After a long and distinguished public service career both here and abroad, former IPANZ President Len Cook presents his thoughts on the future of the public service. In his career Len has worked as a statistical scientist in public service, a Public Sector Chief Executive in New Zealand, Permanent Secretary in the British government, Royal Commissioner and board chair of a Crown Entity.
Reflecting on his career and drawing on recent experiences on evaluation and cross agency work, Len will consider a rethink of the Westminster model of the New Zealand public sector. He will focus on the forms and place of evidence in good decision making and the widening spotlight on constitutional integrity and holding government to account, central facets to a Westminster model of government.
Len's talk will cover:
- Rediscovering the foundations of the Westminster system in NZ
- The evidence spectrum and the practicalities of evidence-based policy
- The vindication of policy and its execution in an age of big data, diverse communities and oversight in real-time
- Balancing uncertainty, risk, innovation and opportunity, trust and trustworthiness
- Government and Maori - living with history into the future
- Thoughts on the pathway ahead – social investment, the spirit of service, well-being, evidence based policy, Minister appointed Chief Executives