Information relating to reductions of the rates of benefits for sole parents under Section 70a of the Social Security Act
Jonathan King made this Official Information request to Ministry of Social Development
The request was partially successful.
From: Jonathan King
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
I am writing to request information relating to the reductions of the rates of benefits for sole parents under Section 70a of the Social Security Act.
Specifically I am requesting:
1. The number of sole parents currently subject to reductions in the rates of their benefit payments under Section 70a of the Social Security Act, broken down by total number and percentage according to:
(a) Gender
(b) Age
(c) Ethnicity
(c) How many reductions are currently applied to that sole parent's benefit payments under Section 70a
(d) Whether 70a(5) has been applied (a further $6 reduction per week)
(e) Which clause in 70a(2) has been applied (a, b, or c)
(f) As a percentage of sole parents currently receiving one of the benefit payments listed in 70a(1)(b)
2. The number of cases in the last 12 months in which reductions under Section 70a(2) have not been applied, or reductions have been stopped, as a result of reference to the clauses in 70a(3). Please break these down by total number and percentage according to which clause has been applied (a, b, ba, bb, or c).
Yours faithfully,
Jonathan King
Secretary
Auckland Action Against Poverty
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tēnā koe Jonathan King
Thank you for your email received 12 April 2016, under the Official Information Act 1982. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officials at National office to respond. You may expect a response to be sent to you as soon as possible.
Nā mātou noa, nā
Official and Parliamentary Information team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake
show quoted sections
From: Thomas Fleming
Ministry of Social Development
Dear Mr King
On 12 April 2016 you emailed the Ministry requesting, under the Official
Information Act 1982, the following information:
· The number of sole parents currently subject to reductions in
the rates of their benefit payments under Section 70a of the Social
Security Act, broken down by total number and percentage according to:
(a) Gender
(b) Age
(c) Ethnicity
(c) How many reductions are currently applied to that sole parent's
benefit payments under Section 70a
(d) Whether 70a(5) has been applied (a further $6 reduction per week)
(e) Which clause in 70a(2) has been applied (a, b, or c)
(f) As a percentage of sole parents currently receiving one of the benefit
payments listed in 70a(1)(b)
o The number of cases in the last 12 months in which reductions under
Section 70a(2) have not been applied, or reductions have been stopped,
as a result of reference to the clauses in 70a(3). Please break these
down by total number and percentage according to which clause has been
applied (a, b, ba, bb, or c).
This email confirms that the Ministry has identified the information in
scope of your request and will respond accordingly. This information will
be processed under the Official Information Act. The response will provide
you with six tables which show a breakdown of the number of sole parents
who are subject to a reduction in their rates of benefit under section 70A
of the Social Security Act 1964. The tables provide you with the number of
sole parents with a section 70A child support deduction broken down by
gender, age, ethnicity, the number of deductions, the benefit they receive
and the reasons a reduction has not been applied (exemption).
Please note that information will be withheld under the following sections
of the Official Information Act:
· Section 18(e) of the Official Information Act as this
information does not exist.
· Section 18(f) of the Official Information Act.
A full response will be provided to you as soon as practicably possible.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review of my response by
the Ombudsman, whose address for contact purposes is:
The Ombudsman
Office of the Ombudsman
PO Box 10-152
WELLINGTON 6143
Yours sincerely
Official and Parliamentary Information team | Ministerial and
Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and
independent
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū
motuhake
show quoted sections
From: Jonathan King
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
Thank you for your update.
Just to clarify, you've said that:
"The response will provide you with six tables which show a breakdown of the number of sole parents who are subject to a reduction in their rates of benefit under section 70A of the Social Security Act 1964. The tables provide you with the number of sole parents with a section 70A child support deduction broken down by gender, age, ethnicity, the number of deductions, the benefit they receive and the reasons a reduction has not been applied (exemption)."
It's unclear whether you intend to include the following information in the tables, so just to reiterate, please note that in addition to the breakdowns you have listed I am requesting the information to be broken down by:
* Whether 70a(5) has been applied (a further $6 reduction per week)
* Which clause in 70a(2) has been applied (a, b, or c)
* As a percentage of sole parents currently receiving one of the benefit payments listed in 70a(1)(b)
* The number of cases in the last 12 months in which reductions under Section 70a(2) have not been applied, or reductions have been stopped, as a result of reference to the clauses in 70a(3). Please break these down by total number and percentage according to which clause has been applied (a, b, ba, bb, or c).
In addition to this, I would like to clarify that I am requesting that all the tables and all the information be broken down by gender, age, and ethnicity.
Yours faithfully,
Jonathan King
Secretary
Auckland Action Against Poverty
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tēnā koe Mr Jonathan King
Please find attached the Ministry's response to your Official Information Act request regarding Section 70 reductions for Sole Parents
Nā mātou noa, nā
Official and Parliamentary Information team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake
show quoted sections
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this request