SSC should investigate
February 16th, 2010 at 10:26 am by David FarrarThe Herald reports:
A directive from the Ministry of Education telling an Opposition MP that information requests needed to be answered by the minister was a communications blunder, the ministry says.
Labour Party state services spokesman Grant Robertson said he would write to the State Services Commission and ask it to investigate after MP Ruth Dyson made an inquiry to the ministry regarding policy about funding for disabled students.
She said she was trying to support the parents of a student whose support funding had been cut and was told that operational issues raised at a local level by government MPs could be dealt with locally, but requests for information from non-government MPs needed to go to the relevant minister formally for a response. …
The ministry said yesterday the directive given to Ms Dyson appeared to be the result of a staff member misunderstanding the rules.
Senior ministry manager Jim Matheson said the error was “regrettable”.
“The ministry will take steps to ensure such an error will not be repeated.”
It is 99% likely to just be a stuff up, but it is an important principle that MPs dealing with constituents issues are treated equally.
I think it would be useful to have the SSC to investigate – not so much to find any improper behaviour, but to send out a signal to other agencies how important it is not to make mistakes like this.
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February 16th, 2010 at 11:15 am
>Labour Party state services spokesman Grant Robertson said he would write to the State Services Commission and ask it to investigate
Someone makes an error with their work and Robertson dobs them in to their boss. Well their boss’s boss’s boss. Nice way to support an ordinary working man or woman.
Vote:February 16th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Uh! I thought it was the norm that MP’s should channel Offical Information requests via Ministers’ offices rather than direct to Departments. Or am I getting all confused with some idea that Departments are supposed to refer all MPs’ Official Information requests to Ministers’ offices so the Minister or Minnisterial staff can tell departments to what extent they should stonewass the requests (and also so Ministers are aware of what MP’s are up to. Or was this under a Labour government. I am all confused.
A bit off-topic, but some years ago, a District Council directed that the CEO was not to provide the Mayor with any information about the Council (except presumably via an Official Information request which wouls sometimes require the Mayor to pay out of his own pocket).
Vote: