Tēnā koe Lance O'Riley,

Thank you for your email received 20 December 2022, under the Official Information Act 1982. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officials at National Office to respond.

Please note that over the holiday period, there are three weeks that are not classified as working days. In accordance with Section 2 of the Official Information Act 1982, this period is 25 December 2022 to 15 January 2023 (inclusive). As such, OIA requests received on or after 28 November 2022 may take longer than you might expect. For more information on the latest date you can expect a response, please find the OIA Calculator on the Ombudsman website here: www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/agency-assis....

Ngā manaakitanga,

Official and Parliamentary Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development

Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake

-----Original Message-----
From: Lance O'Riley <[FOI #21463 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 20 December 2022 11:48 AM
To: OIA_Requests (MSD) <[MSD request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - 52 Week Income Summary & Overpayments

Dear Ministry of Social Development,

Under the official information Act I would like to request the following information.

1a: All Internal correspondence including emails regarding requesting a 52 Week income summary
1b: Official processes and guidelines for requesting a 52 week income summary
1c: All internal documentation about why a 52 week income summary should be requested

2a: What is the internal process for calculating the amount of an overpayment
2b: What circumstances can an overpayment be written off when it results from a genuine oversight or error from a client rather than an intentional act.

For Questions 3a onwards please provide this data by month for the last 15 years and broken down by region, age range, benefit type and ethnicity.
(Age range can be interpreted anyway you chose, so long as it is reasonable and in line with commonly used age brackets)

3a: The number of times a 52 week income summary has been requested
3b: The number of times a 52 week income summary has resulted in an underpayment
3c: The number of times a 52 week income summary has resulted in an overpayment
3d: How many times was a 52 week income summary requested when a client was self-disclosing a possible overpayment.

4a: For all underpayments, what is the average amount that has been underpaid
4b: For all overpayments, what is the average amount that has been overpaid
4c: For all overpayments, how was this amount calculated
4d: For all overpayments, how many have had a review of decision requested
4e: For all review of decisions, how many resulted in the overpayment amount being found to be an error
4f: For all overpayments being found to be an error, what was the average amount that was calculated incorrectly.
4g: For all overpayments being found to be an error, what is the reason for the error
4h: For all overpayments being found to be an error, how many were written off as a result of said error

5a: For all overpayments, how many were found to be intentional and/or fraudulent
5b: For all overpayments, how many were found to be non-intentional
5c: For all overpayments found to be non-intentional, how many were written off under section 208
5d: For all overpayments found to be non-intentional, and were later repaid, why were these not written off as per Section 208

6a: For interpreting the criteria noted in Section 208, please provide internal documentation discussing this, including emails and policy guidelines.

Please provide the following information as soon as reasonably practical. Please note that the official information act requires that must give a decision on this request as soon as possible, and no later than 20 working days after the request is received. I have interpreted this as you being required to provide this information as soon as possible and not unreasonably delaying this request to the end of the 20 working day period. If an extension is reasonable required, please notify me of this as soon as possible rather than leaving this towards the end of the required timeframes.

Yours faithfully,

Lance O'Riley

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This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

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This email and any attachments may contain information that is confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or duplication of this email and attachments is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please notify the author immediately and erase all copies of the email and attachments. The Ministry of Social Development accepts no responsibility for changes made to this message or attachments after transmission from the Ministry.

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Dear Lance O’Riley

We refer to your below request made to the Ministry of Social Development
(the Ministry) under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).

This letter is to advise you that the Ministry requires more time to
respond to this request. In accordance with section 15(1) and 15A of the
Act, the Ministry’s decision will be with you no later than 8 March 2023.

The reason for the extension is that consultations necessary to make a
decision on the request are such that a proper response to the request
cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit.

We will respond to you sooner if we are able to.

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
[1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.

If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this
decision, please feel free to contact [2][MSD request email]. 

Kind regards

Official and Parliamentary Information team | Ministerial and Executive
Services

Ministry of Social Development

Our purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent.
Manaaki Tangata, Manaaki Whânau.

 

 

------------------------------- This email and any attachments may contain
information that is confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you
are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or
duplication of this email and attachments is prohibited. If you have
received this email in error please notify the author immediately and
erase all copies of the email and attachments. The Ministry of Social
Development accepts no responsibility for changes made to this message or
attachments after transmission from the Ministry.
-------------------------------

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
2. mailto:[MSD request email]

Kia ora Lance

 

Please find attached the Ministry’s response to your Official Information
Act request.

 

Ngâ mihi

 

Ministerial & Executive Services

Ministerial & Executive Services | Ministry of Social Development

Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent.
Manaaki Tangata, Manaaki Whânau.

 

------------------------------- This email and any attachments may contain
information that is confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you
are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or
duplication of this email and attachments is prohibited. If you have
received this email in error please notify the author immediately and
erase all copies of the email and attachments. The Ministry of Social
Development accepts no responsibility for changes made to this message or
attachments after transmission from the Ministry.
-------------------------------