International travel details for staff in HR, IT, Administration

Richard Meyer made this Official Information request to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise

The request was partially successful.

From: Richard Meyer

Dear New Zealand Trade and Enterprise,

Under the Official Information Act, can you provide:

1. International travel information for your New Zealand based staff in the following departments:
a) Human Resources
b) IT
c) Administration

For each journey of the above, please include information for the above on:
i) Total cost, including class of travel
ii) Reason for travel, including detials on why locally engaged staff have been unable to complete the task, and why other forms of communication were unable to be used instead of travel (skype, link, telephone, tele-conferencing, web-conferencing).
iii) Destinations
iv) Time spent away from the office
v) whether any holiday was taken by staff at the same time as international travel

2. Any booked, or planned international travel for New Zealand based staff over the next six months in the following departments:
a) Human Resources
b) IT
c) Administration

This should include any quotes that have been requested for international travel, any business cases that have been submitted, or any other travel that is considered likely.

For each journey of the above, please include information for the above on:
i) Total cost, including class of travel
ii) Reason for travel, including detials on why locally engaged staff are unable to complete the task, and why other forms of communication cannot be used instead of travel (skype, link, telephone, tele-conferencing, web-conferencing).
iii) Destinations planned
iv) Time that will be spent away from New Zealand
v) whether any holiday is planned to be taken by staff at the same time as international travel

Yours faithfully,
R. Meyer
Investigative Journalist

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From: Derek Williamson -WLG
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise

Dear Richard

 

RE:  OIA 2016-17-4 International travel

 

Thank you for your email of 23 July 2016 received by New Zealand Trade and
Enterprise (NZTE) concerning an Official Information Act 1982 (the Act)
request.

 

You have requested from NZTE the following information:

1. International travel information for your New Zealand based staff in
the following departments:

a) Human Resources

b) IT

c) Administration

 

For each journey of the above, please include information for the above
on:

i) Total cost, including class of travel

ii) Reason for travel, including details on why locally engaged staff have
been unable to complete the task, and why other forms of communication
were unable to be used instead of travel (skype, link, telephone,
tele-conferencing, web-conferencing).

iii) Destinations

iv) Time spent away from the office

v) whether any holiday was taken by staff at the same time as
international travel

 

2. Any booked, or planned international travel for New Zealand based staff
over the next six months in the following departments:

a) Human Resources

b) IT

c) Administration

 

This should include any quotes that have been requested for international
travel, any business cases that have been submitted, or any other travel
that is considered likely.

 

For each journey of the above, please include information for the above
on:

i) Total cost, including class of travel

ii) Reason for travel, including details on why locally engaged staff are
unable to complete the task, and why other forms of communication cannot
be used instead of travel (skype, link, telephone, tele-conferencing,
web-conferencing).

iii) Destinations planned

iv) Time that will be spent away from New Zealand

v) whether any holiday is planned to be taken by staff at the same time as
international travel

 

Rather than refuse the request under section 18(f) of the OIA – that the
information cannot be made available without substantial collation - NZTE
would like to give you the opportunity to clarify the specific information
that you are seeking. In order to do this, can you please contact me on
021 267 5591 to discuss.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Derek Williamson

This e-mail message, together with any attachments, is for the intended
recipient only and may not be disclosed to any other person. If you are
not the intended recipient and you have received or seen this message
through an error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the
email from your system. Unauthorised use or disclosure of the message, or
the information it contains, may be unlawful.

 

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise accepts no responsibility for changes
made to this email or to any attachments after transmission from New
Zealand Trade and Enterprise. The information contained in this email,
together with any attachments, does not necessarily represent the official
view of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. It is your responsibility to
check this email and any attachments for viruses.

 

===================================================================================================

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From: Richard Meyer

Dear Derek,

Thank you for your message.

To allow you to provide this information without substantial collation, I have simplified my request as follows:

Any booked (or proposed) international travel for NZ-based staff over the next THREE months in the following departments:

a) Human Resources
b) IT

Along with a reason for travel and approximate costings.

To provide some context on the query, I am trying to understand whether visits have been spared / reduced across the public sector by using locally engaged employees, rather than sending those from New Zealand. I will be comparing the data received with an earlier request made several years ago across multiple departments.

I am currently traveling with intermittent cell coverage and a challenging time zone, but please get in touch if you require further information.

Yours sincerely,
Richard Meyer

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From: Derek Williamson -WLG
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise

Thanks Richard

And really appreciate the contextual info. I will respond to your request as soon as reasonably practicable and within 20 working days of 23 July 2016 in accordance with the OIA

Regards – Derek Williamson.

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Meyer [mailto:[FOI #4296 email]]
Sent: Monday, 25 July 2016 9:11 PM
To: Derek Williamson -WLG <[email address]>
Subject: Re: OIA 2016-17-4

Dear Derek,

Thank you for your message.

To allow you to provide this information without substantial collation, I have simplified my request as follows:

Any booked (or proposed) international travel for NZ-based staff over the next THREE months in the following departments:

a) Human Resources
b) IT

Along with a reason for travel and approximate costings.

To provide some context on the query, I am trying to understand whether visits have been spared / reduced across the public sector by using locally engaged employees, rather than sending those from New Zealand. I will be comparing the data received with an earlier request made several years ago across multiple departments.

I am currently traveling with intermittent cell coverage and a challenging time zone, but please get in touch if you require further information.

Yours sincerely,
Richard Meyer

-----Original Message-----

Dear Richard

 

RE:  OIA 2016-17-4 International travel

 

Thank you for your email of 23 July 2016 received by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) concerning an Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request.

 

You have requested from NZTE the following information:

1. International travel information for your New Zealand based staff in the following departments:

a) Human Resources

b) IT

c) Administration

 

For each journey of the above, please include information for the above
on:

i) Total cost, including class of travel

ii) Reason for travel, including details on why locally engaged staff have been unable to complete the task, and why other forms of communication were unable to be used instead of travel (skype, link, telephone, tele-conferencing, web-conferencing).

iii) Destinations

iv) Time spent away from the office

v) whether any holiday was taken by staff at the same time as international travel

 

2. Any booked, or planned international travel for New Zealand based staff over the next six months in the following departments:

a) Human Resources

b) IT

c) Administration

 

This should include any quotes that have been requested for international travel, any business cases that have been submitted, or any other travel that is considered likely.

 

For each journey of the above, please include information for the above
on:

i) Total cost, including class of travel

ii) Reason for travel, including details on why locally engaged staff are unable to complete the task, and why other forms of communication cannot be used instead of travel (skype, link, telephone, tele-conferencing, web-conferencing).

iii) Destinations planned

iv) Time that will be spent away from New Zealand

v) whether any holiday is planned to be taken by staff at the same time as international travel

 

Rather than refuse the request under section 18(f) of the OIA – that the information cannot be made available without substantial collation - NZTE would like to give you the opportunity to clarify the specific information that you are seeking. In order to do this, can you please contact me on
021 267 5591 to discuss.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Derek Williamson

This e-mail message, together with any attachments, is for the intended recipient only and may not be disclosed to any other person. If you are not the intended recipient and you have received or seen this message through an error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the email from your system. Unauthorised use or disclosure of the message, or the information it contains, may be unlawful.

 

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise accepts no responsibility for changes made to this email or to any attachments after transmission from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. The information contained in this email, together with any attachments, does not necessarily represent the official view of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. It is your responsibility to check this email and any attachments for viruses.

 

===================================================================================================

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #4296 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
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From: Derek Williamson -WLG
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise


Attachment Release OIA 4.pdf
226K Download View as HTML


Hi Richard

 

RE:  OIA 2016-17-4 Travel

 

Please find attached a response in regards to your request of 25 July
2016.

 

Yours sincerely

Derek Williamson

 

This e-mail message, together with any attachments, is for the intended
recipient only and may not be disclosed to any other person. If you are
not the intended recipient and you have received or seen this message
through an error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the
email from your system. Unauthorised use or disclosure of the message, or
the information it contains, may be unlawful.

 

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise accepts no responsibility for changes
made to this email or to any attachments after transmission from New
Zealand Trade and Enterprise. The information contained in this email,
together with any attachments, does not necessarily represent the official
view of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. It is your responsibility to
check this email and any attachments for viruses.

 

===================================================================================================

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From: Richard Meyer

Dear Derek Williamson & Marcus Scoliege,

Thank you for your reply. However, I am concerned that your response to my OIA request doesn't match with the information I have received from your employees.

I am currently traveling in Asia for business and have asked some of your staff members the same question I requested of you. It is my understanding that you have staff from your IT department traveling this month to the Philippines and South Korea.

This doesn't appear in the information you have supplied me, and I am concerned there are other journeys happening in the time frame requested that have been excluded from your information.

Can you please explain the discrepancy?

Yours sincerely,

Richard Meyer

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From: Derek Williamson -WLG
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise

Hi Richard

I can confirm that the response is correct. The information we provided you was as at 2 August 2016 (the date we processed your request), and since that time additional trips were planned/undertaken as the need arose.

If you are seeking actual NZTE travel information for NZ-based HR and IT staff, I would suggest you seek this retrospectively (eg for the period 1 July - 31 July 2016).

Yours sincerely

Derek Williamson

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Meyer [mailto:[FOI #4296 email]]
Sent: Sunday, 21 August 2016 9:16 PM
To: Derek Williamson -WLG <[email address]>
Subject: Re: OIA 4 response

Dear Derek Williamson & Marcus Scoliege,

Thank you for your reply. However, I am concerned that your response to my OIA request doesn't match with the information I have received from your employees.

I am currently traveling in Asia for business and have asked some of your staff members the same question I requested of you. It is my understanding that you have staff from your IT department traveling this month to the Philippines and South Korea.

This doesn't appear in the information you have supplied me, and I am concerned there are other journeys happening in the time frame requested that have been excluded from your information.

Can you please explain the discrepancy?

Yours sincerely,

Richard Meyer

-----Original Message-----

Hi Richard

 

RE:  OIA 2016-17-4 Travel

 

Please find attached a response in regards to your request of 25 July 2016.

 

Yours sincerely

Derek Williamson

 

This e-mail message, together with any attachments, is for the intended recipient only and may not be disclosed to any other person. If you are not the intended recipient and you have received or seen this message through an error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the email from your system. Unauthorised use or disclosure of the message, or the information it contains, may be unlawful.

 

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise accepts no responsibility for changes made to this email or to any attachments after transmission from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. The information contained in this email, together with any attachments, does not necessarily represent the official view of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. It is your responsibility to check this email and any attachments for viruses.

 

===================================================================================================

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #4296 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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