DOIA REQ 0010667 James Response.pdf

1 April 2025

Ref: DOIA-REQ-0010667-James

James
Email: [FYI request #30300 email]

Tēnā koe James

Thank you for your email of 4 March 2025 to the Ministry of Business, Innovafion and
Employment (MBIE) requesfing, under the Oﬃcial Informafion Act 1982 (the Act), the fol owing
informafion:

1. What are the terms of reference for the Science advisory group?

2. What was the due date for the groups ﬁnal report?

3. What is the pay for each member in the group?

4. What has each member been paid to date?

5. Do members confinue to be paid if the report is delayed?

6. Are there provisions to ensure the report is delivered within a reasonable fimeframe
and cost?

7. Do members face any scrufiny or repercussions for a lack of delivery?

MBIE can provide answers for the ﬁrst two of your quesfions.

The Terms of Reference for the Science Advisory Group (SSAG) is available on MBIE’s website at:
Terms of reference: Science System Advisory Group. You can ﬁnd the Cabinet Oﬃce Circular
referenced in the Renumerafion secfion of the Terms of Reference at: Cabinet Oﬃce Circular CO
(22) 2: Revised Fees Framework for members appointed to bodies in which the Crown has an
interest - 6 October 2022. This circular won’t speciﬁcal y answer al your quesfions but does
provide the framework for sefting fees.

Part one of your request is therefore declined under secfion 18(d) of the Act that the informafion
requested is or will soon be publicly available.

Regarding part two of your request, as set out in the Terms of Reference the SSAG was tasked
with developing two reports, with the Phase 1 report due by 30 June 2024 and the  Phase 2
report due by 30 October 2024 .

The ﬁrst report was delivered in mid-2024. This focused on issues idenfiﬁed in the current
system, and suggests a future architecture of the science, innovafion and technology system
needed to promote New Zealand’s producfivity and broader social, environmental and economic
future.

It was important that the Government considered recommendafions in this report before the
SSAG started work on a second phase. Further advice is due to MBIE in due course and will
largely focus on funding mechanisms. MBIE currently expects that the ﬁnal report wil  be
delivered in May 2025 and considered in due course.

On 1 April 2025, your remaining quesfions were transferred to Koi Tu, part of Auckland
University. This is because the informafion you have requested is not held by MBIE. Secfion
14(b)(i) of the Act requires MBIE to transfer any request where the informafion is not held, but is
believed to be held by another department, organisafion or Minister of the Crown. You wil
receive a response from Koi Tu in due course.

If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, or if you require any further
assistance, please contact [email address].

You have the right to seek an invesfigafion and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Informafion about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.

Nāku noa, nā

Richard Walley
Policy Director, Science & Space