National Action Plan 2018 - 21 End-of-term Self-assessment November 2021 FINAL

IRM Design Reports identify and encourage opportunities for countries to improve the process of, and content of, their Plans. The Design Report for NAP3 (2018 – 20) was published in February 2020. The Design Report outlined five recommendations and some suggestions for the content of potential future commitments.

The five recommendations from IRM Design Report Plan were:

1. Reform official information laws
   • NAP3 commitment 7 was delivered focusing on official information. With regards to the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA):
     • In 2019, the Ministry of Justice undertook targeted engagement by inviting submissions on the OIA from individuals and organisations. The Ministry’s advice and a summary of the consultation were provided to the Minister of Justice.
     • In March 2021, the advice and consultation summary document were published on the Ministry of Justice website (see Proactive release – Briefing and Public Consultation page).
     • The Minister of Justice will consider the potential for a review of the OIA later in this parliamentary term.

2. Strengthen the role and mandate of the EAP as it continues to act as New Zealand’s Multi-stakeholder Forum
   • We acted on this to expand EAP (see section A page 11). In addition to working with EAP on NAP4, we are also working with a number of representatives from civil society organisations. Our approach has evolved over NAP3 and will continue to evolve.
3. Create a joint civil society/government public engagement Community of Practice or Hub
   • This idea has been submitted for consideration in developing NAP4 commitments.
4. Apply civics education learning at community and local government level
   • This idea has been submitted for consideration in developing NAP4 commitments.
5. Strengthen high-quality public media reporting by continuing the Local Democracy Reporter pilot to ensure transparency and public accountability of local government
   • The Local Democracy Reporter pilot was established in 2019. In 2020, NZ On Air confirmed continued support for the Local Democracy Reporting scheme for the 2021 year. NZ On Air continues to fund five regional media projects, covering nine regions.

We are grateful to the Independent Reviewer for sharing the findings and points of view. We have incorporated the suggestions about commitments into the ideas-generation process for NAP4. As part of our reflections on NAP3 and the development process for NAP4, we recently facilitated a meeting to provide an opportunity for the Independent Reviewer to discuss the Design Report including the recommendations with the stakeholders involved in the design of NAP3. The meeting proved interesting and valuable.