Something has gone badly wrong in the public service. From energy policy to financial regulation to education, ministers are too often advised by officials lacking the deep technical background their roles demand.

This chronic loss of subject-matter expertise repeatedly surfaced in consultations for The New Zealand Initiative’s forthcoming report on unscrambling the machinery of government. The consequences are predictable: flawed advice, avoidable errors and expensive U-turns.

To read the article on the NZ Herald website, click here.