11 October 2021
45 Pipitea Street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011
PO Box 805, Wellington 6140
Phone +64 4 495 7200
Kurt Lorenzen
Fax +64 4 382 3589
fyi-request-16338-
Em
ail [email address]
[email address]
Websi
te www.dia.govt.nz
Dear Kurt
Your Official Information Act request OIA 2122 0187 dated 30 August 2021
In regard to your Official Information Act (the Act) request, which was received by the
Department of Internal Affairs (Department) on 30 August 2021, after a transfer from the
Ministry of Health, the Departmental response follows.
You have requested:
“Please provide all relevant information around the $1.9 billion dollars earmarked for
Mental Health NZ. Including, money spent on paid consultants.”
From this funding package, the Department of Internal Affairs received funding for two
purposes as below:
Initiative name
Purpose
Funding
$000
Establishment of the
To fund the establishment and ongoing
77,524
Royal Commission into
operation of the Royal Commission that will
Historical Abuse in State
examine and report on the historical abuse of
Care and in the care of
children, young people and vulnerable adults in
Faith Based Institutions
State care and faith-based institutions.
(the Royal Commission)
An effective Timely
To ensure the Crown can engage with the Royal
1,418
Crown Response to the
Commission in a full, timely and joined up
Royal Commission
manner, through a cross – agency secretariat to
deliver a coordinated Crown approach, legal
support for representation and procedural
questions and specialist support to agencies for
researching and compiling records for the Royal
Commission
Royal Commission –
To purchase software and premises fit out for
1,325
Capital Expenditure
the Royal Commission
Total
80,267
The funding was appropriated in Vote Internal Affairs as follows from 2018/19.
Ref Appropriation
$000
A
Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the care of
56,066
Faith Based Institutions - Operating Expenses multi-year appropriation
B
Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the care of
6,123
Faith Based Institutions - Commissioners Fees multi-year appropriation
C
Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the care of
15,335
Faith Based Institutions - Counselling Costs multi-year appropriation
Sub-total
77,524
D
Civic Information Services MCA - departmental output class Managing
1,418
and Accessing Knowledge Information
E
Department of Internal Affairs - Capital Injection
1,325
Total
80,267
The funding above and additional funding since then is shown in Appendix A).
The Department is refusing the requested information on ‘money spent on paid consultants’
under section 18(d) of the OIA, as the information is or will soon be publicly available. This
information is released to the Governance and Administration Select Committee as part of
the annual review process. Royal Commission expenditure began in 2018/19 and the
documents presented to the Committee for 2018/19 and 2019/20 can be found in the links
below.
• 2018/19 consultancy expenditure -
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-
NZ/53SCGA_EVI_111886_GA1062/6eadcff9888caf0c03a1f7da54ec42561cd97d27
• 2019/20 consultancy expenditure - Appendix 7 of the document, page 160 -278 -
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-
NZ/53SCGA_EVI_104005_GA287/96e00e3e62641e5bdeabec06932fdc62bd8417ee
To locate expenditure on the Royal Commission, you can review the ‘Details of Contract’
column in the document links above. Please note that there is more than one Royal
Commission in existence during this period.
2020/21 consultancy expenditure will be presented to the Select Committee in November/
December 2021 and the information for that year will be provided to you then.
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If you have any feedback or questions about the Department’s response, please let us know
at
[email address]
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or Freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
David Pearson
Acting Chief Financial Officer
Page 3 of 4
Appendix A – Funding and Expenditure for the Royal Commission 2018/19 to date
For funding, the years shown below related to the year in which the funding was approved rather than the years it will be spent. The Royal Commission is expected
to continue its operations until 2022/23.
For expenditure, the figures are the expenditure in the particular period.
Appropriations $000
Funding
A
B
C
D
E
F *
G **
Total
Operating Commissioner Counselling
DIA
Capital
Legal
expense
fees
expense
expense
expense
expense
2018/19
56,066
6,123
15,335
1,418
1,325
0
0
80,267
2019/20
(8,790)
0
0
0
3,168
8,790
0
3,168
2020/21
100,790
2,248
(1,862)
0
0
6,656
3,365
111,197
Total funding
148,066
8,371
13,473
1,418
4,493
15,446
3,365
194,632
Expenditure
2018/19
7,771
583
0
1,418
1,325
0
0
11,097
2019/20
23,010
1,243
203
0
3,168
121
0
27,745
2020/21
40,304
1,250
1,167
0
0
816
0
43,537
July 2021
3,325
112
88
0
0
0
0
3,525
Total Expenditure
74,410
3,188
1,458
1,418
4,493
937
0
85,904
* The government created appropriation F - Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the care of Faith Based Institutions – Legal Assistance Costs
multi-year appropriation during 2019/20, by a transfer of funding from appropriation A).
** The government has appropriated funding to appropriation G) National Archives and Library Services MCA – Knowledge and Information Services in 2021/22 to
support the Crown response.
The total funding shown above for appropriations A-C and F agrees to the Estimates of Appropriation for Vote Internal Affairs 2021/22. These appropriations are
multi-year appropriations and so their total funding over their life is published.
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