How accountability works for interdepartmental executive boards

Public service agencies work within an accountability framework governed largely by the Public Finance Act 1989 and Public Service Act 2020. Broadly, the Public Finance Act makes agency chief executives responsible to Ministers for the financial management of their department and for what is achieved with their appropriations (see section 34). It also makes agencies accountable to Parliament through various reporting mechanisms such as the annual report (sections 43, 44) and strategic intentions (sections 38, 39).  

The Public Service Act (section 52) makes agency chief executives responsible to Ministers for the operation of their agency and for responding to the collective interests of government, among other responsibilities. The Public Service Commissioner’s general functions include acting as the employer of chief executives, including being responsible to the appropriate Minister for reviewing chief executive performance (section 44(d); schedule 7, clause 10). 

Public service agencies also have responsibilities under a range of other legislation (including the Official Information Act 1982 and the Privacy Act 2020) and are subject to a number of parliamentary accountability mechanisms (including the reviews by the Auditor-General, the Ombudsman and select committees). 

Accountability under the Public Service Act 2020 

Interdepartmental executive boards (IEBs) are public service agencies and fit within this same accountability framework. Under the Public Service Act they have the same general responsibilities as chief executives of departments (section 27(1)), although these responsibilities apply to the board as a whole.  

In some cases, responsibilities for compliance with other legislation have also been shifted or modified to suit the specific organisational form of an IEB. For example, the IEB’s servicing department takes on responsibility for dealing with Privacy Act matters for any personal information held by an IEB (section 201A, Privacy Act 2020).  

The performance of chief executives on the board is reviewed by the Public Service Commissioner. Under the Public Service Act, the Commissioner is responsible to the appropriate Minister or Ministers for reviewing the performance of each chief executive (schedule 7, clause 10(1). The Act allows the Commissioner to conduct a performance review for a group of chief executives where they act together (schedule 7, clause 10(2). The Commissioner is making a practice of reviewing the performance of IEBs in this way and including the overall performance of the board as part of the member chief executives’ performance reviews. 

Accountability under the Public Finance Act 1989 

Under the Public Finance Act, an IEB is treated the same as a department (see definition of department in section 2), so all of the same accountability requirements apply.  

Some flexibility is given by modifying the responsibilities to suit the differing organisational forms of ‘specified agencies’ including IEBs to enable streamlined processes. For example, the Minister of Finance can allow an agency involved in the IEB to provide strategic intentions for the IEB rather than developing a separate document.  

To ensure transparency, the Treasury provides details on where reporting information for each IEB is held on their website, alongside more general information about each of the IEBs that have been established: www.treasury.govt.nz/information-and-services/state-sector-leadership/interdepartmental-executive-boards.  

Other accountability mechanisms 

Like departments, IEBs are subject to review by the auditor-general, ombudsman and select committees. They are also required to comply with transparency mechanisms under other public management legislation including the Official Information Act 1982, Public Records Act 2005, Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022 and the Privacy Act 2020. Servicing departments are accountable under these Acts for the compliance of IEBs they service, while the IEB will need to work with the servicing department to support day-to-day compliance.  

Flexibility in how the board meets its statutory requirements 

IEBs have flexibility in how they choose to meet their statutory responsibilities. 

• Like chief executives, boards usually delegate functions and powers within their agency, meaning that day-to-day decisions are taken by an executive director, similar to how a Crown Entity board delegates to a chief executive. 
• While the Act requires that the board is responsible to the appropriate Minister for the operation of the IEB, the day-to-day relationship with the Minister is often managed by the chair or executive director on behalf of the board. This also mirrors the way that board chairs operate in Crown entities.    
• The board may also decide that IEB documents such as contracts and briefings are signed by the chair on behalf of the board.  
• The board may delegate administrative tasks (including accountability reporting) to the servicing department (section 27(2), Public Service Act). 

These are all practices which make it more efficient and easier to manage the work of the IEB – but they do not shift the ultimate responsibility, which remains with the board. 

Dual relationship of board members 

Members retain their usual responsibilities and reporting lines to their individual Ministers. The dual relationships will be managed by the members of the board, who will work together to: 

• provide joined up advice to the minister of the board 
• carry out delivery through their own departments, for which they will be responsible to the appropriate minister for that department. 

Members will also be responsible for briefing their individual ministers on the work of the board and any implications for their department. 

Support provided by the servicing department 

The servicing department is not responsible for IEB functions, but supports the board by hosting IEB staff and providing it with corporate support (e.g. IT, HR, finance, legal). They can also provide administrative support, including: 

• statutory reporting (e.g. annual reporting). Note the board remains ultimately accountable for this reporting. 
• meeting requirements under the Official Information Act 1982, Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022, Public Records Act 2005, and the Privacy Act 2020. Note the servicing department is accountable under legislation for the IEB’s compliance. 

Further information on IEBs and how they work is available at: www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/supplementary-guidance-note-interdepartmental-executive-board.