OAG Value For Money-getting the best results from Public spending

Kia ora Office of the Auditor-General — thank you for setting out a principled position on value for money. here.

The emphasis on economy, efficiency, effectiveness, systems, and ongoing review is especially important in a constrained fiscal environment.

Drawing on experience introducing national investment frameworks in New Zealand, supporting public investment reforms internationally, and applying a disciplined public value decision system at organisational, suburb, and district levels, I’ve observed that value for money is rarely created at a single decision point. It is the downstream result of decision quality across the full lifecycle — from the Think phase (identifying the right initiatives and defining the problem well), through planning, disciplined delivery, and review.

A complementary way to strengthen the focus you outline is to view value for money explicitly through a public value decision system lens — supported by active institutional stewardship, disciplined and at times courageous leadership, ethical integrity, fit-for-purpose capability at each stage of the lifecycle, and robust public accountability.

Without deliberate maintenance across leadership transitions and political cycles, coherence can gradually erode.

With Budget 2026 approaching, there is an opportunity to strengthen public value decision-making capability across the system — reinforcing long-term value for money outcomes.

For those interested, I’ve assessed the quality of public value decision-making, proposed a public value decision system, developed an example city-level portfolio business case (Think phase). https://www.barberassociates.org/hub?