IN-CONFIDENCE
31 October 2023
Letty Smith
[FYI request #24305 email]
Tēnā koe Letty Smith
On 2 October 2023, you emailed the Ministry of Social Development (the
Ministry) requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the
following information:
I would like a breakdown of the funding provided to staff employed
within policy roles for tertiary papers in the nature of that for degrees,
masters degrees, or professional legal studies (profs), broken down by
type of study, and amounts by year for the financial years 2020/21,
2021/22, 2022/23 and for the current financial year up to 1 September
2023.
In response to your request, I can advise that two requests for tertiary
education funding was received within the Ministry’s Policy Group from 1 July
2020 to 1 September 2023.
1. Funding of $58,323.72 (excluding GST) was approved on 25 October
2022 to enable an employee to do an Executive Master of Public
Administration (EMPA) 2023 with The Australia and New Zealand
School of Government.
2. Funding of $9,175.00 (excluding GST) was approved on 21 March
2022 to enable an employee to do a Master of Indigenous Studies at
Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka.
The principles and purposes of the Official Information Act 1982 under which
you made your request are:
• to create greater openness and transparency about the plans, work and
activities of the Government,
• to increase the ability of the public to participate in the making and
administration of our laws and policies and
• to lead to greater accountability in the conduct of public affairs.
IN-CONFIDENCE
This Ministry fully supports those principles and purposes. The Ministry
therefore intends to make the information contained in this letter and any
attached documents available to the wider public. The Ministry will do this by
publishing this letter on the Ministry’s website. Your personal details will be
deleted, and the Ministry will not publish any information that would identify
you as the person who requested the information.
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[MSD request email].
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to seek an
investigation and review by the Ombudsman. Information about how to make
a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi nui
Simon MacPherson
Deputy Chief Executive
Policy
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