OIA 24 116 Response.pdf

WELLINGTON
The Customhouse, 1 Hinemoa Street, Wellington
PO Box 2218, Wellington 6140
Phone: 04 901 4500  All general enquiries phone: 0800 428 786
Email: [email address]  Website: www.customs.govt.nz

6 May 2024
           Ref: OIA 24-116

J. Bythell
By email: [FYI request #26330 email]

Tēnā koe J Bythel
Request for information under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank  you  for  your  email  received  on  5  April  2024,  to  the  New  Zealand  Customs  Service
(Customs)  via  the  FYI  website,  requesting  the  following  information  under  the  Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“Is your department at risk of overspending its financial appropriation this year?

If it is, please supply
* all correspondence with and information supplied to Treasury about this
* all correspondence with and information supplied to your Minister and your
Minister’s office about this
* all correspondence with and information supplied to the Public Services
Commission about this
* all correspondence with and information supplied to the Auditor-General or his
office about this
* all papers to or considered by your leadership team about this
* all papers to or considered by your risk and audit committee about this
* all papers to or considered by any other of your governance groups about this

Have you set aside an allowance in this financial year for redundancies or other costs
of restructuring?

If so, how much is that allowance?
If not, do you anticipate any costs for these in this financial year?

To facilitate prompt response you may treat these as two separate OIA requests. You
may also provide the responses in progressive releases. If one or more groups of
documents might require an extension you should provide any part of the response
that would not first, and the part requiring additional time subsequently.”

I have outlined Customs’ response to your request below, broken in to two parts.
Part One
“Is your department at risk of overspending its financial appropriation this year?

If it is, please supply
* all correspondence with and information supplied to Treasury about this

* all correspondence with and information supplied to your Minister and your
Minister’s office about this
* all correspondence with and information supplied to the Public Services
Commission about this
* all correspondence with and information supplied to the Auditor-General or his
office about this
* all papers to or considered by your leadership team about this
* all papers to or considered by your risk and audit committee about this
* all papers to or considered by any other of your governance groups about this”

I  can  advise  that  as  of  5  April  2024,  Customs  is  not  at  risk  of  overspending  our  financial
appropriations for the 2023/24 financial year.
Part Two
“Have you set aside an allowance in this financial year for redundancies or other
costs of restructuring?

If so, how much is that allowance?
If not, do you anticipate any costs for these in this financial year?”
Customs has ring-fenced savings realised during the current financial year (2023/24) as part
of  our  ongoing  fiscal  sustainability  programme  to  meet  the  cost  of  any  potential
redundancies.  We believe that these savings will be sufficient to cover that cost.  However,
due to ongoing consultation with staff  on Customs’  organisational change proposal, we are
unable  to  disclose  the  amount  as  that  would  pre-empt  the  outcome  of  the  consultation
process.
Therefore,  this  part  of  your  request  is  withheld  under  section  9(2)(i)  of  the  Act,  where  the
withholding of the information is necessary to enable a Minister of the Crown or any public
service  agency  or  organisation  holding  the  information  to  carry  out,  without  prejudice  or
disadvantage, commercial activities.
You have the right, by way of complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman under section 28(3)
of  the  Act,  to  seek  an  investigation  and  review  of  this  decision.  Information  about  how  to
make  a  complaint  is  available  online  at:  www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or  you  can  phone
0800 802 602.
In the first instance, if you have any queries in relation to this response, please contact the
Correspondence, Reviews and Ministerial Servicing team at: [email address]
Please note that Customs proactively releases responses to Official Information Act requests
on our website. As such, we may publish this response on our website after we have sent it
to you. Your name and contact details will be removed.
Nāku noa, nā
Sharon May
Deputy Chief Executive
Finance, Technology and Infrastructure