[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]
Phillip Fry
[FYI request #34127 email]
9 April 2026
Tēnā koe Phillip
OIA: 47297 – Decision to proceed with SMART after Treasury concerns
Thank you for your email of 17 March 2026 to the Ministry of Education (the Ministry)
requesting the following information:
“Copies of any records documenting the decision to proceed with the SMART
(Student Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting Tool) programme after
concerns were raised by Treasury during development of the business case.
This request follows recent written parliamentary questions and released
Treasury material referring to those concerns.
This request includes any documents recording approval, sign-off, or
agreement to continue the programme, including decision papers, briefings,
emails, meeting notes, risk or mitigation documents, or updates to the
business case.
For the avoidance of doubt, this request is for all recorded information held by
the Ministry of Education relating to the decision to proceed and is not limited
to formal written advice”.
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
The Ministry is not aware of the source you are referring to regarding Treasury’s
concerns. We have interpreted your request to mean information held by the Ministry,
documenting the formal decision to proceed with the Student Monitoring,
Assessment and Reporting Tool (SMART).
The Ministry’s decision to proceed with SMART was documented through formal,
official channels rather than informal communications and as such, no emails or
meeting notes were identified as in scope of this request. I am therefore refusing
these aspects of your request under section 18(e) of the Act, as the requested
information does not exist.
We have identified one decision paper in scope of your request. On 17 February
2025, Cabinet approved the Business Case for the new Standardised Tool for
Wellington – National Office, PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140
Phone: +64 4 463 8000
education.govt.nz
[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]
[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]
Assessment and Aromatawai project. The Cabinet Minute of Decision to
proceed
with SMART can be found within the proactively released Cabinet Pack (on Page
151) at:
https://web-assets.education.govt.nz/s3fs-public/2026-03/Cabinet Pack -
Establishing a new standardised
tool_Redacted_0.pdf?VersionId=h4gLPqajurvR8Cjn1c0RZxcJN3VJHYg6
I am therefore refusing this aspect of your request under section 18(d) of the Act as
the information requested is publicly available.
Please note, we may publish this response on our website after five working days.
Your name and contact details will be removed.
Thank you again for your email.
You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision on your request, in
accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152,
Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Antony Harvey
General Manager (Acting)
Te Poutāhū | Curriculum Centre
education.govt.nz
Page 2 of 2
OIA: GEMS-47297
[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]
