3 September 2021
John Jacobson
[FYI request #16315 email]
Ref: OIA-2021/22-0081
Dear John Jacobson
Official Information Act request relating details of your previous request on
'Smartphone app certification of COVID-19 Vaccine'
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request received on 6 August
2021. You requested:
“(a) who DPMC is consulting on this request;
(b) why it was "necessary" - in terms of s. 15A(1)(b) of the OIA - to undertake those
consultations;
(c) the date on which DPMC decided it wanted to consult others;
(d) the date or dates on which it initiated each and every one of those consultations;
(e) the date or dates by which DPMC told consultees it would need to have their views;
(f) the date or dates on which consultees provided their views to DPMC; and
(g) why the consultations could not be done within the statutory timeframe.”
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s (DPMC’s) ministerial services team
undertook consultations with three parties in the preparation of its response to the referenced
request.
•
The Covid-19 Response Group;
•
The Ministry of Transport; and
•
The authors of material withheld under section 6(a).
I believe that identifying the authors of the material in the third instance would be contrary to
our decision to withhold that information in our previous response. Therefore, I am
withholding these details under section 6(a), ‘to protect the security or defence of New
Zealand or the international relations of the Government of New Zealand’.
The DPMC ministerial services team identified it would need to undertake consultations prior
to the receipt of the transfer on 29 June 2021, when it was first consulted by the
Ministry of Health. Consultations were initiated with the COVID-19 Response Group (the
Group), on 30 June 2021. The ministerial services team subsequently engaged with the
Group a number of times via phone calls and face-to-face meetings, during which timelines
were discussed however, the dates of these were not recorded. Consultation was completed
with Group on 25 August 2021, as the relevant subject matter experts are engaged both in
the preparation of the information, and participate in the sign out of response.
The material relating to the Ministry of Transport was assessed for release by DPMC. We
ultimately decided to run the release of material by the Ministry of Transport on the day of its
release, 25 August 2021. I note this consultation did not play a role in our decision to extend,
nor did it delay the provision of our response.
4426771
Executive Wing, Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand 6011
64 4 817 9698 www.dpmc.govt.nz
The Ministerial Services team consulted the authors of withheld material by phone (the date
of this call was not logged). Initial feedback from the authors was received on 16 July 2021,
and final feedback was received 25 August 2021.
The availability of a number of subject-matter experts was limited during the preparation of
our response, particularly those staff who have an ongoing role in the COVID-19 Response,
which was further exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 outbreak. We appreciate that the
length of time it has taken us to provide you with this response may have inconvenienced
you.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision under
section 28(3) of the Act.
This response wil be published on the DPMC website during our regular publication cycle.
Typically, information is released monthly, or as otherwise determined. Your personal
information including name and contact details wil be removed for publication.
Yours sincerely
Clare Ward
Executive Director
Strategy, Governance and Engagement
4426771
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