23 June 2025
Tēnā koe Nigel McFall
Official Information Act request
Thank you for your email of 9 April 2025, requesting a breakdown of funding paid
in Canterbury across three financial years, by provider type and amount.
I have considered your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
Please find my decision on each part of your request set out separately below.
Question 1. I am seeking FY 22/23 and FY23/24 funding provided to organisations
based in the Canterbury region, specifically for:
a. Housing-related support (emergency, transitional, tenancy-related)
On 6 May 2025, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),
transferred the emergency housing related aspect of your request to the Ministry
as it was more closely aligned with our functions. The part that HUD transferred
to the Ministry is responded to as part of the Ministry’s response to this question.
Please refer to
Appendix, Table One Which provides the funding amounts for
Housing Services in the Canterbury Region for financial years 2022/23 and
2023/24.
b. Food security (foodbanks, community food delivery or meal programmes)
The Ministry’s Food Secure Communities programme supports a national and
regional food distribution infrastructure to increase vulnerable communities’ access
to affordable, nutritious food.
Food Secure Communities’ grants awarded to providers and hubs in the date range
you requested are publicly available on the Ministry’s website:
www.msd.govt.nz/what-we-can-do/community/food-secure-
communities/community-food-response-funding.html. The lists include community food providers in the Canterbury region by financial
year for all funding rounds. The Ministry’s webpage on Food Secure Communities
also provides information about its overall funding and purpose:
www.msd.govt.nz/what-we-can-do/community/food-secure-
communities/index.html
The Aurora Centre, 56 The Terrace, PO Box 1556, Wellington
– Telephone 04-916 3300 – Facsimile 04-918 0099
link to page 2
Specific rounds for the financial years you requested include:
• 2022/23
The
Community
Food
Response
Extension
Fund:
www.msd.govt.nz/documents/what-we-can-do/community/food-secure-
communities/community-food-response-extension.pdf
• 2023/24
The
Community
Food
Provider
Fund
2023-2024:
www.msd.govt.nz/documents/what-we-can-do/community/food-secure-
communities/community-food-provider-fund-2023.pdf
• 2023/24 Community Food Hub Fund:
www.msd.govt.nz/documents/what-
we-can-do/community/food-secure-communities/community-food-hub-
fund-2023.pdf
• 2024/25 Puta Ora Food Security Fund:
www.msd.govt.nz/documents/what-
we-can-do/community/food-secure-communities/puta-ora-security-fund.pdf
Please note
Appendix, Table Two which also provides this funding information
for Food Secure Services in the Canterbury region for financial years 2022/23,
2023/24, and 2024/25
.1
The Ministry recognises that giving children a great start to the day supports their
educational and social wellbeing. As at 31 December 2024, there were 125 schools
participating in the KickStart Breakfast in Canterbury, against a national total of
1463 schools. More information about the KickStart Breakfast programme can be
found at the following publicly availably link:
www.kickstartbreakfast.co.nz/.
c. Cost-of-living or poverty alleviation initiatives
We have interpreted this part of your request as seeking information about the
Ministry’s Building Financial Capability (BFC) funding. BFC are a range of Ministry-
funded services and products that help people and whānau to improve their
financial wellbeing. BFC takes a strengths-based approach to empower people to
get control of their money, set goals and achieve long-term, sustainable change.
The main BFC services available in Canterbury include:
• Core services - comprising financial mentors, one-on-one service focused on
helping individuals and whānau with their finances and MoneyMates support
groups
• Building Financial Capability Plus - intensive support for people with complex
needs.
Please see the attached
Appendix, Table Three which provides funding amounts
for BFC in the Canterbury region for financial years 2022/23 and 2023/24. You can
find more information on BFC services at the Ministry’s publicly available website:
www.msd.govt.nz/what-we-can-do/providers/building-financial-
capability/index.html.
1 Please note this table includes some grants (Contract name: Protection Framework Food
Support COVID 19) that were initially awarded in financial year 2021/2022 and continued into
2022/2023. These have not been published on our website. These grants were to enable
community providers to provide a responsive and efficient food pack service to people and
households isolating with COVID-19.
d. Wraparound community services meeting essential needs
The Community Connection Service was established in June 2020. Community
Connectors complement the wider welfare approach by providing short-term
support to people and whānau, advocating and helping people access a range of
services including welfare, social, mental health services and employment. Further
information on the service, including current Community Connection Services is
available on the Ministry’s publicly available website:
www.msd.govt.nz/what-we-
can-do/community/community-connection-service/index.html. Please see the
Appendix, Table Four which provides funding amounts for
Community Connection Services in the Canterbury region for financial years
2022/23 and 2023/24.
Question 2. Can I please also request the forecasted or budgeted funding for the
2024/2025 financial year.
a. Housing-related support (emergency, transitional, tenancy-related)
Please refer to
Appendix, Table One Which provides the funding amounts for
Housing Services in the Canterbury Region for financial year 2024/25.
b. Food security (foodbanks, community food delivery or meal programmes)
The funding and details of Community Food Security Initiatives Fund 2024/25 are
publicly available on the Ministry’s website:
www.msd.govt.nz/documents/what-
we-can-do/community/food-secure-communities/community-food-security-
initiatives-fund-2024-2025.pdf . The main page of the Food Secure Communities
Programme details the purpose and scope of this Fund, we are providing the link
to the main page here:
www.msd.govt.nz/what-we-can-do/community/food-
secure-communities/index.html.
Please note
Appendix, Table Two which provides funding amounts for Food
Secure Services in the Canterbury region for financial year 2024/25.
c. Cost-of-living or poverty alleviation initiatives
We have interpreted this part of your request as seeking information about the
Ministry’s BFC funding. Please see the attached
Appendix, Table Five which
provides funding amounts for BFC in the Canterbury region for financial year
2024/25.
d. Wraparound community services meeting essential needs
During the financial year 2022/2023, there were up to 500 Community Connectors
across the country. In May 2023, the Government announced funding to retain
100 Community Connectors (of the existing 500 FTE) for two years. In addition,
funding was approved through the North Island Weather Events (NIWE) package
for 65 Connectors to be retained for one year in regions impacted by NIWE. The
reduction in total Community Connector FTE across the country impacted the
number of Community Connectors in each Ministry region, including the
Canterbury region, in financial year 2023/24.
In March 2024 the government made a decision to reduce the Community
Connection Service from 100 to 50 Community Connectors from 1 July 2024. From
1 July 2024, the Community Connection Service provision has focused on areas
most affected by the North Island weather events (Northland, Auckland, East
Coast, Hawke’s Bay, and Thames/Coromandel). As a result of the overall reduction
in FTE and the approach to target service provision to those impacted areas, the
remaining 50 Community Connector FTE were allocated to these regions. No
Community Connector FTEs were allocated to the Canterbury region. More
information is available on the Ministry’s publicly available website:
www.msd.govt.nz/what-we-can-do/community/community-connection-
service/index.html.
Priority areas or themes
The Ministry’s investment in social services is based on identified need and aligns
to the Government priorities, including Target 4 (reduced violent crime), Target 5
(fewer people on the Jobseeker Benefit), and Target 8 (fewer people in emergency
housing). More information about the targets can be found on the Ministry’s
publicly
available
website:
www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-
work/newsroom/2024/msds-targets-for-the-next-five-years.html. I will be publishing this decision letter, with your personal details deleted, on the
Ministry’s website in due course.
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[MSD request email]. If you are not satisfied with my decision on your request, 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
pp.
Anna Graham
General Manager
Ministerial and Executive Services
