Acupuncture Treatment Subsidies
Daniel Ryan made this Official Information request to Ministry of Social Development
The request was successful.
From: Daniel Ryan
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
The Acupuncture NZ website claims that your organisation subsidises acupuncture treatments for staff, as can be seen on this web page:
http://www.acupuncture.org.nz/content/ac...
I would like to know the following:
Going back as many years as is practically possible, how much has your organisation spent, for each year, subsidising acupuncture treatment for staff members.
Are there any other “alternative” treatments that your organisation subsidises for employees? If so, how much has been spent per year on each? For this question, “alternative treatments” includes, but is not restricted to, chiropractic, osteopathy and homeopathy. For a full list of alternative medicine treatments, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fo...
I can confirm that I am a New Zealand citizen, and as such I am eligible to make Official Information Act requests.
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Ryan
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tēnā koe Mr Daniel Ryan
Thank you for your email received 17 June 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
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From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Dear Mr Ryan,
On 17 June 2016 you emailed the Ministry requesting, under the Official
Information Act 1982, information regarding acupuncture treatment
subsidies.
This e-mail confirms that the Ministry will be providing you with a
breakdown of acupuncture, chiropractor and osteopath costs for the past
five financial years.
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
Ministerial & Executive Services Advisor
Official & Parliamentary Information | Ministry of Social Development | Te
Manatu Whakahiato Ora
8th Floor | Bowen State Building | PO Box 1556
Wellington | New Zealand
------------------------------- This email and any attachments may contain
information that is confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you
are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or
duplication of this email and attachments is prohibited. If you have
received this email in error please notify the author immediately and
erase all copies of the email and attachments. The Ministry of Social
Development accepts no responsibility for changes made to this message or
attachments after transmission from the Ministry.
-------------------------------
From: Daniel Ryan
To whom it may concern
My OIA request is 10 days late, has there been any updates on this?
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Ryan
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Dear Mr Ryan,
As per my previous e-mail, you have been advised of the Ministry's approach to your request including what information we will be providing. This satisfies our obligations under section 15(1) of the Official Information Act. The response is currently in the sign out stage and will be provided to you as soon as practicably possible. You can expect to receive a response in due course.
Kind Regards
Ministerial & Executive Services Advisor
Official & Parliamentary Information | Ministry of Social Development | Te Manatu Whakahiato Ora
8th Floor | Bowen State Building | PO Box 1556
Wellington | New Zealand
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From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tēnā koe Mr Daniel Ryan
Please find attached the Ministry's response to your Official Information Act request
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
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Mark Hanna left an annotation ()
"As per my previous e-mail, you have been advised of the Ministry's approach to your request including what information we will be providing. This satisfies our obligations under section 15(1) of the Official Information Act."
This is not true, and the Ministry of Social Development is not meeting its obligations under the Official Information Act. Section 15A(1) of the OIA makes it clear that it is a requirement of time extensions (past the original 20 working days since receipt of the request required as per section 15(1)) that:
"The notice effecting the extension shall—
(a) specify the period of the extension; and
(b) give the reasons for the extension"
This has not been done in this case.
Link to this