20 April 2020
John Edwards
Privacy Commissioner
Office of the Privacy Commissioner/ Te Mana Matapono Matatapu
By email:
[email address]
Dear John,
Annual Letter of Expectations for 2020-21
Thank you for the substantial amount of work you and your Office have undertaken to
support the Ministry of Justice on the Privacy Bill. I expect your Office will continue to remain
actively involved as the Privacy Bill progresses through the House in 2020.
COVID-19 challenges
The COVID-19 threat is presenting challenges for all of us as we work to maintain services
to the public, while protecting the wellbeing of our staff and meeting our legislative
obligations.
I have been impressed with the level of preparedness and responsiveness of the Justice
Crown entities to the challenges presented. I am interested in the implications of the
pandemic on the work of your Office particularly as you work through the potential scenarios
and gain more insight about public expectations under level 4. Consequently, I would
appreciate being kept informed of any significant matters arising and I have asked that my
officials remain in regular contact over this period to facilitate that.
Justice priorities and what this means for you as the Privacy Commissioner
My priorities for the Justice portfolio are to support a safe and just New Zealand, and to
progress a programme of reform that improves the wellbeing of New Zealanders.
The role of the Commissioner is vitally important to New Zealand, in the work it does to
ensure that personal information can be collected, used, stored and disclosed in accordance
with the Privacy Act.
Strategic direction
In developing and shaping your strategic direction and work programme, I expect you will
consider the implications of the new Privacy Bill, as it is likely to change some of the
functions of the Privacy Commission and if significant, may require changes to both your SOI
and SPE.
The SOI and the SPE are key instruments and serve to set out your performance intentions
to the House of Representatives. It is important that they reflect on the work you will
undertake, particularly in relation to the proposed changes outlined in the Privacy Bill.
The most recent version of your SOI was developed in 2017, for the period 1 July 2017 to 30
June 2021. The SOI is an enduring document with a four-year focus that must be updated at
least once every three years. As three years have now passed, you will need to develop a
new SOI that continues to align with Government and Justice sector priorities.
As responsible Minister, I will be looking to ensure that your 2020/21 SPE provides: annual
information on each class of outputs and their cost structure, an explanation on what each
class of outputs intends to achieve, how performance is to be assessed, when performance
will be reported, and forecast financial statements.
I look forward to receiving your draft SOI and SPE before or on 1 May 2020.
In line with current practice, I expect you to continue to provide me with three performance
reports over the financial year to demonstrate progress against pre-determined targets.
Enduring Letter of Expectations
Last year you were sent a new Enduring Letter of Expectations from the Minister of Finance
and the Minister of State Services, which I have attached as Appendix One.
Through the Enduring Letter of Expectations, the Government has signaled that it expects a
unified value-based government for all New Zealanders. Along with other Crown entity board
chairs, you are expected to take a much broader leadership role in relation to the Treaty
relationship and apply a wellbeing approach to your work.
The Minister of Finance and Minister for State Services have signaled that the Enduring
Letter of Expectations will be reviewed following the passage of the new public service
legislation. If an amended or new Enduring Letter of Expectations impacts on the Privacy
Commissioner’s strategic intentions and/or annual performance expectations, it is likely that
you may need to amend the Privacy Commissioner’s Statement of Intent (SOI) and
Statement of Performance Expectations (SPE).
Recommendations from the Auditor-General
The Auditor-General has written to me outlining the results of the Office of the Privacy
Commissioner’s 2018/19 audit. I trust you are factoring into your strategic direction and work
programme the Auditor-General’s recommendation to consider the implications of the new
Privacy Bill for the functions of the Commission and for your accountability documents.
I support the Auditor-General’s recommendation and expect my officials wil continue to work
with you to help make progress in this area.
Governance
I would like to take this opportunity as I do each year, to reinforce expectations of your
governance role. I trust you will continue to:
monitor your performance and hold management to account,
undertake an annual self-assessment of your performance,
be a good employer, including lifting Māori and Pacific incomes, skil s and
opportunities,
maintain a ‘no surprises’ approach,
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focus on strategies and processes to make sure the Privacy Commissioner achieves
its performance targets, and
function with openness and transparency.
On-going engagement
I look forward to engaging with you over the coming year and have asked my officials to
work with you to arrange regular meetings at appropriate points in the accountability cycle. I
will, of course, expect to hear about any emerging issues that you are considering and/or
when sensitive decisions are intended to be made public.
If you wish to discuss anything raised in this letter, please contact the General Manager,
Strategy, Evidence and Investment at the Ministry of Justice.
Yours sincerely
Hon Andrew Little
Minister of Justice
Copy to:
Gary Bulog, General Manager
, [email address]
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Appendix One: Enduring Letter of Expectations
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