Helen Clark Foundation report exposes poor Government investment analysis

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling for cost-benefit analysis to be made compulsory for all major government investment decisions following the release of the Helen Clark Foundation’s report Measuring What Matters.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tory Relf says:

“Cost-benefit analysis should be at the heart of every major spending decision, yet this report shows many agencies still aren’t using it properly.”

“Treasury already provides a clear methodology, so there is no excuse for Ministers to be signing off major investments without robust analysis of costs and benefits.”

“That only a third of departments surveyed were regularly using cost-benefit analysis raises serious questions about the quality of advice going to Ministers. This may go some way to explain why New Zealand ranks among the top 10 percent of OECD countries for infrastructure spending but in the bottom 10 percent for efficiency.”

“The Government should make cost-benefit analysis compulsory for all investment decisions so taxpayers can see whether projects actually stack up.”