Business compliance costs dropping

The Government’s Better Public Services for Business (Result 9) programme continues to show an improvement in reported performance by government agencies, Minister for Economic Development Steven Joyce says.

In 2012, the Government set targets to reduce by 2017 the cost to business of dealing with government by 25 per cent, and to improve performance ratings to levels enjoyed by leading private sector firms.

“The latest results, which track progress over the first half of 2015, show a 16 per cent drop in reported effort by companies when dealing with government agencies since the baseline survey in 2012 - well over halfway towards the 2017 target,” Mr Joyce says.

“The Better for Business programme works in collaboration across a number of agencies to ensure joined-up government services, and an ongoing commitment from agencies to improve interaction and reduce the time spent dealing with government.

“The downward trend in effort and improved service levels is positive news for businesses and demonstrates the value of the Government’s focus on improving public services.

“Two of the major programmes to reduce business costs - the New Zealand Business Number and the IRD’s tax simplification project Business Transformation - are yet to be fully implemented.  So we have a lot of opportunity in the pipeline to further reduce the costs of dealing with government for businesses of all sizes.”

The gap in service performance between the government and the private sector has also narrowed in the latest report.

“By reducing the time and effort that business owners spend on administration, the Government is helping the private sector to focus on growing their businesses and the economy,” says Mr Joyce.

“Government agencies have an ambitious programme of work to deliver even better service to their business customers, which will ultimately give New Zealand businesses a competitive edge in the global marketplace and help to ensure that New Zealand maintains its reputation as one of the easiest places in the world to do business.”

The next survey results are due out in February 2016.

The Better Public Service Results July 2015 update can be found at: www.ssc.govt.nz/better-public-services