7363 (2025). Hon Carmel Sepuloni to the Minister for Social Development and Employment

Written Question

Published date: 12 Mar 2025

Metadata

Document type:	Written Question
Parliament number:	54
Question number:	7363 (2025)
Question asked:	26 Feb 2025
Member asking:	Hon Carmel Sepuloni
Portfolio:	Minister for Social Development and Employment
Minister replying:	Hon Louise Upston
Answer received:	06 Mar 2025
Status:	Question Answered
Reply type:	Reply
Document ID:	WQ_07363_2025
Document guid:	9b0c3906-2c8f-4e32-ac9c-f388ec934540

7363 (2025). Hon Carmel Sepuloni to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Further to 4964 (2025), what is the estimated cost to answer this question?

Hon Louise Upston: The Ministry of Social Development (the Ministry) would need to divert Ministry staff away from their core duties to provide the information sought by the Member. I do not believe it is justifiable or in the public interest to divert Ministry staff from their core duties in accordance with Speaker's Ruling 210/6. The Ministry does not currently undertake weekly reporting. The Ministry publishes quarterly reporting, which is classified as an official statistic by Stats NZ, along with monthly reporting as well. I believe these regularly published reports are sufficient to meet the public interest test expected under Speaker's Ruling 199/3.