IN-CONFIDENCE
8 November 2023
Adam Ward
[FYI request #24319 email]
Tēnā koe Adam Ward
On  3 October 2023,  you emailed the Ministry of Social Development (the
Ministry) requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the
following information:
•
Please could you provide counts of the number of people claiming
Accommodation Supplement by Statistical Area 2 using 2023
boundaries for the month of March 2023.
I appreciate that in order to preserve the privacy of individuals all client
counts will be random rounded to base three and all counts between 1
and 6 inclusive will be suppressed.
Please include SA2 2023 codes in the output
On 1 November 2023, the Ministry notified you that while we had decided to
grant your request, more time was required to prepare the information for
release.
The Accommodation Supplement (AS), which replaced the Accommodation
Benefit from 1 July 1993, is a non-taxable payment to assist people with
limited income and limited cash assets to meet their accommodation costs.
Assistance is available to help pay rent, board, or costs of home ownership. A
person does not have to be receiving a benefit to be assessed to qualify for
AS. It is calculated using a formula that considers geographical location, family
size, accommodation costs, income,  and tenure type (renting, boarding or
home ownership).
You  can  find  more  information  about  the  AS  at  the  following  link:
www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/a-z-benefits/accommodation-
supplement.html.
Please find enclosed in the Appendix, Table One which shows the count of
clients in receipt of Accommodation Supplement as at the end of March 2023,
broken down by 2017 area unit classifications.

IN-CONFIDENCE
The following link provides a list of Statistical Area 2 areas, which you may find
helpful:
www.workandincome.govt.nz/map/deskfile/extra-help-
information/accommodation-supplement-tables/definitions-of-
areas.html#Area23.
The locations listed are related specifically to the names of the Statistical Area
Units 2017, as defined by Statistics New Zealand. They are not the equivalent
to postal address suburbs, towns, or cities, despite occasionally sharing similar
names.
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.
This Ministry fully supports those principles and purposes.
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  regarding Accommodation
Supplement, 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
Bridget Saunders
Group General Manager
Issues Resolution
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