23 Apr 2019

Deadline extended for publication on surveillance by government agencies

3:55 pm on 23 April 2019

Government agencies have been given an extra two months to publish how they will gather information and undertake surveillance.

The State Services Commissioner, Peter Hughes, has given public service chief executives an extra week's annual leave to make up for the financial hit they have taken since losing their performance pay.

State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes says most agencies are on track to meet the original deadline. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

The State Services Commission's original deadline of 20 April has been extended to 30 June to give some agencies with complex policies more time.

The change comes on the back of an inquiry into the use of external security consultants, following revelations that the private security firm Thompson and Clark, working on behalf of Southern Response, attended and recorded several closed meetings of insurance claimants.

For the first time government agencies are being required to be transparent about the types of information-gathering they undertake, the reasons for it, and what it might be used for.

State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes said most of them were on track to meet the original deadline next Tuesday.

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