15 November 2024
P Robins
[FYI request #28524 email]
Official information request
Our ref: R00532
Tēnā koe P Robins
Thank you for your official information request received on 25 September 2024. You requested:
I request all invoices paid by or issued to the Ministry in relation to any hospitality
expenditure. This includes but is not limited to catering, gifts and other hospitality expenses.
I also request invoices for Ministry col ateral, including branded stationary (pens, notebooks,
etc), signage, advertising, and other branding expenses including Ministry logos.
Given its recent establishment, this should cover the entire period the Ministry has existed.
Our decision to extend this request
On 23 October 2024, we extended your request in accordance with section 15A(1)(a) of the OIA, due
to your request requiring us to search through a large quantity of official information. At that stage
you requested that we reconsider our extension.
As we advised you on 24 October 2024, we considered the extension to be reasonable at that time,
after considering the time needed to col ate, assess, prepare and provide the information to you.
We also needed to consider the resourcing the Ministry had available to carry out the work
necessary to col ate this information and make a decision in releasing it to you.
There were a number of factors that led us to conclude that an extension to 29 November 2024 was
required, many of them related to our status as a new Ministry in the process of setting up systems
and processes and recruiting to our permanent structure. These included:
• Our Ministerial Services team, which is responsible for responding to OIA requests along
with several other functions, has been managing large volumes of requests and other
work.
• As a small Ministry that is stil in the process of recruiting to our permanent structure, we
have a limited number of staff members who have access and training to carry out the
col ation required to respond to your request.
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• Prior to extending your request, our Ministerial Services team were advised that fulfilling
your request would require a significant amount of time, and that a member of the team
would need to be given access and training to the Ministry’s finance system in order to
search through individual invoices and identify those in scope of your request.
• Based on this information, 29 November 2024 was our best estimate of the date by which
we could be confident we could carry out these steps, col ate the information you have
requested, and make and communicate a decision on your request.
Since the date we extended your request, we have received further advice indicating a more
efficient way to carry out this col ation work and have been able to arrange for a staff member from
another part of the Ministry to assist us with this work without interfering with other Ministry
operations. As a result, we have been able to respond sooner than we originally expected.
Information released
The invoices you have requested are attached as Appendix One. Most of the invoices are for
hospitality expenditure for internal Ministry events or engagement with external stakeholders.
The only invoices in scope of the second part of your request were for signage, specifically the
wayfinding signage to indicate the area the Ministry currently occupies within Public Service
Commission office space. Al Ministry branding was developed internally at no cost, and we do not
have branded stationery.
Phone numbers and bank accounts of Ministry staff members have been redacted from these
documents under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA, to protect the privacy of natural persons. The
identification numbers of charge accounts used to make purchases for the Ministry have been
redacted under section 9(2)(k) of the OIA, to prevent the use of this information for improper gain
or advantage.
Right of review
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please contac
t [Ministry for Regulation request email].
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.
Please note that we may publish this response (with your details removed) on the Ministry for
Regulation website.
Ngā mihi
Aisling Risdon
Head of Ministerial Services
Ministry for Regulation
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