15 April 2024
J Bythell
By email: [FYI request #26328 email]
Tēnā koe
Official information request regarding Crown Law Office’s financial position
Our Ref: OIA353/1
1.
I refer to your official information request dated 5 April 2024 for;
Is your department at risk of overspending its financial appropriation this
year?
If it is, please supply
* all correspondence with and information supplied to Treasury about this
* all correspondence with and information supplied to your Minister and
your Minister’s office about this
* all correspondence with and information supplied to the Public Services
Commission about this
* all correspondence with and information supplied to the Auditor-General
or his office about this
* all papers to or considered by your leadership team about this
* all papers to or considered by your risk and audit committee about this
* all papers to or considered by any other of your governance groups about
this
Have you set aside an allowance in this financial year for redundancies or
other costs of restructuring?
If so, how much is that allowance?
If not, do you anticipate any costs for these in this financial year?
2.
You have suggested that we treat your request as two separate requests. In
response to your first question, “Is your department at risk of overspending its
financial appropriation this year?”, we can advise that we do not anticipate any
overspending of appropriations this year.
3.
Secondly, you ask whether we have set aside an allowance in this financial year
for the costs of redundancies or other costs of restructuring. Whilst we do
anticipate redundancy related costs, this number has not yet been worked out,
therefore we must decline to answer that part of your request under section
18(e) of the Official Information Act, as the information does not exist. Aside
from this, the amount once known, is at present Budget Sensitive, therefore we
Level 2 Justice
Centre, 19 Aitken Street, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 2858 or DX SP20208, Wellington 6140, New Zealand | +64 4 472 1719 | crownlaw.govt.nz
7853826
2
would have to refuse this part of you request under section 9(2)(f)(iv), to protect
the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown and officials.
Proactive release
4.
Please note that we may publish this response (with your personal details
redacted), and any related documents, on Crown Law’s website if we decide
proactive release of this information is or may be in the public interest. If you
have any concerns about this, please let us know within 10 working days of the
date of this letter.
5.
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
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
6.
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact us at
[email address].
Yours faithfully
Crown Law
Rob Glennie
Chief Financial Officer
7853826
