Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Introduction

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) provides impartial, high-quality advice and support to the Executive i.e. the Prime Minister, the Governor-General, and the Cabinet.

Supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet

DPMC provides three kinds of direct support to the Prime Minister:

• support for issues that are the direct responsibility of the Prime Minister e.g. support for constitutional issues such as the formation of government and transitions between administrations, and issues associated with operation of the Cabinet system;
• support for issues across the range of government business e.g. working with the other central agencies and with key departments to ensure that sustainability and the government’s three priority themes are supported (economic transformation; families – young and old; and national identity);
• administrative support to the Prime Minister e.g. preparing replies to Parliamentary questions, dealing with Official Information Act requests and other correspondence.

Supporting the Governor-General

DPMC also supports the Governor-General in carrying out the functions of that office, which are constitutional, ceremonial and community-focused. The support provided includes administrative and other support services for the Governor-General, and maintenance of the two Government Houses – the main one in Wellington and the smaller residence in Auckland.

A great deal of DPMC’s activities focus on facilitating government decision making at a strategic and operational level. To achieve this, the department relies on close working relationships with other departments and agencies.

The department also has a key leadership role, with The Treasury and the State Services Commission, in relation to the public service, and is the smallest of the three central agencies with around 120 staff.

Note
As DPMC’s primary role is not service delivery and the department does not have a lead role on policy work related to disability issues, the latter sections of the Office of Disabilities Issues template do not apply to us.

Responsibility for disability issues

For the purpose of the New Zealand Disability Strategy Implementation Work Plan, DPMC focuses primarily on universal implementation activities and responsibilities re disabled people – as employees, visitors, and members of the general public who review our website and publications. With the two other public service central agencies, DPMC also has a role in fostering awareness of and responsiveness to disability issues.

Accessible government

All government agencies have been asked to prioritise actions to increase their accessibility to disabled people. This is about getting the basics right, so that disabled people can access government on the same basis as other people.

These actions support realisation of the New Zealand Disability Strategy’s objective 6: foster an aware and responsive public service.

Four critical areas where disabled people interact with government agencies are:

• information – such as brochures, letters, publications, websites
• buildings – such as service centres, corporate offices
• services – such as face to face at a service centre, call centres, information electronically or hard copy
• as an employer – such as job application procedures, job descriptions, accommodations in workplaces, intranets.

The following tables outline DPMC’s actions in relation to these four areas.

Accessible information

Introduction

DPMC takes the responsibility of providing universal access to our information seriously. During 2006 continuing alterations to our website meant our compliance with existing SSC Web guidelines version 2.1 were completed. Many of these improvements were related to disability access. All downloadable files are available in both HTML and PDF form. Where PDF only files are available we have included a statement on the website advising that different formats can be provided on request (such as hardcopy).

Contact details continue to be provided in a variety of methods - phone, fax, physical address, postal address, and generic email address.

The current plans involve further disability audits, compliance analysis with the new Web2 strategies, and the review will include our publications and website development.

1. Online information (internet and intranets)

2. Hard copy information

3. Audio/visual resources

4. Other information

The six business units of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) are located in four separate buildings (and each site has controlled-access). The locations are:

• Reserve Bank Building, 2 The Terrace, Wellington – levels 3 and 5 (tenants only)
• Executive Wing, Parliament Building, Molesworth Street, Wellington – levels 8 and 10 (tenants only)
• Government House, Newtown, Wellington (official residence of the Governor-General)
• Government House, Epsom, Auckland (official residence of the Governor-General).

The department has specific building responsibilities for the two Government Houses only. At present these two buildings are designated as official residences, not public buildings i.e. access is normally granted by invitation only. At defined and limited times during the year, these two buildings are opened to the public for specific functions (with strict guidelines on areas that are open to the public, and those that are not). At Government House Auckland, there are designated disability car parks; mobility/disabled access into the building; a lift and toilets with well-placed handle rails and designed for those with limited mobility and/or in wheelchairs; and one accessible bathroom ensuite. Major renovations are currently being considered for Government House Wellington, with a significant scoping exercise underway. At present Government House Wellington has designated disability car parks and access to the main function areas on the ground floor; and, as well, the staff are responsive to specific visitor requirements; but the building is not code compliant.

As tenants of two buildings, DPMC has discussed the issue of access with relevant staff in the Reserve Bank and Parliamentary Services, and registered our desire and dependence on them to meet access requirements and appropriate standards. Current renovations at both buildings are to NZS 4121 requirements.

1. Structural elements

2. Contact with the public

3. Workplace management

Accessible services

DPMC does not normally engage directly with the public, with the exception of the Honours Secretariat and particular public events that occur at the official residences of the Governor-General, in Wellington and Auckland. Public information is available on the department’s website and through published material.

As mentioned in the Introduction, the department has a specific set of servicing functions to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the Governor-General

The department will review the areas where it does deal directly with the public, and ensure that particular staff receive appropriate disability responsiveness training.

In terms of new or up-graded IT applications and environments, the Information Manager who is responsible for information technology and management is planning to carry out a disability audit to see if any further enhancements are required.

1. Policy and practice

Being a good employer

When staff are appointed to DPMC they are asked to complete several Health/Disabilities questions, as part of the New Appointees’ Form, i.e.

• requests details of any disabilities or major ailments likely to affect their ability to work, or which may require adjustments to be made in the work place; and
• - Asks whether the staff member would like to be contacted about specific programmes or networks for people with a disability/illness/injury (and, “if yes” to specify their needs/ requirements).

Based on this information, the department has not instituted its own disabled staff network as there has been no request for establishment of this network. The department sent out a message to all staff reminding them that DPMC is happy to co-ordinate such a network, and individual requests could be made to HR staff; to arrange a network in such a way that met any staff requirements for confidentiality (if this is an issue for anyone). No network has been requested.

The department provides workplace ergonomic assessments for all new staff (as well as existing staff), and has Workpace software installed on all computers to ensure staff take micro pauses while working on their PCs. The department supplies: ergonomic chairs as required;
vertical mice; split keyboards; ergonomic wrist and keyboard gel pads; adjustable footrests; copy holders; and monitor risers. DPMC has also provided telephone shoulder rests, screen filters, screen magnifiers and enlargement of onscreen text. The current headsets DPMC’s provides have good volume control to ensure audio enhancement.

The department has licenses for dragon software (a voice recognition software), and two staff are currently using this programme. One person has had no problems with this software, while the other has experienced ongoing problems which DPMC is trying to resolve.

1. Employment practice

2. Supports for disabled staff