29 January 2020

Andrew Ecclestone
[FYI request #11989 email]

Dear Mr Ecclestone

Official Information Request
Our Ref:  SSCOIA 2020-0006

On 14 January 2020, the Ministry of Justice transferred your official information request to the
State Services Commission for a response. Your request is for:
“In November 2019 the State Services Commission published the Ministry of Justice's
September 2019 report on progress with Commitment 7 of the Open Government
Partnership National Action Plan. This can be accessed from here:
https://ogp.org.nz/assets/New-Zealand-Plan/Third-National-Action-Plan/Commitment-
7-TNAP-progress-report-September-2019.pdf
Milestone 3 for this Commitment concerns the proactive publication of Cabinet Papers.
In relation to this, on page 3 of this progress report, the Ministry states that:
"In agreeing to the proactive release of Cabinet Papers Cabinet asked for a review of
effectiveness and impact to be carried out later this year. Planning for this review is
underway"
This is an Official Information Act (OIA) request to be supplied with a copy of all the
information held by the Ministry which relates to the scope, timetable, resourcing, terms
of reference, and other planning for this review.”

Information publicly available
The following information is covered by your request and is publicly available on the SSC,
website:
Item  Date
Document Description
Website Address
1
3 September 2018
Cabinet Paper:  Strengthening  https://ssc.govt.nz/assets/Legacy/re
Proactive Release
sources/cabinet-paper-
Requirements
strengthening-proactive-release-
requirements
2
3 September 2018
Cabinet Minute:  Strengthening  https://ssc.govt.nz/assets/Legacy/re
Proactive Release
sources/cab-18-min-0418
Requirements
3
August 2019
Sector Wide Forum Agenda
https://ssc.govt.nz/assets/SSC-Site-
Assets/Integrity-Ethics-and-
Standards/

The Cabinet paper directed the State Services Commission (SSC) to undertake the review of
the policy and report back to the Cabinet Government Administration and Expenditure Review
Commit ee by 1 December 2019.
The scope and terms of reference for the review are prescribed for in paragraph 58 of by the
Cabinet paper which recommends that “the policy and the Cabinet Of ice Circular be reviewed
by the State Services Commission, with input from agencies.
The review wil  include determining whether
58.1   the objectives of the policy are being met;
58.2   changes are required to improve the effectiveness and clarity of the policy and
the supporting procedures; and
58.3   the policy should be broadened in any way.”
We are therefore refusing the parts of your request for the scoping document and terms of
reference under section 18(d) of the OIA on the grounds that the  information is publicly
available.
The timetable was likewise determined by the Cabinet paper, with the requirement to meet the
report back date of 1 December 2019.
The SSC engaged with agencies on the proactive release of Cabinet material policy between
August and October 2019.
A sector wide forum in August 2019 was followed by smaller group and one-on-one sessions
with the agencies that produce the majority of Cabinet papers (those that lodged 10 or more
papers between the implementation of the policy on 1 January 2019 and 30 September 2019).
This information was supplemented by information estimating the number of papers released,
and information on the number of papers lodged, provided by the Cabinet Of ice.
With regards to resourcing, the review was conducted by a member of the SSC’s Integrity,
Ethics and Standards team as part of the team’s general work programme. The specific amount
of resourcing for this is therefore not recorded separately.
As noted above, this review of the policy was scheduled for report back to the Cabinet
Government Administration and Expenditure Review Commit ee by 1 December 2019. This
report back has been deferred until this year, with the date stil  to be confirmed.
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact
[email address]. 
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz  or
freephone 0800 802 602. 
Please note that we intend to publish this letter (with your personal details removed) on the
State Services Commission’s website. 
 
Yours sincerely 

Nicky Dirks 
Managing Principal – Ministerial Services 
State Services Commission 

Document Outline