Statement of Intent 1 July 2010 - 30 June 2013
Operating intentions
This section of the SOI applies the requirements of section 40 (c) (i) of the Public Finance Act 1989, which requires a statement of ‘how the department intends to perform its functions and conduct its operations to achieve those impacts outcomes or objectives'.
The Ministry of Defence is funded to provide three outputs: policy advice, procurement of military equipment, and audit and assessment of performance. The contribution each output makes to our impacts is presented below, alongside our output performance measures.
Output class: Policy advice
The Ministry supports each intermediate outcome by providing advice to the Government on:
- changes in the strategic environment
- defence and security policies
- military capabilities required to meet defence policy goals, broad resource implications, relative merits and risks associated with proposed capability options including technical advice and analysis
- management of bilateral and multilateral defence relations.
Our policy advice is successful when our principal clients, the Minister of Defence and the Associate Minister of Defence, are satisfied with our advice.
Output class: Procurement of Military Equipment
The Ministry supports intermediate outcome one by purchasing the major items of military equipment required to implement the Government's defence policy. The Ministry is committed to improving continuously its procurement function through implementation of the recommendations flowing from reviews in this area.
Our procurement activities are successful when we deliver contracted equipment on time and to budget. We aim for a seamless procurement process and effective stakeholder management.
Over the coming year, the Ministry will submit an agreed programme of project reporting to Parliament and other stakeholders. We also aim to maintain ISO 9001 accreditation in relevant work areas.
Output class: Audit and Assessment of Performance
The Ministry supports intermediate outcome one by undertaking the audit and assessment of any function, duty or project of the New Zealand Defence Force and of the procurement activities of the Ministry of Defence. Our work will include audits of the controls on hazardous substances under the control of the Minister of Defence, as required by the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996.
Our assessments and audits are successful when they provide assurance of, or recommendations leading to improvement in, the efficiency and effectiveness of management systems within the New Zealand Defence Force and the procurement activities of the Ministry of Defence.
Cost effectiveness of the Ministry's interventions
Section 40 (d) (ii) of the Public Finance Act 1989 requires departments to include the main measures by which they will assess their future performance including the cost effectiveness of interventions. Cost effectiveness is not defined by the Act or by the central agencies.
The provision of cost effective information poses a number of measurement challenges for the Ministry. Reporting on the cost effectiveness of interventions requires knowledge of both their costs and impact. In the context of defence activities and related policy advice, the benefits of the Ministry's activities cannot be measured exclusively in monetary terms. Also, whilst some components of cost can be calculated, not all the costs associated with the actions or advice of the Ministry can be reliably measured (e.g. the Ministry may recommend a military solution with a humanitarian impact difficult to qualify or quantify).
Nevertheless, the Ministry is committed to a programme of developing meaningful and relevant cost effective information consistent with the expectations of its stakeholders. As the Ministry is currently undertaking the Defence Assessment, and as the Value for Money review has yet to be completed, the relevant programme of work will be undertaken after the publication of the Defence White Paper.
