Prime Minister welcomes first action plan

Prime Minister John Key has welcomed the release of the first action plan to help deliver on the ambitious targets the Government has set for the public sector to achieve over the next five years.

Mr Key says the ‘Reducing Crime and Reoffending Result Action Plan’ launched in Auckland today contains practical programmes and initiatives that will help cut crime in New Zealand.

"This action plan sets out how the justice sector is going to deliver what we’ve tasked it to do - major reductions in crime and reoffending over the next five years.

"By 2017 we want to see the crime rate reduced by 15 per cent, the violent crime rate by 20 per cent, the youth crime rate by 5 per cent, and the reoffending rate by 25 per cent.

"These would represent meaningful results for New Zealand – 112,000 fewer crimes, 19,000 fewer violent crimes, and 1500 fewer young people appearing in court over the next five years.

"This Government wants the public sector to deliver results that will make a real difference for New Zealanders. We’ve set ambitious targets in five key areas – reducing crime and reoffending is one of them.

"Crime affects individuals, families and communities. Addressing it requires comprehensive cross-agency action.

"The Government is committed to keeping New Zealanders safe – on our streets and in our communities. We’ve delivered the lowest crime rate in 30 years, but we want to continue to keep driving the crime rate down," Mr Key says.

"Delivering better public services within tight financial constraints is one of the National-led Government's four key priorities for this term. The 10 challenging results and related targets we have set for the public sector to achieve over the next five years will help deliver that goal."

More action plans for the rest of the 10 challenging results and their related targets will be released over the coming weeks.

For more information visit: www.ssc.govt.nz/better-public-services.