17 February 2026
Spencer Jones
[FYI request #32744 email]
Tēnā koe Spencer
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00106546
Thank you for your email on 19 December 2025, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
for the following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
I seek clarification and further assistance under sections 13 and 16 of the Official
Information Act in relation to several aspects of the response, as significant analytical gaps
remain.
Risk assessments and business cases
Health NZ indicates that no internal or external evaluations of PPP or outsourcing
performance exist (s 18(e)). Given the scale, duration, and fiscal exposure associated with
hospital infrastructure and outsourced services, please confirm whether:
Any business cases, cost-benefit analyses, Treasury advice, Infrastructure Commission
inputs, or value-for-money assessments exist for:
1. The Hawke’s Bay Linear Accelerator delivery models (capital-funded vs privately
funded); and
2. The Ventia hard-services outsourcing contract.
Capital charges and legacy impacts
The response states that capital charges “have not been abolished,” while also directing me
to annual reports. Public statements since 2019 have repeatedly described a waiver or
removal of DHB capital charges. Please clarify:
3. Health NZ’s interpretation of post-2019 capital charge policy; and
4. Whether any internal analysis exists on the operational or equity impacts of capital
charge settings on hospital maintenance, backlog, or service delivery.
Foreign ownership and data fragmentation
The response notes that Health NZ does not maintain a comprehensive record of foreign
ownership across projects or contracts and refuses this aspect under s 18(g). Please
confirm:
5. Whether Health NZ has ever assessed foreign ownership risks in outsourced clinical
services or infrastructure support contracts; and
6. Whether any procurement, due-diligence, or probity documentation addresses
ownership or control risks, even if not centrally aggregated.
Response
For clarity, we wil address each question in turn.
Any business cases, cost-benefit analyses, Treasury advice, Infrastructure Commission
inputs, or value-for-money assessments exist for:
1. The Hawke’s Bay Linear Accelerator delivery models (capital-funded vs privately
funded); and
2. The Ventia hard-services outsourcing contract.
Health NZ has identified two business cases, for the Hawke’s Bay Linear Accelerator and Ventia
contracts, as in scope of your request. However, at this time, we are withholding these documents
in full under the following sections of the OIA:
• 9(2)(b)(ii) - as, if released, it would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial
position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information.
• 9(2)(j) - to enable Health NZ to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations.
For the Hawke’s Bay Linear Accelerator business case, section 9(2)(f)(iv) also applies, to maintain
the constitutional convention protecting the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers and
officials.
The response states that capital charges “have not been abolished,” while also directing me
to annual reports. Public statements since 2019 have repeatedly described a waiver or
removal of DHB capital charges. Please clarify:
3. Health NZ’s interpretation of post-2019 capital charge policy; and
4. Whether any internal analysis exists on the operational or equity impacts of capital
charge settings on hospital maintenance, backlog, or service delivery.
The capital charge obligation for Health NZ comes from the Crown financial policy as articulated in
the Crown Entities Act 2004 (CEA 2004). As Health NZ inherited the former District Health Boards
(DHBs) when established on 1 July 2022 and operates as a Crown entity, the capital charge policy
continues to apply, as it applied to the former DHBs. The capital charge paid is funded by the
Crown as part of Health NZ’s appropriation revenue.
Capital charge expense for Health NZ is calculated based off the balance sheet Crown Equity
position and is funded as part of funding appropriations. Any deficit resulting from expenditure
being greater than funding reduces the Crown equity balance, thereby also reducing the capital
charge payable for the next period. Any increase in capital charge arising from the impact of Crown
equity drawings for approved major projects, or from asset revaluations, is funded by the Crown.
Analysis of operational and equity impacts of capital charge is completed as part of developing
business cases for proposed investments. For investments that are funded by the Crown, current
capital charge policy settings allow for the capital charge arising from Crown equity funding for
approved projects to be funded by the Crown – in this case capital charge is cost neutral to Health
NZ’s bottom-line and does not impact operations. Overall capital charge impact on operations is
also assessed as part of developing annual budgets for Health NZ.
Regarding your reference to public statements about a waiver or removal of capital charges,
Health NZ has not identified any such statements and is not aware of any change to the Crown
financial policy. Health NZ’s interpretation remains that capital charges have not been abolished
and continue to apply under the CEA 2002. Therefore, this part of your request is refused under
section 18(g) of the OIA, as the information is not held.
5. Whether Health NZ has ever assessed foreign ownership risks in outsourced clinical
services or infrastructure support contracts; and
Health New Zealand contracts with New Zealand incorporated entities in accordance with public
sector procurement requirements. Consistent with the New Zealand Government Procurement
Rules, Health New Zealand does not apply a requirement to assess or restrict suppliers based on
foreign ownership.
As Health NZ does not routinely assess, verify, or record foreign ownership of these entities, we
cannot determine with certainty whether a New Zealand incorporated entity may be partially,
indirectly, or ultimately foreign owned. Accordingly, we have not undertaken assessments of
foreign ownership risks as described. Therefore, this aspect of your request is refused under
section 18(g) of the OIA, as the information is not held by Health NZ.
6. Whether any procurement, due-diligence, or probity documentation addresses
ownership or control risks, even if not centrally aggregated.
We have not identified any procurement, due‑diligence, or probity documentation that addresses
foreign ownership or foreign control risks, except to the extent required to confirm that a supplier is
an eligible entity to contract in New Zealand.
Therefore, this aspect of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the documents
alleged to contain the information requested does not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to locate
it, cannot be found.
No Comprehensive Ownership Dataset
To the extent your request seeks confirmation of foreign ownership across major public‑private
partnerships or outsourced services, Health NZ reiterates that it does not maintain a
comprehensive dataset identifying ownership or control structures of suppliers beyond
New Zealand incorporation status.
Any determination of ultimate ownership would require independent legal or corporate registry
analysis, and the creation of new evaluative information which the OIA does not require. Therefore,
we standby our refusal of 18(g) as the information is not held by Health NZ.
Where information is withheld under section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered the public interest in
releasing the information withheld. I do not consider that the public interest considerations
favouring the release of this information are sufficient to outweigh the harm identified above at this
time.
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at
[email address].
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
by phoning 0800 802 602.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, Health NZ may proactively
release a copy of this response on our website. Al requester data, including your name and
contact details, wil be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Danielle Coe
Manager (OIAs) – Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
