GDS Index
Part of the McGuinness Institute’s CivicsNZ project
Government department strategies under the microscope
Introduction
The GDS Index aims to illustrate how New Zealand might strengthen government department strategies (GDSs) to be more effective, responsive, measurable, comparable and durable through public consultation, engagement and ownership. If government departments make the content of GDSs more useful, these strategies’ users will be better able to assess their quality and, where appropriate, to work with government to deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.
Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki ranks each of the GDSs in terms of essential information. The GDS Index Handbook does not rate the strategy as such; it rates the strategy document’s provision of essential information and clarity of communication, so readers can then assess the strategic approach for themselves. Each GDS is reviewed against the Scorecard to determine how well it articulates each of six elements. The Institute regularly updates the Handbook so that information can be measured, analysed and tracked over time.
If you have any suggestions or points of clarification, please email us at enquiries@mcguinnessinstitute.org.
Definition of a government department strategy
A ‘government department strategy’ must:
1. be a publicly available document accessible on a government department website,
2. be public-facing, therefore excluding a strategy only made public as the result of an OIA request,
3. be strategic, containing long-term thinking and setting out both the means (how) and the ends (the purpose),
4. be produced by a government department, therefore excluding situations where a strategy is written or published by another party (e.g. a Cabinet paper),
5. be national rather than local in focus, therefore excluding regional strategies,
6. guide the department’s thinking and operations over two years or more, and
7. not be a statement of intent or annual report.
2021 GDS Index (latest)
In 2021, the Institute prepared the 2021 GDS Index Handbook. It identifies and scores all operational (active) GDSs as at 31 December 2021. A copy of the 2021 GDS Index Handbook can be ordered at our online shop. The score for each GDS scored in 2021 can be found by clicking on List of 221 Operational GDSs. For all archived GDS since 2004, click List of 327 Archived GDSs.
The 2021 Scorecard
The Scorecard is used to assess the content of a GDS document and whether this content is sufficient for a reader to assess the quality of the strategy. It does not assess the quality of the strategy.
2023 GDS Index (in progress)
In 2024, the Institute is updating the Handbook to 31 December 2023. As part of this process, the team has undertaken initial searches for any potential GDSs to add to our dataset for the 2023 GDS Index Handbook. A copy of this work is provided below as an Excel spreadsheet. This will be updated as we receive responses to our OIA to departments (dated 29 January 2024).
The Draft Master Excel contains a sheet for each department, where each row represents one GDS. The rows in blue are copied directly from the 2021 GDS Index, while the rows in green represent potential GDSs that the Institute has found by reviewing department websites.
2021 GDS Index
Government Department Strategies Index Handbook – He Puna Rautaki
June 2022
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Methodology
The Methodology explains why the Institute produces and publishes a GDS Index and how, in detail, the 2021 GDS Index was created.
Complete Lists of GDSs
The Lists paper provides different lists of GDSs in the 2021 GDS Index.
Scoring
The Scoring paper provides the detailed scoring and ranking for each GDS within the 2021 GDS Index.
Analysis
The Analysis paper outlines the main observations from the Institute’s most recent analysis of GDSs in the 2021 GDS Index.
Best Practice
The Best Practice paper is intended as a guidance document for policy analysts when preparing strategy documents.
Strategy Maps
The purpose of the Strategy Maps paper is to catalogue and collate all strategy maps that the Institute has identified within GDS documents during research for the 2021 GDS Index.
Analysis of Climate Change
The Climate Change Analysis paper outlines the explicit and implicit mentions of climate change within GDS documents from the 2021 GDS Index.
Analysis of Poverty
The Poverty Analysis paper outlines the explicit and implicit mentions of poverty within GDS documents from the 2021 GDS Index.
Letters to MPs and Chief Executives of government departments
Previous GDS Indexes
2018 GDS Index
On 2 May 2019 the Institute published the 2018 GDS Index. For the first time the Institute also published the Government Department Strategies Handbook – He Puna Rautaki (see below). At the 2019 launch Wendy McGuinness discussed why government department strategies are important corporate documents, the process the Institute took when conducting the research, and the obstacles and challenges experienced. This work is intended to contribute to a broader discussion about how to build strategic capability in the public service. See Wendy’s presentation slide show from the launch.
Of the 413 GDSs that have appeared on the 2018 GDS Index, 265 have been archived. The remaining 148 GDSs are operational.
These 148 GDSs in operation as at 31 December 2018 have been rated against the Scorecard. The highest-scoring GDS on the 2018 GDS Index was A Biosecurity Science Strategy for New Zealand (October 2007), published by the Ministry for Primary Industries.
The publications for the 2014 GDS Index, 2015 GDS Index and 2018 GDS Index can be found below.
2018 GDS Index
Government Department Strategies Handbook (May 2019)
See Working Papers to view and download the below publications:
Working Paper 2019/01: Methodology for the Government Department Strategies Index New Zealand (May 2019)
Working Paper 2019/02: List of all Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 31 December 2018 (May 2019)
Working Paper 2019/03: Scoring Tables Collating and Ranking all Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 31 December 2018 (May 2019)
Working Paper 2019/04 – Analysis of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 31 December 2018 (May 2019)
2015 GDS Index
See Working Papers to view and download the below publications:
Working paper 2015/07: List of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 30 June 2015 (October 2015)
Working paper 2015/08: Tables Collating and Ranking Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 30 June 2015 (November 2015)
Working paper 2015/09: Profiles Scoring Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 30 June 2015 (November 2015)
Working paper 2015/10: Analysis of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 30 June 2015—An Overview (November 2015)
Working paper 2015/11: Observations from the GDS Index 2015 (October 2015)
2014 GDS Index
See Working Papers to view and download the below publications:
Working paper 2014/01: List of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 30 June 2014 (September 2014)
Working paper 2014/02: Analysis of Government Department Strategies Between 1 July 1994 and 30 June 2014—An overview (December 2014)
Working paper 2015/04: Methodology for the Government Department Strategies Index New Zealand (February 2015)
Working paper 2015/05: Tables Collating and Ranking Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 30 June 2014 (February 2015)
Working paper 2015/06: Profiles Scoring Government Department Strategies in Operation as at 30 June 2014 (February 2015)