374 (2026). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister of Education

Written Question

Published date: 12 Feb 2026

Metadata

Document type:	Written Question
Parliament number:	54
Question number:	374 (2026)
Question asked:	26 Jan 2026
Member asking:	Hon Willow-Jean Prime
Portfolio:	Minister of Education
Minister replying:	Hon Erica Stanford
Answer received:	08 Feb 2026
Status:	Question Answered
Reply type:	Reply
Document ID:	WQ_00374_2026
Document guid:	ed8e635d-ebc8-4c0c-84ed-2adc8c696c5c

374 (2026). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister of Education: Was the Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Koutu in Rotorua project she announced on 15 April 2025 one of the building projects the Ministry of Education had paused for a value for money review and if so, what changes to the project, if any, were made as a result of the review?

Hon Erica Stanford: This project was part of the value for money review. It was not paused/delayed. The two teaching spaces were funded for construction in Budget 25/26 as no funding was allocated. This was the case for most of the projects in the value for money process. Buildings were promised but no funding was allocated. Previously, classrooms cost $1.2m on average, the value for money review reduced costs of a classroom to $620k. This saving, together with Budgets 24 and 25 allowed us to go ahead with these projects.