d80309bd4e3ec6f1f8
FEC Annual Review 2017/18 – Q98 pg. 201
•
parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/52SCFE_EVI_80723_FE2652/1f6becac8baaf65aad
976540917d61b599fe3fd9
FEC Annual Review 2018/19 – Q119 pg. 238
•
parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/52SCFE_EVI_92665_FE24711/c3ecf67126266871c
590fbb1c5a3fe7b72e088be
Ref: 20OIA1108
IN CONFIDENCE
Domestic travel
Some of the functions and services delivered by Inland Revenue require staff to travel
across New Zealand. Staff may travel in order to conduct investigations and attend court
hearings, attend or provide training and development, attend events or conferences related
to their role, meet with key stakeholders, partners and clients based in different locations,
or to provide specialist support to staff in other offices.
The exact purpose of domestic travel is discussed between the approving manager and the
travelling official before they travel. This information is not centrally collated. The
information is distributed across Inland Revenue and would need to be collated manually
from each official. Accordingly, I am refusing this part of your request under section 18(f)
of the OIA, as the information requested cannot be made available without substantial
collation and research.
Inland Revenue does not record information about the specific benefit to the taxpayer for
each domestic trip. I am therefore refusing this part of your request under section 18(g) of
the OIA as the information requested is not held by the department.
Question 3. For each trip why was a remote alternative not used? Like for conferences, a
lot of them have remote viewing dial-ins so you don’t have to travel to attend. Meetings
can usually be done by conference call or skype. Things like that. So, there are very few
situations where staff would actually have to travel by air. So, in cases where you have,
could you explain if there was no remote alternative available? And if there was, why was
it not used?
International travel
I refer you to my response to question 2 (above). Inland Revenue’s FEC responses explain
the purpose of each international trip made between the 2014/15 and 2017/18 financial
years. With international travel being used by staff to attend key events, such as
international tax conferences or to meet with representatives of foreign tax offices, remote
viewing dial-ins would not be an appropriate alternative.
Domestic travel
Inland Revenue is currently rolling out a ‘Working Smarter’ initiative. Working Smarter is
an approach to how we work – improvements that can be made to our tools, environments,
policies, and processes are all being considered to make sure we work in the smartest way
possible. This includes encouraging meetings to be scheduled with virtual meeting options.
This ensures that teams are more connected no matter where they are physically located.
While we encourage our people to choose virtual options, there are times where traveling
will be the most suitable way of working.
Questions 4 & 5. How much has been spent on accommodation, and for how many people
and nights in these times too? …how much on other expenses like meals and allowances?
As with question 1 (above), Inland Revenue has received this information from its travel
agent, Orbit. They have been able to provide the total accommodation spend for domestic,
Tasman, and international travel.
Ref: 20OIA1108
IN CONFIDENCE
For the 2014/15 and 2015/16 financial years, providing the hotel and incidental spend, as
well as the number of nights and travellers, would involve substantive manual effort.
Additionally, Orbit were unable to further break down the total amount spent on incidentals
to the individual categories requested (meals, allowances, etc.). Accurately categorising
this expenditure would involve manually checking each invoice.
I am therefore refusing these parts of your request under section 18(f) of the OIA, on the
basis that it would require substantial collation and research to provide the information.
2016/17 Financial Year
Region
Total Hotel Spend
Spend Excluding
Hotel Incidentals
Total # of Total # of
Incidentals
Nights
Travellers
Domestic
$2,225,798
$1,963,630
$262,168
11,995
1,678
Tasman
$54,934
$54,909
$25
182
54
International
$148,419
$145,660
$2,759
612
44
Total
$2,429,151
$2,164,199
$264,952
12,789
1,776
2017/18 Financial Year
Region
Total Hotel Spend
Spend Excluding
Hotel Incidentals
Total # of Total # of
Incidentals
Nights
Travellers
Domestic
$2,481,899
$2,223,449
$258,450
13,374
1,654
Tasman
$98,487
$95,501
$2,986
348
99
International
$122,478
$120,582
$1,896
316
94
Total
$2,702,864
$2,439,532
$263,332
14,038
1,847
2018/19 Financial Year
Region
Total Hotel Spend
Spend Excluding
Hotel Incidentals
Total # of Total # of
Incidentals
Nights
Travellers
Domestic
$3,883,068
$3,517,940
$365,128
20,700
1,860
Tasman
$67,141
$66,732
$409
224
65
International
$105,470
$104,176
$1,294
324
44
Total
$4,055,678
$3,688,848
$366,830
21,248
1,969
Question 6. Do staff of different jobs/ranks/levels get different types or levels of
accommodation? If so, can you explain why?
Inland Revenue staff receive the same level of accommodation when travelling for work, no
matter what role they are in.
Ref: 20OIA1108
IN CONFIDENCE
Question 7. Going into the future, do you have plans to reduce air travel? If you do, could
you explain these plans and if you have set any targets for it.
Orbit currently provides reporting on our air and ground (car rental and airport taxis)
kilometres travelled. For the year ended June 2019, Inland Revenue’s international air
travel reduced by 18% (657,194 kms) from the previous year, however domestic travel
increased by 30%, giving a 17% net increase of 2,280,955 kms of air travel.
As part of the All of Government Generation 2 Travel Management Services contract, which
commenced in June 2019, Orbit has committed to deliver a 30% carbon emission reduction
for government agencies over the first three years (Y1 15%, Y2 10%, Y3 5%) with 5% per
year thereafter. The contract has the potential to run to 2028 if all Rights of Renewal are
invoked – an overall carbon emission reduction on our travel profile of 60% by 2028.
Orbit is currently in the process of developing full Carbon Emissions reporting as per the
new contract requirements in conjunction with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment and the Ministry for the Environment.
Packaging and Recycling
Question 1. Do you have recycling facilities in all of your premises? If you do not, please
explain why.
Inland Revenue provides recycling bins, as well as bins for organic waste, on all premises.
Question 2. Do you actively encourage or make your staff recycle? If you do, please explain
how.
While Inland Revenue does not enforce recycling, the provision of both recycling and organic
bins in all kitchen areas gives staff the option to separate their waste as appropriate.
Question 3. Do you have rules aimed at encouraging other staff environmentally friendly
behaviour, such as banning staff from bringing disposable cups onto the premises?
Inland Revenue does not enforce rules aimed at encouraging environmentally friendly
behaviour. Additionally, there are no bans on items such as disposable cups on any of its
premises.
Question 4. If you have cafes or similar things in your premises, do you require them to
use environmentally healthy options such as re-usable cutlery and recyclable packaging?
While there is no mandatory requirement for the cafes situated on Inland Revenue’s
premises to use environmentally friendly options, the current cafes provide re-usable
cutlery and crockery to customers.
Ref: 20OIA1108
IN CONFIDENCE
Encouraging Good Behaviour and Attunement with the Natural World
Question 1. Do all of your offices have plants? If so, what is the ratio of plants to workers?
Do you ensure that providers that look after the plants use sustainable and environmentally
friendly options in their practices (for example pesticide choices)?
Inland Revenue only provides plants in parts of our Featherston Street office in Wellington.
The Office Accommodation Standards and Guidelines do allow for individuals or teams to
personalise their workplace with pot plants, although Inland Revenue does not directly fund
these plants.
The current ratio of plants provided by Inland Revenue to staff in our Featherston Street
office is 0.052:1
The plants provided in our Featherston Street office are maintained by three service
providers. Each of these service providers use sustainable green products.
Question 2. Do you have programmes for encouraging your staff to make more
environmentally friendly choices outside of work?
Inland Revenue does not operate any programmes related to staff behaviour outside of
work.
Question 3. Do you encourage your staff to be more interconnected with the natural world
by hosting or promoting practices such as mindfulness, meditation, earthing or Tai Chi?
Inland Revenue staff can access the Hauora Hub, a wellness website, through Inland
Revenue’s intranet. Hauora Hub provides information, activities, competitions, and other
resources that can support our people’s well-being. Many of the articles and information
relate to practices such as mindfulness and meditation, how they can be of benefit, and
how to incorporate them into their daily lives. Access to Hauora Hub is entirely voluntary.
Inland Revenue also operates an intranet site on mental health, which includes tips and
links to sites that support mental health, and a healthy lifestyle. It also includes links to
mindfulness and meditation resources.
Some offices have independently organised lunchtime yoga sessions, or similar activities,
which are employee driven.
Question 4. Do you take any steps to increase staff knowledge and awareness of
environmental issues in general?
As mentioned in my response to question 3, Inland Revenue provides access to many
resources through its intranet. Alongside information supporting our people’s well-being,
there are also resources that promote environmental awareness. Once again, access to
these resources is entirely voluntary.
Ref: 20OIA1108
IN CONFIDENCE
Right of Review
If you disagree with my decisions on your OIA request, you can ask an Inland Revenue
review officer to review my decisions. To ask for an internal review, please email the
Commissioner of Inland Revenue at: [email address].
Alternatively, under section 28(3) of the OIA, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
investigate and review my decision. You can contact the office of the Ombudsman by email
at: [email address].
Thank you for your request. I trust that the information provided is of assistance to you.
Yours sincerely
Simon Mason
Acting Deputy Commissioner, Corporate Integrity & Assurance
Ref: 20OIA1108
IN CONFIDENCE
