51763 (2024). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister for Children

51763 (2024). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister for Children: How many, if any, children and young persons were waiting for Oranga Tamariki to allocate them to a social worker, provided annually as of 30 June each year since 2017?

Hon Karen Chhour: I am advised by Oranga Tamariki that providing the data the Member has requested going back to 2017 would require analysts to refactor existing code. This would take considerable time and I am not prepared to ask this of my officials at this time. As such, in accordance with the Speaker’s Ruling 199-3, I consider that the time, and therefore the expense, of answering the Member’s question is not in the public interest. I am however advised that Oranga Tamariki have identified key areas to improve impacts for tamariki, rangatahi and whānau, which includes focussing on timely and appropriate allocation of social workers to children. I expect this to be a part of future reporting on Oranga Tamariki performance in the future.