Ministry’s change decisions released

The Ministry for the Environment today told staff of final decisions following consultation on the Resetting the Ministry change proposal in June.

The Ministry received 470 submissions on its proposals, with over 1500 decisions points.

The feedback led to changes to the proposals including a small increase to staffing levels and clarification of some functions. The additional staff will be paid for by reducing the Ministry’s pool of discretionary funding, particularly for contractors and consultants.

“I want to thank our people at the Ministry who contributed a huge amount of thoughtful and constructive feedback, all of which we considered carefully.” Ministry Chief Executive James Palmer said today.

“While it will be sad to see any of our staff leave, the changes help ensure the Ministry has the right capability to deliver government priorities, and our ongoing obligations to New Zealanders.”

The decisions see the final number of FTE staff in 2024/25 moving from 819 proposed to 836. Of these 707.5 will be permanent and 128 delayed redundancies until 30 June 2025.

Contracts for 148 current fixed term staff will end by October 31 this year.

In 2025/2026, the Ministry will start the year with 714 FTE, moving to 707.5 in January 2026.

The Ministry currently employs 988 staff  – 148 on fixed terms.

Since the start of consultation 97 staff have accepted voluntary redundancy, and further expressions of interest are invited up until August 18.

“While there will be jobs for most permanent staff over the next year and a half, the impact for individuals will depend on whether their skills and capabilities match new roles in the structure.

“Mine and my leadership team’s focus over the next few months is on ensuring the process for selecting people is fair and accessible and that people feel well supported throughout,” James Palmer said.

Until the selection process has been completed in late September, it will not be known if, or how many redundancies will be needed.