Parliamentary Counsel Office

Parliamentary Counsel Office

Context

The Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO) is New Zealand's law drafting office. It is responsible for drafting most New Zealand legislation, and publishing the official version of New Zealand Acts of Parliament and Statutory Regulations.

Parliamentary Counsel Office E-government Initiatives

• Complete PAL project
• New intranet
• VPN

Summary

Ready Access: PCO's website and metadata are of a high standard, providing ready access to the agency's information.

Alignment: The PCO's PAL project will provide free public access to legislation online once it is implemented. The implementation of PAL will help the PCO align closely with the E-government Strategy. Internal access to information is being improved through Internet based systems, such as a new intranet.

Internet and Communications Technology

The PCO intends to provide free public access - via the Internet - to a database of Acts, Statutory Regulations, Bills and Supplementary Order Papers through the implementation of the Public Access to Legislation (PAL) project. The PAL database would contain legislation in an up-to-date form.

The PAL project continues to be the PCO's major IT project. It will improve access to legislation by providing real-time updates on the passage of Bills, Acts and Regulations. Until PAL is completed, people can access legislation online through and interim website, which is hosted by Brookers, a third party provider.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) has been established. This connects the PCO with Brookers (which currently maintains the database of legislation), IRD, Datacom and SecuraCopy, the PCO's contracted printer.

The PCO objective is that the electronic version of legislation becomes the official version of the law. This will require a law change, and the cross checking of every document in the database.

The PCO's website is mainly informational, with some information tailored for specific audiences. For example, guidance for government departments working with the PCO is provided. A section of the website is client specific and is password protected.

The Internet and networks are increasingly being used within the PCO to communicate information among staff, conduct consultation, and encourage participation in decision-making. PCO is further developing its intranet to improve staff access to PCO information and resouces.

Drafting requires specialist software development and the PCO keeps in touch with other drafting offices to monitor their initiatives in this area. The PCO also contributes to an IT forum with the Australian jurisdictions.

The PCO is also part of a wider parliamentary campus that includes five other agencies. Opportunities to work in collaboration include a purchase order system, developed in-house at PCO, and shared with another parliamentary agency.

Ready Access to Information and Services

Metadata

PCO has an agency record in the Metalogue as well as a service and a document related to New Zealand Legislation. The metadata on legislation provides a useful link to the interim website of New Zealand legislation.

Website Assessment

Websites assessed during May 2004 included

www.pco.parliament.govt.nz

but excluded the PAL site.

Overall, the PCO's website is of a high standard.

The website has strengths in information delivery and accessibility. In future, site usability and required government content could be improved.

Key quality issues noted during the assessment included:

• Good range, depth and presentation of information content.
• Usability and site navigation could be improved for easier use.
• Required email addresses were not available or were not answered during the assessment.
• Homepage does not present a clear face, missing opportunities to offer people relevant content.
• Missing accessibility features, such as navigation skipping, access keys and style sheet problems may impede some physically impaired people's access.
• Many broken links prevent people from accessing some content.
• Contact details could be more specific to enable responsive handling of enquiries.
• More links to other related content would be useful.

Alignment With E-government Goals

Convenience and Satisfaction

Public access to information provided by the PCO will be improved once the PAL project is completed. Interim Internet services provide the public with improved access to legislation.

PCO is working with the EGU to enable access from the portal directly to legislation. This will improve people's understanding of how legislation relates to the services that agencies provide.

Integration and Efficiency

The PCO does not explicitly use the Internet or internet standards to integrate information or services with other agencies for the public. However, VPN networks are increasingly being used to exchange electronic information with other agencies and organisations.

Participation

The PCO uses the Internet to encourage people to be involved and participate more in government by providing public access to legislation.