'evidence of ‘systematic and evidence-informed policy development’.
Following the breadcrumbs. Government papers to assist fair & impartial officials in the development of policy & law. Please let us know if relevant papers are missing.
Government Ministers and officials must in their daily work, be ‘fair, impartial, responsible, and trustworthy’. Good policy and good legislation arises from government Ministers and officials having the courage and integrity to not only consult with stakeholders that support a chosen policy path, but with stakeholders that may not support a chosen policy path. PSGRNZ.
Cabinet Manual 2023 page 52: Political neutrality
3.72 Political neutrality requires officials to support the government of the day to develop and implement its policies and follow lawful instructions from Ministers to the best of their professional ability and irrespective of their own political opinions. Officials are expected to act in such a way that their agency maintains the confidence of its current Minister and of future Ministers. This principle is central to the public service’s ability to serve the government of the day and any future government.
3.73 Ministers must respect the political neutrality of the public service and not ask officials to act in any way that would conflict with their obligation of neutrality. Ministers may ask officials to provide them with factual or analytical material, but should not require them to offer comment or opinion on clearly political topics, such as policies mooted by other parties in Parliament. The Public Service Commission issues advice about political neutrality and integrity and conduct over an election period, including costing political parties’ policies, in its pre-election guidance.
LACG page 11: Legislation is information-intensive and ensuring it is effective and reducing the risk of unintended consequences requires consultation at all stages.
LACG page 23: Everyone is subject to the law, including the Government—People and institutions that wield power must do so within legal limits, and be accountable for their actions; everybody is equal before the law and is subject to it.
Cabinet Office Circular: Impact Analysis Requirements CO(20)2 page 1: Regulatory agencies are expected to adopt a whole-of-system view, and take a proactive, collaborative approach to the care of the regulatory system(s) within which they work. The Impact Analysis Requirements focus in particular on the expectation that agencies provide robust analysis and advice to Ministers before decisions are taken on regulatory change.
Pages 2-3 of the Cabinet Office Circular:
Purpose and role of the Impact Analysis Requirements
[7] The Impact Analysis Requirements support and inform the government’s
decisions on proposals for regulatory change. They are both a process and an
analytical framework that encourage a systematic and evidence-informed
approach to policy development.
[8] The Impact Analysis framework involves defining the policy or operational
problem that needs to be addressed, identifying the policy objectives and the full range of feasible options for addressing that problem. It also includes analysing those options for their potential impacts and assessing their costs, benefits and risks, carrying out consultation, implementation planning, and arrangements for ongoing monitoring, evaluation and review.
[9] The Impact Analysis Requirements are intended to help advisers and decision-makers avoid the potential pitfalls that arise from natural human biases and mental short-cuts, including by seeking to ensure that:
9.1 the underlying problem or opportunity is properly identified, and is
supported by available evidence;
9.2 all practical options to address the problem or opportunity have been
considered;
9.3 all material impacts and risks of proposed actions have been identified and
assessed in a consistent way, including possible unintended consequences; &
9.4 it is clear why a particular option has been recommended over others.
Cabinet Office Circular page 3: [11] All policy proposals taken to Cabinet for approval that include a government regulatory proposal must be accompanied by a Regulatory Impact Statement
Cabinet Office Circular page 4: [14] A Regulatory Impact Statement must be provided when papers are submitted to Cabinet committees (or a similar Ministerial group) for policy approval.
Ministry for Regulation: From October 2024, Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) are administered by the Ministry of Regulation. ‘RISs are done to support the consideration of regulatory proposals by Cabinet.’
Cabinet Office Circular page 4: [16] Inadequate impact analysis often arises from incomplete problem definition, unclear objectives and a failure to consider all feasible options. As these are key foundations of policy analysis, inadequacies in these areas cannot be easily fixed at a later stage, with consequent impacts on the quality of the impact analysis.
Treasury website: This is a government agency document which summarises an agency's best Impact Analysis and advice relating to a regulatory proposal. That Impact Analysis should be completed and summarised in a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) before the Cabinet paper is drafted.
Guidance Note: Effective Consultation for Impact Analysis page 5: A Regulatory Impact Assessment is a department document. It is not an advocacy document—but a discussion document can be. A Regulatory Impact Assessment should be officials’ best advice on impacts, presented dispassionately and without prejudice.
Guidance Note: Discussion Documents and the Regulatory Impact Analysis Requirements page 2: Discussion documents can serve different purposes:
function as Interim Regulatory Impact Analysis.
seek stakeholder views on a limited number of options.
seek stakeholder views on an issue or defining a
problem, but don’t include options to address the issue.
set out a problem and a proposed solution.
Guidance Note: Effective Consultation for Impact Analysis page 3: Essentially, good consultation is fit for purpose and tailored to both the nature and magnitude of the proposals, and the needs of stakeholders. One size does not fit all. Key features of efficient and effective consultation: Continuous, timely, targeted, appropriate and accessible, transparent and co-ordinated. Consultation ‘should also be scaled to the magnitude and proposed impact of the proposal’.
Guidance Note: Discussion Documents and the Regulatory Impact Analysis Requirements page 3: Often a Working Group or Committee will do its own consultation and then report to the responsible Minister with their recommendations. Typically, the agency then advises the Minister on the Committee’s recommendations and then prepares a RIA on any subsequent regulatory proposals to go to Cabinet.
Joseph on Constitutional and Administrative Law (5th Edition) (page 309): Successive governments have acknowledged the need to preserve the neutrality of the public service (in actuality and perception). Public servants, too, must exercise discipline and restraint. They operate under a code of conduct that is intended to preserve their neutrality and anonymity. They owe a duty of loyalty to their employer, the government of New Zealand, and are expected to uphold the public service ethic (knowledge, fairness, integrity). They must be “fair, impartial, responsible, and trustworthy”, and their advice to ministers honest, impartial, and comprehensive. A public servant’s duty is to the government in perpetuity, not the political party or parties in power at any time.
Joseph on Constitutional and Administrative Law (5th Edition) 25.5.6 Predetermination
Bias and predetermination are not synonymous. Like bias, predetermination of issue compromises the impartiality of decision-making but it is governed by a different regime from the bias rules. … Predetermination is concerned with “closed mind” decision-making, whereas bias is concerned with public perceptions of the impartiality of decision-making. Predetermination is, if anything, “a species of actual bias”. Such findings will not lightly be made.
Government expectations for good regulatory practice page 4):
There are different expectations - for when:
Before a substantive regulatory change is formally proposed; and
Before a substantive regulatory change is formally made.
Government expectations for good regulatory practice (2017). https://www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2015-09/good-reg-practice.pdf Where appropriate to their role, the government expects regulatory agencies to: ● maintain a transparent compliance and enforcement strategy that is evidence-informed, risk-based, responsive, and proportionate to the risks or harms being managed (page 5).
Cabinet Manual 2023 page 59: The role of the Attorney-General.
GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES FOR NEW LEGISLATION
What are Cabinet’s impact analysis requirements?
They are both a process and an analytical framework that encourages a systematic and evidence-informed approach to policy development. The requirements are set out in a Cabinet circular, and incorporate the Government Expectations for Good Regulatory Practice.
Cabinet Manual (2023), Cabinet Office, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Legislation Design and Advisory Committee Legislation Guidelines 2021 Edition
Related documents (Treasury website):