Dear Oranga Tamariki—Ministry for Children,

Would you please provide me with an update on the position of the Ministerial Advisory Board set up in 2021? Does it still exist, and if not, when was it disestablished?

I would like the following:
1. Decision papers relating to a disestablishment of the Board (if this has happened).
2. A list of activities of the Board in 2022 and 2023.

Would you also please provide me with copies of, or a link to, the following:

3. Ministerial Advisory Board: Final Administrative Report (2021)
4. Ministerial Advisory Board: Quarterly reports prepared by the Ministerial Advisory Board (dates unknown, but during 2021-23)
5. Ministerial Advisory Board: advice to the Minister for Children on governance of Oranga Tamariki; any correspondence discussing the Board's advice (dates unknown, but during 2021-23).
6. If the Board did not provide advice to the Minister on Oranga Tamariki governance, any papers relating to a decision not to provide such advice (dates unknown, but during 2021-23).

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

M Cook

Dear Oranga Tamariki—Ministry for Children,

Other than a standard acknowledgement of receipt of my January 21 2024 OIA request, I have not heard from you.

If there is an issue with this request or a reason to delay responding to it, please let me know what that is.

Yours faithfully,

M Cook

Dear OIA_Requests (OT),

Thank you for your letter acknowledging that a response to my request was at the sign off stage.

When will I get the information I have requested?

Yours sincerely,

M Cook

Dear OIA_Requests (OT),

I think you may be confusing the two OIA requests I have made, one in December 2023 and the other in January 2024.

As you will be aware, I am making my requests through the fyi.org website. It organises OIA requests so that each one is completely independent of any others the same person may have made.

December 2023 Request
My December 2023 request concerned reports, both public and not public, relating to the death or serious abuse of a child or children. In case it is helps reduce confusion, the information you sent on 1 March 2024 is labelled OIA CE 2023 02093. That information is clearly sent in response to my December 2023 request.

January 2024 Request
The letter I am writing now concerns a request I made in January 2024. That request asks for information relating to the Ministerial Advisory Board that was set up by then Minister Kelvin Davis in early 2021 (I have included the text of that request below). Oranga Tamariki has not yet sent me any information in response to this request.

On 29 February 2024 Oranga Tamariki sent a courteous letter to my January 2024 request page explaining that material relating to my OIA inquiry was in the sign out process (I have included the text of that letter from Oranga Tamariki below). Because Oranga Tamariki's 29 February 2024 letter arrived on the page for my January 2024 request, I understood that it concerned that request (not the December 2023 one).

It was in response to Oranga Tamariki’s 29 February 2024 letter that I wrote on 10 March 2024, asking when I should expect to get the material I’d requested in January 2024. Your reply, sent on 11 March to my January 2024 request page, said that I should look at the material sent 1 March 2024. The 1 March 2024 material arrived on my December 2023 request page and was solely concerned with that request.

I write now to remind you of my January 2024 request. Please let me know what stage it is at. The request is overdue, and is causing delay in my work.

If there is still confusion after looking at this letter and my two requests please don't hesitate to contact me. I realise that public servants are often under considerable pressure. My aim is to get information, not to make your working day more difficult.

21 JANUARY, 2024: INITIATING REQUEST
Would you please provide me with an update on the position of the Ministerial Advisory Board set up in 2021? Does it still exist, and if not, when was it disestablished?
I would like the following:
1. Decision papers relating to a disestablishment of the Board (if this has happened).
2. A list of activities of the Board in 2022 and 2023.
Would you also please provide me with copies of, or a link to, the following:
3. Ministerial Advisory Board: Final Administrative Report (2021)
4. Ministerial Advisory Board: Quarterly reports prepared by the Ministerial Advisory Board (dates unknown, but during 2021-23)
5. Ministerial Advisory Board: advice to the Minister for Children on governance of Oranga Tamariki; any correspondence discussing the Board's advice (dates unknown, but during 2021-23).
6. If the Board did not provide advice to the Minister on Oranga Tamariki governance, any papers relating to a decision not to provide such advice (dates unknown, but during 2021-23).
21 JANUARY 2024 ENDS.

29 FEBRUARY 2024: ORANGA TAMARIKI TO JANUARY 2024 REQUEST PAGE ON STAGE REQUEST WAS AT
I apologise in my delay in replying to you.
I can confirm our response to your request is in the final stages of our signout process, and you should receive it soon.
I apologise for any inconvenience this delay has caused you.
29 FEBRUARY 2024 ENDS

Yours sincerely,

M Cook

Dear OIA_Requests (OT),

Thanks for getting back to me. I look forward to receiving the information.

Yours sincerely,

M Cook