Departmental consultation

Consultation with government agencies

The department initiating a Cabinet paper has primary responsibility for good consultation within government. Consultation is essential to ensure that Ministers receive sound, comprehensive and coordinated policy advice.

For guidance on which departments require consultation on particular issues, see this CabGuide section on consultation with government agencies. It does not provide a complete list of consultation requirements, but is intended to assist officials in identifying the departments they should consult.

Consultation with departments can take a number of forms. On some occasions, it is sufficient to send copies of a draft paper to other departments for comment. In other cases, it is appropriate to discuss and try to obtain agreement with other departments on policy issues before finalising a draft paper for more formal consultation. A phone call to establish whether a department wishes to comment on a particular issue can save time.

Departments being consulted must be given adequate time to consider a draft submission. Disputes about the adequacy of consultation or how accurately other departments' views are presented often result in a paper being delayed or rejected. Consulted departments should see the final version of the document before it is submitted to the Cabinet Office to ensure that they are happy with the comments attributed to them. Papers should indicate the departments consulted, whether they agree with the proposals and, if appropriate, outline their views.

Departments preparing papers must ensure that they consider the interests both of other departments and of other government agencies including the Privacy Commissioner, Officers of Parliament - the Controller and Auditor-General, Office of the Ombudsmen and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment - and consult them at the earliest possible stage.

Every attempt must be made to present a proposal that is supported by all departments consulted. If consensus cannot be reached, the paper should include all views, and options provided in the recommendations should clearly show who supports which option. See the CabGuide section on the format of standard Cabinet papers for how departmental consultation must be covered in the Cabinet paper and how the recommendations should be presented.

Each paper must be accompanied by a CAB 100 form, certifying the consultation that has been carried out. The top section deals with departmental consultation and must be signed by an official in the department submitting the paper.

Cabinet Office staff are authorised to refer a paper back to the Minister who signed it if consultation appears to have been inadequate. An item will not be included on an agenda until any uncertainty about consultation has been resolved.

Consultation on key policy issues

Many Cabinet papers will need to be consulted with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, with the Treasury and with the State Services Commission:

  • Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has responsibility for advising the Prime Minister and Cabinet on all policy proposals which are likely to have implications for the government as a whole. This is often because they are significant policy matters, issues needing high-level coordination or issues of particular public interest;
  • Treasury has responsibility for advising the Minister of Finance on all proposals with economic, financial, fiscal (expenditure or revenue) or regulatory implications. Consultation with Treasury on these issues is mandatory;
  • State Services Commission has responsibility for advising Ministers on whole of government perspectives, on proposals to establish, merge or disestablish State sector agencies (other than State-owned enterprises), and on proposals with an impact on organisational structures, strategic alignment and capability. The SSC is also responsible for chief executive accountability or departmental performance specifications, and workforce or employment relations in the State sector.

Drafters should, where they are uncertain, check with the relevant advisers in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Treasury, and the State Services Commission whether the paper they are preparing needs consultation with those departments.

Consultation on matters of general importance 

Ministers also want assurance that the issues in papers have been properly assessed for their implications for matters of general importance to the government. These matters include legal obligations, human rights issues, regulatory impact and compliance cost implications, and implications for key population groups. Some of these matters vary over time, depending on the priorities of governments. Some are prescribed by Cabinet, others have evolved over time as good practice.

The following list indicates which departments drafters should consider consulting to ensure that their submission addresses those issues of general importance. Departments should make their own initial assessments on these issues, and then consult the following departments as appropriate:

  • proposals having significant legal implications for the Crown including: litigation to which the government may become a party; issues about the lawfulness of the exercise of government power; constitutional issues including Treaty of Waitangi issues: Crown Law Office. See also Appendix C of the Cabinet Manual, Cabinet Directions for the Conduct of Crown Legal Business;
  • policy proposals leading to legislation:
  • proposals which may have implications for Maori as individuals, communities or tribal groupings: Te Puni Kokiri;
  • proposals involving legislation where the Legislation Design Committee will provide drafting assistance: Legislation Design Committee.

Consultation on the impact on population groups 

There are papers on a wide range of policy issues where Ministers will want to know about the impact on particular groups in the population. The list below indicates the departments drafters should consider consulting in these cases. These departments must be consulted on papers about policies directed at specific population groups.

Pacific Island community: Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs

women: Ministry of Women's Affairs (on the requirements for gender analysis for papers for the Cabinet Social Policy Committee)

youth: Ministry of Youth Development (Ministry of Social Development)

people with disabilities: Office for Disability Issues (Ministry of Social Development)

senior citizens: Office for Senior Citizens (Ministry of Social Development)

ethnic groups, including migrants, refugees and New Zealand-born generations of ethnic groups: Office of Ethnic Affairs (Department of Internal Affairs)

consumers: Ministry of Consumer Affairs (Ministry of Economic Development)

Some papers may require consultation not only with the departments listed above because of their roles in providing advice on issues of key and general importance, but also with departments that have responsibility for more specialised areas of activity with application across the government. These issues include:

  • policy proposals that have a direct impact on offending and victimisation; that create or change criminal offences, infringements or penalties; or that impact on court-based procedures and workloads: Ministry of Justice
  • proposals affecting central government decision making processes, Ministerial ethics, Ministerial portfolios, constitutional issues: Cabinet Office (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet)
  • legislative and policy proposals which may affect the privacy of individuals, including information matching proposals: Ministry of Justice and Office of the Privacy Commissioner
  • proposals with implications for the record of government activity and the custody of government records: Archives New Zealand
  • proposals that have implications for the collection, analysis and release of statistical information from surveys or administrative databases, or that relate to monitoring and evaluation: Statistics New Zealand;
  • proposals that have regulatory implications for local government: the Department of Internal Affairs

Consultation on specific policy and operational issues

Consultation with interest groups

It may be appropriate to consult outside interest groups when developing policy. This should be discussed with the Minister's office beforehand. In some circumstances, this consultation may be more appropriate after the policy has been considered by Cabinet.

Some Acts prescribe the consultation a Minister must undertake before making certain statutory decisions. The Minister and department should ensure that in such cases, adequate consultation has taken place in accordance with the Act.

For guidance on presenting the information on consultation with interest groups to Cabinet, see the consultation section in the CabGuide section on the standard format for Cabinet papers.