OIA22-0738
22 December 2022
Tim
[FYI request #20327 email]
Dear Tim
Thank you for your email of 14 September 2022 requesting information relating to Industry
Transformation Plans (ITPs). Your request has been considered under the Of icial
Information Act 1982 (OIA).
On 11 October 2022, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) extended the time to respond
to you under section 15A(1)(b) of the OIA until 9 November 2022. On 9 November we
provided you with a further update on your request undertaking to send you the response no
later than 24 November 2022.
The New Zealand Government has commit ed to an industry policy which seeks to grow and
transform sectors of the economy with significant potential to contribute to a high productivity,
high wage, low emissions economy.
Industry Transformation Plans (ITPs) are created in partnership with business, workers,
Māori, and government, setting a long-term vision for transformative change and identifying
near-term actions. You can find more information about all eight ITPs on the Ministry for
Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) website:
https:/ www.mbie.govt.nz/business-and-employment/economic-development/industry-
policy/industry-transformation-plans/.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) leads four ITPs which aligns with the food and fibre
sector roadmap,
Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential. These include:
• Fisheries
• Food and Beverage
• Forestry and Wood Processing.
• Agritech (in partnership with MBIE).
These ITPs are aimed at growing productivity, sustainability and inclusiveness in the food
and fibre sector. This sector continues to lead New Zealand’s economic recovery from the
COVID-19 pandemic. In the year to 30 June 2022, food and fibre exports reached a record
$53.1 billion, representing 81.3 percent of New Zealand’s exports. They are expected to rise
to $55 billion in the year to 30 June 2023.
The Fisheries ITP has been initiated as part of reform to ensure commercial fishing is
sustainable, productive, and inclusive. While the scope is currently under development,
Cabinet has directed this ITP will focus on reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and
increasing the value received from fisheries. Further information about the Fisheries ITP is
available here -
https:/ www.mpi.govt.nz/about-mpi/our-work/fit-for-a-better-world-
accelerating-our-economic-potential/fisheries-industry-transformation-plan/.
The Food and Beverage ITP wil enhance the innovation and sustainable economic
development potential of our food and beverage sector for the benefit of New Zealand
through supporting the development of emerging food and beverage industries and products
to go global; and lifting the productivity and sustainability of our existing food and beverage
industries. On 1 December 2022, we released our Food and Beverage ITP for consultation.
Submissions on this plan wil end in March 2023. Further information about the Food and
Beverage ITP is available at the following link -
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/about-mpi/our-
work/fit-for-a-better-world-accelerating-our-economic-potential/food-and-beverage-industry-
transformation-plan.
The Forestry and Wood Processing ITP is focused on shifting the industry from producing
commodity resources by increasing domestic processing, with the aim of generating high
value jobs and low carbon products in New Zealand. The ITP covers the entire forestry and
wood processing supply chain. For further information, please visit the following link:
https:/ www.mpi.govt.nz/forestry/forest-industry-and-workforce/forestry-and-wood-
processing-industry-transformation-plan/.
The Agritech ITP is centred on creating a world-leading agritech industry to establish agritech
as a high-value export sector in its own right while supporting increasing the productivity and
sustainability of the New Zealand primary sector. The Agritech ITP is being led by MBIE and
MPI. Further information can be found on MBIE’s website at the following link:
https:/ www.mbie.govt.nz/business-and-employment/economic-development/industry-
policy/industry-transformation-plans/agritech/.
Each part of your request is addressed below:
1. How many full time equivalent staff are working on industry transformation
plans, listed by organisation.
2. What is the annual cost of staff working on industry transformation plans,
listed by Ministry, including salary and non-salary costs (e.g.overheads)
The teams responsible for developing the ITPs have a range of responsibilities and projects,
and time is split depending on the needs of the work at any given time. Staff may also work
across several different ITPs. Therefore, it is not possible to provide an accurate breakdown
of FTE and salary and non-salary costs. These parts of your request are declined in
accordance with section 18(e) of the OIA -
that the document alleged to contain the
information requested does not exist.
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3. What has been the spending to date on external contractors on industry
transformation plans, listed by external contractor and service provided.
MPI takes active steps to recruit employees for longer term requirements while stil
maintaining some contractor use for:
• Programmes/projects and policy initiatives that are finite.
• Short-term work that is demand driven or requires specialist assistance.
• Technical input that is not otherwise available internally.
The following table shows the amount spent on external contractors for each of MPI’s ITPs
since it commenced.
ITP
Supplier
Service
Amount $
(ex GST)
Food and Beverage
Robert Walters
Project Coordinator
64,307
Food and Beverage
Martin Jenkins
Consultancy
83,475
Food and Beverage
Sapere Research Group
Consultancy
180,711
Food and Beverage
PwC
Consultancy
163,903
Food and Beverage
Kahui Legal
Consultancy
53,478
Food and Beverage
Food HQ
Advisory Board
2,770
Food and Beverage
NZ Dairy Workers Union
Advisory Board
2,688
Total Food and Beverage
551,332
Fisheries
Martin Jenkins
Report - Fisheries ITP: Lessons
to inform the Process and Scope
10,100
Fisheries
Martin Jenkins
Fisheries Sector Insights Report
50,500
Fisheries
Contracted Principal
Adviser
ITP Project Team
46,555
Total Fisheries
107,155
Forestry and Wood Processing People2People
Recruitment
Manager
268,467
Forestry and Wood Processing Inside Recruitment
Economic Modeller
36,105
Forestry and Wood Processing Hays Specialist
Recruitment
Project Manager
73,868
Forestry and Wood Processing Nelson Consulting Group
Contractor
26,941
Total Forestry and Wood
Processing
405,381
Please note, all contracts for the Agritech ITP are against Vote Economic Dev and are
procured out of MBIE.
4. What are the different budgets for industry transformation plans and how
much is in each budget, over each year etc.
The following table shows the total approved budgets for each ITP for the financial year
ending 30 June 2023.
ITP
Budget
Budget
Budget
2020
2021
2022
Agritech
-
-
$155,081
Fisheries
-
-
$550,000
Food and Beverage
-
-
$8,000,000*
Forestry and Wood Processing
-
-
$4,000,000
* Budget 2022 allocated a contingency of $8m for implementation of this ITP, which wil be available from 1 July
2023.
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Should you have any concerns with this response, I would encourage you to raise these with
the Ministry for Primary Industries at
[email address]. Alternatively, you
are advised of your right to also raise any concerns with the Office of the Ombudsman.
Contact details are: Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143 or at
[email address].
Yours sincerely
Michelle Morehu
Director, Government Services
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