Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (New Zealand)

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Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Te Tari o te Pirimia me te Komiti Matua
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet NZ logo.svg
Agency overview
Formed1990
Jurisdiction New Zealand
HeadquartersLevel 8, Executive Wing,
Parliament Buildings,
Wellington
WELLINGTON 6011
41°16′40″S174°46′36″E / 41.277899°S 174.776714°E / -41.277899; 174.776714
Annual budgetVote Prime Minister and Cabinet
Total budget for 2019/20
Decrease2.svg$92,841,000 [1]
Ministers responsible
Agency executive
  • Brook Barrington,
    Chief Executive
Website www.dpmc.govt.nz

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) (Māori : Te Tari o te Pirimia me te Komiti Matua) is the central public service department of New Zealand charged with providing support and advice to the governor-general, the prime minister and members of the Cabinet of New Zealand. The department is also charged with centrally leading New Zealand's "national security planning, which includes civil defence." [2]

Contents

The department's overall area of responsibility is in helping to provide, at an administrative level, the "constitutional and institutional glue" within New Zealand's parliamentary democracy. [3]

The department along with the State Services Commission, and the Treasury constitute the central agencies or public service departments leading the state sector of New Zealand. [4]

Role

The department serves the Executive branch of government (the governor-general, the prime minister and the Cabinet) through the provision of impartial advice and support services.

In addition to serving the Executive, a major role of the department is to help co-ordinate the work of the core public service departments and ministries.

Supporting the prime minister and Cabinet

The department supports the prime minister's twin roles as leader of the government and chair of Cabinet, and provides three kinds of direct support to the prime minister:

Supporting the governor-general

The department also supports the governor-general of New Zealand in carrying out his or her functions to represent the King.

Structure

The department formally came into existence on 1 January 1990, as a result of a report which recommended establishing structures to provide two separate streams of advice to the prime minister; one, a new Government department to supply impartial advice and support to the prime minister and Cabinet (DPMC), and another, a Prime Minister's Private Office (which is not part of DPMC), to provide personal support and media services, and advice of a party political nature.

Government House was added to the department in August 1990. The National Assessments Bureau (formerly known as the External Assessments Bureau) became part of the department on 1 July 1991. Responsibility for civil defence and emergency management was consolidated in the department in 2014 through a business unit called the Ministry for Civil Defence and Emergency Management (MCDEM). MCDEM was superseded by an autonomous departmental agency hosted by DPMC in 2019, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The department is often responsible for coordinating government responses to significant events. It leads the All-of-Government Response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand and the Government response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques. [5] [6] It previously led and coordinated central government's ongoing role in the recovery and regeneration of greater Christchurch following the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. The department's Greater Christchurch Group operated from April 2016 until January 2021. [7]

The department consists of nine business units. [8]

Business unitRole
Cabinet OfficeA government secretariat, headed by the Secretary of the Cabinet, that provides impartial support to central government decision-making processes and administers the New Zealand Royal Honours system.
Government HouseProvides administrative and support services for the Governor-General and maintains Government House and its grounds in Wellington, as well as the smaller Government House in Auckland.
Policy Advisory GroupProvides advice and support to the Prime Minister in all Cabinet Committees and contributes to policy development across the full range of government issues.
National Security GroupProvides leadership, advice, support and coordination of the Government’s national security risks and priorities.
Health Transition UnitSupports the Government's health sector reforms including the establishment of Te Whatu Ora and Te Aka Whai Ora.
Implementation UnitMonitors and supports implementation select government initiatives.
COVID-19 GroupCoordinates, and where necessary leads, the All-of-Government response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Strategy, Governance and Engagement GroupSupports DPMC to achieve its strategic priorities and manages risk by working across the department.
Child Wellbeing and Poverty Reduction GroupSupports the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction.

Ministers

The department serves 6 portfolios and 5 ministers.

OfficeholderPortfolio(s)Other responsibilities)
Rt Hon Chris Hipkins Prime Minister
Minister for National Security and Intelligence
Hon Carmel Sepuloni Deputy Prime Minister
Hon Jan Tinetti Minister for Child Poverty Reduction
Hon Kieran McAnulty Minister for Emergency Management
Hon Andrew Little Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s

Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques

Head of DPMC

Heads of the DPMC (formerly Secretary, now the Chief Executive) are:

NamePortraitTerm of office
1David McDowell19901991
2 Simon Murdoch Simon Murdoch CNZM investiture 02.jpg 19911998
3 Mark Prebble Mark Prebble CNZM (cropped).jpg 19982004
4 Maarten Wevers Maarten Wevers KNZM (cropped).jpg 20042012
5 Andrew Kibblewhite Andrew Kibblewhite 2020 (cropped).jpg 20122019
6 Brook Barrington Brook Barrington (cropped).jpg 2019Incumbent

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Total Appropriations for Each Vote". Budget 2019. The Treasury. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  2. ↑ "Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet". Govt.nz. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  3. ↑ "About DPMC". About DPMC. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  4. ↑ "Outcomes | DPMC". Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "COVID-19 Group". COVID-19 Group. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain". Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "Greater Christchurch Group (GCG)". Greater Christchurch Group (GCG). Retrieved 15 February 2023. CC BY icon-80x15.png  This article incorporates textfrom this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  8. ↑ "DPMC's business units". DPMC's business units. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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