12 June 2025
Tēnā koe Nic Dorward
Official Information Act request
Thank you for your email of 14 May 2025, requesting information about Benefit
Review Forms. I have interpreted Benefit Review Forms to mean Confirming Your
Circumstances (CYC) form.
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.
2) Do you hold data on how long it takes your staff to process Benefit Review
Forms?
3) Could you please supply the data on the average length of time it takes
staff to process Benefit Review Forms for the whole of New Zealand?
4) Could you please supply the data on the length of time it takes to process
Benefit Review Forms for the Otago Region?
8) Do you hold data on the number of people nationally who have supports
suspended and then reinstated because WINZ realises they do in fact have
the forms in their possession?
9) Please supply the data in relation to question 8.
10) Please supply the data for the whole of New Zealand stating the average
length of time between suspending payments and reinstating them following
people being sent a letter suspending payments.
19) How many people across New Zealand apply for food grants because
their benefits or other supports are suspended despite them returning their
forms on time?
I am refusing the above parts of your request under section 18(f) of the Act, as
substantial manual collation would be required to collate this information. If held,
this information would only be contained within individual client files, which would
each require manual review to respond to your request. The greater public interest
is in the effective and efficient administration of the public service.
I have considered whether the Ministry would be able to respond to your request
given extra time, or the ability to charge for the information requested. I have
concluded that, in either case, the Ministry’s ability to undertake its work would
still be prejudiced.
The Aurora Centre, 56 The Terrace, PO Box 1556, Wellington
– Telephone 04-916 3300 – Facsimile 04-918 0099
18) Please supply any official advice available to WINZ staff to making the
benefit system less punitive.
13) Do you have any official advice for clients whose payments have been
suspended despite returning forms on time?
14) Do you have any official advice to prevent the suspension of payments
when clients have already returned their forms on time?
I am refusing the above parts of your request under section 18(e) of the Act as
this information does not exist.
1) Is there an unspecified timeframe that forms should be returned within
in order for them to be processed in time? If so, what is it?
The Ministry does not have a specified timeframe for when the CYC form should
be returned. However, the Ministry encourages clients to return their completed
form as their earliest convenience, and within the 25-working day timeframe to
allow the completion of processing. If clients believe their forms will not be
received by the Ministry within the 25-working day timeframe, it is recommended
they contact the Ministry so that appropriate measures can be taken to ensure
clients payments are not suspended.
5) Are the letters sent saying supports have been suspended despite forms
being returned autogenerated?
6) Is there a manual or automated system to check whether forms have
been returned before the date specified on the Benefit Review Form before
the letters suspending payments are sent?
The CYC forms are system generated based on the information held by the Ministry
on a client. The Ministry does not have a tracking system to confirm whether the
forms have been returned.
7) If not, are there any upgrades in the planning stages to address this
You may be interested to know that the Ministry has implemented MSD-
services
for the future. This is a multi-year programme to transform how we operate so we
can deliver for New Zealanders and focus our resources and investment on the
people who need it.
The programme will make significant changes to our underlying systems and
introduce redesigned services that put people first. We’ll create better tools and
processes for supporting people into employment, modernise our payment system
and enable better ways of working with our social sector partners. You can find
more information about this Programme from the Ministry’s website here:
www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/te-pae-
tawhiti/index.html.
11) Does a letter stating supplementary supports such as disability
allowance and temporary additional support are suspended because a client
hasn't returned forms in time when in fact they have impact their traffic
light score?
The Traffic Light System is for clients with work-related and/or social obligations,
and is a quick, clear, and easy way for both staff and clients to understand a client’s
compliance with their obligations. Forms relating to DA or TAS are not related to
meeting work or social obligations, and so returning these forms or not will have
no impact on a client’s TLS status.
Furthermore, a client’s supplementary assistance is not affected by the traffic light
system as it is separate from their main benefit work obligations.
12) What is the average wait time for calls to be answered on the general
enquires WINZ line for the months of April and May?
The average speed to answer calls on the Work and Income General Line for the
month of April 2025 was 8 minutes and 28 seconds while it was 7 minutes and 42
seconds for the month of May 2025.
15) Please supply data on suspended disability allowances for the whole of
New Zealand and the number of people who do not get that assistance
reinstated.
16) Please supply data for the whole of New Zealand regarding Temporary
Additional Support suspensions and the number of people who do not get
that support reinstated.
Please refer to the attached
Appendix which provides the following two tables, in
response to the above parts of your request:
•
Table One: Disability Allowance (DA) and Temporary Additional Support
(TAS) suspensions for 'non-renewal of declaration/renewal' during the
period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 by quarter, supplementary, and
reason.
•
Table Two: Disability Allowance (DA) and Temporary Additional Support
(TAS) cancellations for 'non-renewal of declaration/renewal' during the
period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 by quarter, supplementary, and
reason.
It should be noted that the two tables provided in the
Appendix are separate
actions and are not correlated to each other.
17) Are the problems outlined also happening in relation to other forms with
specified dates to return them by? (Such as income review forms).
The Ministry treats all Annual Circumstances letters, Review of Income letters or a
Confirming Your Circumstances form in the same manner regardless of which
payment type they may relate to.
20) What is the official advice for disabled people who are too unwell to use
the phone or come into an office when it comes to resolving an issue such
as suspended payments when said disabled person has returned them on
time?
Individuals are able to appoint someone else to act on their behalf in their dealings
with the Ministry, called an agent. An agent can be verbally appointed for a
temporary period, for example for the duration of an interaction. A form can be
filled out for an agent to act for a longer period. You can find more information on
how to appoint an agent at the following link:
www.workandincome.govt.nz/on-a-
benefit/your-rights-and-responsibilities/having-someone-act-on-your-
behalf.html.
21) If payments such as disability allowance and temporary additional
support have been suspended but not the main benefit, does this indicate
WINZ staff have processed the benefit Review part of the form but not the
disability allowance forms?
Clients who are sent a CYC form will have 25 working days to complete and sign
the form, and provide any relevant verification, otherwise their benefit will
suspend.
If a client is due for a full Disability Allowance (DA) review, the DA medical
certificate and DA costs component will be included with their CYC form. The
Ministry can process applications in part, based on the information provided by the
client.
Where a client provides good and sufficient reasoning that they are unable to have
their full review in a timely manner (for example due to lack of appointments with
a medical practitioner), the Ministry can complete manual workarounds to pay this
until the client is able to complete the required forms.
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
