3.2 Group accounting practices used for whole of government reporting override the constitutional separation of powers
An important issue arising from the application of business sector accounting practices is how to decide what is, and what is not, part of the government for whole of government financial reports. New Zealand's financial management reforms fragmented governmental activities, and required each fragment to report separately. Broadly, three types of governmental bodies were established. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) were created as limited liability companies, with their shares owned by two ministers on behalf of the government. SOEs conduct commercial activities, funding their operations through user charges, and they are required to function as if they are private companies and to observe normal commercial accounting requirements. Many SOEs were privatized, but some remain in government hands, including some that generate electricity. One SOE, Transpower, has sole responsibility for the country's high-voltage electricity transmission. The second type of government body is the Crown Entity. These were created for activities that require government funding for their operations, but they may impose some user charges. Crown entities include hospitals, universities and schools. Early intentions were that these be privatized, but the idea is so unpopular politically that direct privatization has not occurred, although reductions by forcing mergers and through financial constraints are occurring. The third type is government departments, including the central agencies of the government, the Treasury and the State Services Commission and the Department of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, as well as departments that provide advice and deliver services such as the Corrections Department, which is responsible for the incarceration of prisoners and the Department of Statistics. Most of the service-providing departments have been restructured several times in recent years. Offices of Parliament, such as the Auditor-General and Clerk of the House of Representatives, are treated similarly to departments, but in keeping with the idea of separation of powers, as parliamentary services they report to Parliament, rather than to a minister. All of these bodies must prepare individual financial reports for submission to Parliament.