Reference: 20210396
12 November 2021
Matt McNeill
[FYI request #16481 email]
Dear Matt
Thank you for your Official Information Act (OIA) request, received on 24 August 2021.
You requested:
all Cost Benefit work related to Level 4 Lock Downs.
This work can be either,
Created for internal treasury purposes, or
Work that has been requested by any government minister, or
Work that has been requested by any government department
The time to respond was extended by 40 working days.
The Government’s response to COVID-19 encompasses a wide range of policies and
investments across a wide range of agencies. The Treasury has provided advice on
the costs and benefits of various aspects of the response over time; it does not hold a
cost benefit analysis which captures the entire response programme. Accordingly, I
have refused much of your request under section 18(e) of the OIA –
the document
alleged to contain the information requested does not exist or cannot be found.
In late-April, the Treasury published a special topic on our Alert Level economic impact
assumptions. This can be viewed her
e: WEU Special Topic – Alert Level Assumptions
Refresh (BEFU 2021) (treasury.govt.nz)
The Treasury has also done work on the economic and fiscal impacts of recent Alert
Level decisions, and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) will be
proactively releasing Alert Level decision-making Cabinet papers which pull together
advice from the Director-General of Health, Treasury, and other agencies.
This information will be released on the DPMC website here:
https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/proactive-release-cabinet-material
1 The Terrace
PO Box 3724
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
tel. +64-4-472-2733
https://treasury.govt.nz
The document listed below is also covered by your request and will soon be made
publicly available on the Treasury website:
Item Date
Document Description
Website Address
1.
19 August 2021
Aide Memoire T2021/2126:
https://www.treasury.govt.n
Review of Alert Levels
z/publications
I have refused your request for this document, and the information mentioned above,
under section 18(d) of the OIA:
the information requested is or will soon be publicly
available.
Please note that this letter (with your personal details removed) and enclosed
documents may be published on the Treasury website.
This reply addresses the information you requested. You have the right to ask the
Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision.
Yours sincerely
John Beaglehole
Manager, COVID-19 Economic Supports
2