Section 70 of the Social Security Act 1964
Frank Gausden made this Official Information request to Ministry of Social Development
The request was partially successful.
From: Frank Gausden
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
How many New Zealand residents and citizens subject to deductions under Section 70 of the Social Security Act 1964, have (a) applied for, (b) been subsequently granted, and (c) been subsequently refused, either supplementary payments and/or repayable loans for items such as spectacles, teeth, medical expenses and household expenses in each of the years for which records exist?
Are NZ migrants from the UK expected to contact the Department of Social Security in the UK when they need these items?
Yours faithfully,
Frank Gausden
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tēnā koe Mr Frank Gaudsen
Thank you for your email received 18 October 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
Good afternoon Mr Gausden
I would like to discuss your request for information as noted below.
The information you have requested is very broad as you have not specified a date range in which you would like the information provided.
In order to provide you with the information you have requested can you please provide a specific date range.
As you will appreciate, there is a lot of information that would be in scope of your original request and the collation of the data would take a considerable amount of time.
Please feel free to respond to this email if you would like to discuss this request.
Thank you
Thomas
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: Frank Gausden
Dear OIA_Requests (MSD),
Hello Thomas,
The timespan I'd like my request to cover is from when your records required for this matter began (i.e. the time Section 70 became operative), until today.
Thank you for your attention of this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Frank Gausden
From: Thomas Fleming
Ministry of Social Development
Good afternoon Frank,
I would like to apologise for the delay in providing your response, your request for information is in the final stages of being the signed out and will be provided to you as soon as this has been completed.
I would like to advise you that the Ministry will be providing you with data regarding the number of applications received by the Ministry from people who are in receipt of an overseas pension and have been granted or declined Hardship assistance. It is important to note that a single individual may have multiple grants and declines Hardship assistance can be considered for a range of reasons, including spectacles, teeth, medical expenses and certain household expenses.
Thank you for your patience and your response will be with you without any due delay.
Thank you
Thomas
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
Tēnā koe Mr Frank Gaudsen
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
From: Frank Gausden
Dear OIA_Requests (MSD),
Thank you for your reply dated 28th November 2016.
I think there might be a misunderstanding between us as to exactly what information I require.
You say in your reply that the Ministry received 3,889 applications for hardship assistance. Is that the total for the Ministry, or is it the total for those who are having deductions under Section 70?
I'm only interested in those who have had their entitlements reduced under the provisions of Section 70.
What is the number of hardship assistance applications you have had from those who have already been subject to deductions under Section 70?
Further I don't need to know what their hardship assistance was to be spent on. I don't need to know whether it was for teeth or spectacles, etc., so there should be no reason to comb through 77,268 client files. The important aspect is whether there has been hardship assistance granted to some who have been subject to deductions under Section 70.
Yours sincerely,
Frank Gausden
From: Frank Gausden
Dear Thomas Fleming,
I've had only a partial answer, and that was ambiguous, so I've clarified in my reply to them what I actually want and asked them to clarify their reply.
Yours sincerely,
Frank Gausden
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Thank you for your email Mr Gausden
I can confirm that there were 3,889 applications received by the Ministry in the 2015/16 financial year for Hardship Assistance for clients who are in receipt of a deduction pursuant to section 70 of the Social Security Act 1964.
There are 77,268 individuals residing in New Zealand who receive an overseas pension and this was provided to you as a point of reference to show the number of people who receive and overseas pension.
Kind Regards
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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Luke C left an annotation ()
When records began and when the provision came into force are two separate matters. So I guess the Ministry would interpret your request to mean the earlier of the two (i.e. whatever one came first would be the starting point).
Records are only kept for as long as they are required to be kept for a business purpose, in accordance with the retention and disposal schedule for the Ministry. If records were kept back to the 1960s, then they would likely need to recall these records from offsite storage, fish out the relevant records, collate the relevant information into a spreadsheet and email it to you. This would probably amount to substantial collation.
I looked at an historical version (1965-1972) on Westlaw and the basic provision is in there, so the provision goes way back. To definitely know when the provision came into force, I'd have to go to the library and start at the original assent legislation.
I think your best bet is to try and narrow down your date range like the Ministry helpfully suggested. Rather than asking for "since records began" you ar much more likely to get some information, if you ask for what years really matter to you. Otherwise the official has to spend considerable time going back in time to dig the information out from archival sources.
Reference: *http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/publi...
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