The Statement of Intent
Document Structure
The Statement of Intent is structured to describe what the Ministry does, and why. Part A starts with a high level outline of the context for our work, and the way in which we have structured our outcomes as a response to this context. It then continues with a more detailed description of the supporting goals under each outcome, and the things we will be doing to achieve them. These are broad goals, and progress towards them will be achieved during 2002/2003 and also in the years beyond. Part A also outlines the strategic priorities we will be focusing on to strengthen the foundations of the economy, and to promote growth and innovation. These are our priority initiatives for the coming year, but the timeframes of social and economic change are such that our work in most of these areas will continue beyond that. The final, additional priority is our development of capability to achieve our outcomes, and this is described in the section Managing the Ministry to Achieve Results.
Part B of the Statement of Intent illustrates how we will use our financial resources to deliver the things we must deliver. It also includes our Statement of Service Performance, which describes in more detail what will be done under each Vote, together with the key deliverables and the performance standards for our outputs.
An Evolving Story
This Statement of Intent is a first and major step towards effective outcome-based management of our work programmes. However, developing a coherent set of outcomes which embrace the Ministry's broad portfolio of activities but are focused enough to be useful and measurable, has not been easy. Moreover, the economic and social changes the Government wishes us to advance are subject to a wide range of external influences beyond our control (e.g. interest and exchange rates), thus creating difficulties in differentiating and evaluating the Ministry's impact. Over the coming year, therefore, we will refine the Ministry's outcome framework by:
- further testing our work programmes to ensure that we focus our resources appropriately;
- co-ordinating business planning processes across the Ministry and within each of its branches;
- continuing the process of organisational alignment in pursuit of what we have identified as being our common objectives;
- developing methods and measures to assess our progress in achieving the desired outcomes; and
- refining and adapting the outcome framework over time to reflect our growing understanding of its application.
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