Dear Public Service Commission,

On 2 April 2024, the Public Service Commission Te Kawa Mataaho responded to an OIA request – your reference OIA 2024-0037 – and refused to disclose advice provided to the Minister for the Public Service on New Zealand’s membership of the Open Government Partnership.

The Commission’s response to the request can be found here: https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/assets...

The Commission listed two pieces of advice that it was withholding:
Item 1: Document 2023-0321 dated 20 December 2023
Item 2: Document 2024-0040 dated 15 February 2024

The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties requests:
1. the titles of these documents; and
2. a copy of both these documents.

The Council also requests:
3. copies of all other advice provided by the Commission to the Minister for the Public Service about the Open Government Partnership since 23 November 2023, including but not limited to the Commission’s advice to the Minister about responding to the joint letter to the Minister from civil society organisations dated 13 May 2024 and the draft response letter that it provided to the Minister (https://nzccl.org.nz/csos-call-for-dedic...); and

4. the titles and dates of all the documents falling within (3) above if the documents themselves are withheld; and

5. for any meeting with the Minister for the Public Service at which the Open Government Partnership discussed, the notes taken by Commission officials at or after any meeting with the Minister that relate to that part of the meeting; and

6. all internal memoranda, advice or briefings on (i) membership of the Open Government Partnership, (ii) creation of a multi-stakeholder forum, (iii) creation of the fifth National Action Plan.

Under section 16(2) of the OIA our preferences are (a) to receive a copy of the whole document (b) that the information is disclosed in a text searchable format, either docx, pptx, or PDF, and (c) that it is sent to the email address from which the Commission received this request. If the notes referred to in part 5 of our request were only handwritten, our preference is to receive a scanned copy of the handwritten notes.

If the Commission decides that there is 'good reason' under the OIA to withhold any of the information we are requesting, then under section 19(a)(ii) of the OIA, we further request that the Commission provide us with the grounds in support of each withholding reason cited for refusal, and a list of the public interest factors favouring release that it considered when reaching its decision. We draw the Commission’s attention to the Ombudsman’s recent case note on how to comply with section 19(a)(ii) of the OIA, which can be found here: https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/reso...

If any part of our request is unclear, please don't hesitate to contact us. We are happy to receive the response to this request in parts if it would assist the Commission in complying with its obligation to respond as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 20 working days.

Yours faithfully,

New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties