FINANCE AND EXPENDITURE COMMITTEE 2018/19 Estimates Examination Vote Oranga Tamariki Standard Estimates Questionnaire Questions 1-22 1
Standard Estimates Questionnaire 2018/19 The outcomes that the Vote aims to achieve 1. Which agencies will be using funds from this Vote, and who are the responsible Ministers? Vote Oranga Tamariki is administered by Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children. No other agencies incur expenditure under this Vote. The Minister responsible for appropriations in the Vote is the Minister for Children. 2. What outcomes does the Vote aim to achieve? The overarching purpose of this appropriation is to ensure New Zealand's children and young people in our care or with the highest need have positive outcomes. The appropriations within the Vote are intended to achieve/enable: Appropriation Category What is intended to be achieved Multi-Category Appropriation Prevention An improvement in the wellbeing and resilience of communities containing children and young people requiring extra support, and a reduction in the escalation of need Early and Intensive Intervention An improvement in the wellbeing of children, young people, and their families who exhibit needs requiring extra support Statutory Intervention and Transition An improvement in wellbeing and outcomes for children and young people receiving, or transitioning from, statutory placement Supporting and Developing Providers and Services An increase in provider capacity and capability, and effective monitoring and management of contracted services Non-Departmental Output Expenses Connection and Advocacy Services Reduced isolation for children and young people in care by connecting them with each other, promoting their individual and collective voice and building their leadership Reducing Youth Reoffending Social Bond A reduction in reoffending by children and young people Departmental Capital Expenditure Capital Expenditure PLA The replacement or upgrade of assets in support of the delivery of the Ministry's services Departmental Output Expenses Adoption Services The legal adoption of children by approved parents and to provide access to 2
information on adoptions Data, Analytics and Evidence Services An increase in evidence-based decision making Evaluation and Auditing Expenses for Reducing Youth Reoffending Social Bond Pilot Effective and efficient evaluations and audits of the Reducing Youth Reoffending Social Bond Pilot Ministerial Services Efficient and effective ministerial services to support Ministers to discharge their portfolio responsibilities Policy Advice High quality policy decisions in relation to vulnerable children and young people Supporting Equitable Pay for Care and Support Workers Additional costs of worker hours resulting from the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017 3. What does each of the agencies funded by the Vote contribute to these outcomes? The contributions made by Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children are documented in the Ministry s Strategic Intentions 2017-2022. 4. Sometimes more than one Vote or department is working towards the same outcome. Where this is happening, explain which other Votes and/or departments are involved (in working towards the same outcome), what resources they will be using and how, and how results will be reported. Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children works with a number of agencies to achieve its outcomes. This landscape will be impacted by the adoption of a Child Wellbeing Strategy and Oranga Tamariki Action Plan, which are required under the Child Poverty Reduction Bill, currently before the Social Services and Community Committee. If adopted into legislation, the Child Wellbeing Strategy will be developed in 2018/2019. It must identify outcomes sought and action to be taken by government in relation to child wellbeing, and will drive action across government. The Strategy must identify the outcomes sought for all children, but also for those children with greater needs, children in poverty and experiencing socio-economic disadvantage and children of concern and interest to Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children. The legislative requirement for a Government child well-being strategy requires governments to make a commitment to ensure all children in New Zealand thrive. The requirement for a strategy provides a key opportunity for governments to establish their long-term vision for all children s wellbeing, backed by specific policies to improve outcomes for children living in poverty or more general socio-economic disadvantage, and to measure the impacts of programmes to assist them. The Bill requires chief executives of children s agencies to develop an Oranga Tamariki Action Plan, which sets out how they will work together to achieve the outcomes for children of concern and interest to Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children that are set out in the Strategy and to improve their wellbeing more generally. 3
The Bill contains reporting requirements in relation to both the Child Wellbeing Strategy and the Oranga Tamariki Action Plan. The Minister responsible for the Strategy is required to publicly report annually on the achievement of outcomes sought by the Strategy. In relation to the Oranga Tamariki Action Plan, chief executives must report jointly on implementation on an annual basis to the Minister responsible for the plan. Significant changes to expenditure under the Vote 5. Please describe the most significant factors (including social, environmental, or economic) that have affected the type and amount of the appropriations sought under the Vote in 2018/19. The appropriations sought in Budget 2018 reflect the on-going transformation of the Ministry s operating model designed to meet policy and legislative requirements and the needs of children, young people, and families who require support and the associated operating cost pressures. 6. What is planned for significant capital expenditure and investment, including information system investments, for 2018/19 and out-years? How will this capital expenditure and investment be funded? How does the level of planned capital expenditure and investment differ from 2017/18, and why? What, if any, delays or curtailment of capital projects/investment have there been, why, and what is the expected impact on service delivery? What is planned for significant capital expenditure and investment, including information system investments, for 2018/19 and out-years? 2018/19 ($000) 2019/20 ($000) 2020/21 ($000) 2021/22 ($000) Care & Protection and Youth Justice Residences 6,700 13,490 Information Technology 217 10,000 15,000 1,000 Other 8,010 9,250 9,250 8,250 Grand Total 14,927 32,740 24,250 9,250 Legislative changes to the 2017 Oranga Tamariki Act to include 17 year olds in the Youth Justice System will require significant changes to our secure residences and homes. An appropriation has been received in the 2018 Budget to develop a business case to inform a Budget 2019 bid. Currently cost estimates are being calculated and will form part of a Budget 2019 initiative for capital funding. CYRAS, Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children s case management system requires upgrading. Operating funding has been received in Budget 2018 to cover the cost of remediating the system for the short term and will be the subject of capital initiatives as part of Budget 2019. Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children is currently in the process of restoring the general state of its Residences 1 that had deteriorated over time and modifying the physical environment to be more conducive to working with young people. How will this capital expenditure and investment be funded? 1 Relates to both Youth Justice and Care and Protection Residences. 4
A capital injection will be required in relation to Raising the Age of Youth Justice subject to the business case determining forecasted costs. This will be included for consideration as part of Budget 2019. A capital injection will be required for the replacement of CYRAS and will be included for consideration as part of Budget 2019. The restoration of the physical environments of our Residences is being funded from using existing capital funding on a greatest need basis. How does the level of planned capital expenditure and investment differ from 2017/18, and why? Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children is funded to implement the Digital Workplace Programme (DWP) at a cost of $7.5m in 2017/18. The DWP is an initiative that aims to deliver a modern digital workplace for Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children. This will enable staff to better engage, inspire, motivate and increase their effectiveness, mobility and productivity in supporting vulnerable children and their families. What, if any, delays or curtailment of capital projects/investment have there been, why, and what is the expected impact on service delivery? Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children have had to prioritise limited capital funding. Without significant investment supported by new funding, Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children will struggle to meet Legislative and operational requirements. Our Family Home and Residence asset base has been heavily under-invested in historically. This cost has meant that the Ministry has had to re-prioritise funds earmarked for investments for the future to replacing worn out assets. 7. Is the department administering the Vote planning to enter into any significant as a service arrangements (for example, software as a service, business process as a service, infrastructure as a service ) in 2018/19 and out-years? How will these be funded and what effect will they have on the appropriations in the Vote? The Digital Workplace project will require us to enter into as-a-service arrangements using Department for Internal Affairs led All-of-Government common capabilities (e.g. Telecommunications-as-a-service). Associated funding was approved as part of Budget 2017. 8. What are the financial risks relating to this Vote? How will any financial risks that have been identified be monitored and managed? General risks: Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children was established on 1 April 2017 with a new operating model to be implemented over the next few years and an expanded focus and target group and new obligations from associated legislation. The Ministry also faces major business as usual cost pressures associated with its current operating model. To the extent that these additional costs cannot be funded from current baselines, contingencies set aside for the Ministry, or reprioritisation, additional funding is likely to be required. 5
Legislatively-driven risks: Changes to the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 coming into effect no later than 1 July 2019 extend the scope of the Youth Justice system to include most 17 year olds. This will increase the operating costs of the Service and require additional residential bed capacity (with associated capital costs). The Ministry has funding for 2 years ending 30 June 2019 to pilot community-based remand initiatives. While these initiatives are designed to take pressure off residential beds, the Ministry still needs to build extra bed capacity to deal with increasing demand and the expected impact of legislative changes. Developing new services for those aged 18-25: Legislative changes coming into effect no later than 1 July 2019 will extend the scope of Ministry s services for young people aged 18-25. These changes include: an entitlement to remain in or return to care for those aged 18-21; provision of advice and assistance to young people until age 25; and a duty on the chief executive to remain in contact until age 21. The cost of meeting these new obligations depends on the operating model and the level of demand for care and support services. 9. What is the responsible Minister expecting regarding efficiency savings under this Vote in 2018/19? Where are those savings expected to be found? Please indicate how the funds saved are intended to be used (for example will they be returned to the Crown, or reinvested, and if so, in what). There is no expectation of efficiency savings under this Vote in 2018/19 due to policy settings, legislative changes, and establishment costs associated with a new Department. 10. Please explain briefly what significant changes affect this Vote for 2018/19, and the reasons for them, including the following: a. new policies or outputs b. discontinued policies or outputs i. why they have been discontinued; ii. the exit strategy and cost of exiting any discontinued or re-prioritised policies or outputs; and iii. the effect this is expected to have on the agency's ability to achieve its outcomes. c. policies or outputs that have changed from the previous year (for example, any policies that have been reprioritised or refocused; increased or decreased outputs) d. any new or discontinued multi-category appropriations Additional funding was approved as part of Budget 2018 including: 17 year olds in the Youth Justice System - $12.198m Families Package - $5.673m increasing participation in Family Group conferences - $2.2m business as usual and ICT cost pressures - $37.840m. 6
In addition there are changes to funding as result of the drawdown of the previously approved Budget Contingency of $18.55m. Other than this, policies and outputs are consistent with the previous year. e. increases or decreases of 10 percent or $10 million (whichever is less), in the amount of appropriations. Where appropriations have decreased, please explain what effect this is likely to have on the department administering the Vote and the agencies that receive or use the funds Increases or decreases which have occurred for Statutory Intervention and Transition Services include: Increased funding of $12.198m for Youth Justice to meet new legislative requirements to include 17 year olds in the Youth Justice system ICT costs increase of $10.240m for information system platform remediation work and ongoing operating costs Out of home placements - $21.989m increase to fund expected increases in out of home placement volumes to December 2018. f. any funds carried forward or transferred from previous appropriations (this should cover transfers from 2016/17 to 2017/18 as well as transfers from 2017/18 to 2018/19) A total of $4.901m funding transferred from 2016/17 to 2017/18 as follows: Transformation Programme Digital Workplace Programme ($4.000m) ($0.901m) ($4.901m) A total of $10.738m in time limited funding transferred from 2017/18 to 2018/19 at March Baseline Update; as follows: 2017/18 2018/19 Access to services trial ($2.900m) $2.900m Family Start evaluation ($0.095m) $0.095m Caregiver information and support system evaluation ($0.619m) $0.619m Child Centred Feedback, Insights and Complaints Mechanism ($0.440m) $0.440m Digital Workplace programme ($5.000m) $5.000m First Technology Enhancements and Future Technology Design ($1.684m) $1.684m ($10.738m) $10.738m g. any changes to staffing levels in the 2018/19 financial year and out-years, including: 7
i. full-time-equivalent staff ii. total head-count iii. numbers and percentages of staff defined as front-line staff (those who provide a service directly to the public for a significant rather than an occasional part of their duties) and back-office staff (those whose role is mainly to provide corporate support services to others within the department). Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children was established as a new Ministry on 1 April 2017. At this time the Ministry began its five year programme of transformational change which included standing up the new Ministry as well as continued recruitment to the new structure and establishing a new senior leadership team. We are continuing to shape our plans for building capability, including staff capability, corporate capability and systems. Our focus continues to be on filling frontline vacancies as a matter of priority including roles to support legislative changes such as Raising the Age. As at 31 March 2018 there were 3,677.6 full time equivalent (FTE) permanent and fixed term staff employed by the Ministry (3,806 headcount). This compares to 30 April 2017 when there were 3,296.9 FTE permanent and fixed term staff employed by the Ministry (3,410 headcount). Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children has no reason to categorise staff into discrete frontline and back office categories, nor has it been asked to do so by the Government or the State Services Commission. However, in accordance with the Vulnerable Children s Act 2014, Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children does distinguish between those who are Children s Workers 2 and those who do not have direct contact with children in their role and provide support to Children s Workers. As at 31 March 2018, Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children had 3,008.6 FTEs (a headcount of 3,120 or 82 percent) in Children s Workers roles. 3 There were a further 669.0 FTEs (a headcount of 686 or 18 percent) in roles providing support to Children s Workers. 11. Are any changes planned for 2018/19 in the use of external resources (such as consultants, leased executives, advisers, or contractors) to provide the administering department s outputs (that is, deliver its services to its customers)? If so, please advise: a. the nature and size (both in percentage terms and nominally) of the changes that are planned; b. the reason for the changes; and c. why internal resources cannot be used. Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children continues to go through significant change that requires the use of external specialised expertise. We have been working on building and growing our internal capability and capacity over the last 12 months and will continue to purchase external resources where it makes sense such as short-term specialist knowledge and access to international experience. 2 This includes Core and Non-Core Children s Workers 3 Please note that these figures include fixed term and permanent staff but exclude casual staff 8
12. Is the department administering this Vote reviewing, or intending to review, any legislation for which it is responsible? If so: a. What changes to legislation are proposed, and why? b. If the review is because of policy changes, please specify the policy areas and changes being considered. c. How would the proposed legislative change affect the appropriations within this Vote? d. What effect is it expected to have on any other Vote? Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children is not proposing to review its legislation in the upcoming 12 months. There may be some minor technical amendments made to the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 via an Oranga Tamariki (Remedial Matters) Amendment Bill. Any proposals will be in the nature of technical corrections or amendments, rather than legislative review. Crown entities funded under the Vote ( Crown entities includes Public Finance Act Schedule 4A companies as well as Crown entities as defined in the Crown Entities Act.) 13. For any Crown entities funded by the Vote: a. If any significant changes in funding Crown entities are proposed in the Estimates, how are they expected to affect the services produced or provided? b. What changes, if any, have been made to performance information for appropriations used by Crown entities under this Vote? c. Are there any particular performance risks or concerns for the 2018/19 year? d. How will the performance of the Crown entities be monitored to make sure that the risks are well managed? There are no Crown Entities funded under Vote Oranga Tamariki. 14. What specific expectations has the responsible Minister communicated to each of the Crown entities funded under the Vote? If no expectations have been set, please explain why. Please describe in detail any specific human-resource, financial, or operational issues or risks that may arise in meeting these expectations. How will these be managed? There are no Crown Entities funded under Vote Oranga Tamariki. Capability of agencies to deliver outputs 15. What specific risks and challenges (in order of significance) to the capability of agencies delivering outputs under this Vote have been identified? What action is being taken to manage these challenges? Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children has previously advised the Committee that it is taking targeted action to respond to risks and challenges to capability, including: Increasing social worker capacity recruiting more social workers 9
Improving the capability of new social workers through a newly implemented Practice Framework Improving supervision through a practice supervision framework, supported by a new targeted learning and development package for all supervisors A leadership programme focused on values based leadership, leading through others, collaboration, working with complexity and change, and leading with impact. A focus on building our capability continues. As signalled in our Statement of Intentions, we have also given priority to developing partnerships and increasing the number of placements. Investment over the coming year in building and developing the underlying infrastructure and systems will also support the delivery of outputs. 16. What staff groups have you identified as being critical to the delivery of essential core services under the Vote? What risks are there to capability in these critical areas? Please provide information about the level of risk to this capability. The Social Work role at Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children has been identified as critical to meeting our vision, purpose and focus which is to value the well-being of tamariki above all else and to ensure that all tamariki are in loving whānau and communities where oranga tamariki can be realised. In our first year we have focused on recruitment to this role in an effort to ensure that we have people in the right places and enough of them. This means we can now focus more on quality practice. 17. For those agencies involved in the Canterbury rebuild/regeneration, what particular challenges and priorities have been identified? As a newly established Ministry, Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children has not been involved in the Canterbury rebuild/regeneration. 18. How have any mergers and machinery-of-government or other structural changes made in 2017/18 affected the Vote? Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children has not been involved in any mergers and machinery-of-government or other structural changes. 19. Are any of the agencies funded under the Vote considering or developing any plans to a. enter into any kind of: i. collective or joint procurement ii. shared services arrangements? b. form or enter into any type of joint venture or public-private partnership? c. access external equity? In each case, please provide details. Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children, upon establishment in April 2017, entered into a shared services agreement with the Ministry of Social Development. Services under this arrangement that are provided by third 10
parties are subject to joint procurement. No further arrangements have been made for joint procurement or shared services; however the Ministry is considering opportunities with other Ministries for the collective procurement of social services for families. Consistent with public sector practice, Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children is a participating agency in a number of All-of-Government contracts and agreements, such as for printing, travel, stationery, and motor vehicle and fuel purchase. Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children has also entered into a partnership, in the form of a social bond, designed to reduce youth reoffending in South Auckland. Further details are outlined below (Question 20). Other information 20. Would you like to bring to the committee s attention any other matters relating to your Vote that have not been described in the Estimates documents, in your Budget press statements, or in response to other questions in this questionnaire? Please give details. As mentioned above (Question 19), Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children has accepted responsibility for managing a social bond, designed to reduce youth reoffending in South Auckland. The social bond, launched in September 2017, will run for six years and is a partnership between the NZ Government and Genesis Youth Trust. The total investment of the bond is $6 million with a reach of 1,000 young people over the six year duration. The bond sits within Vote Oranga Tamariki but the Ministry is only responsible for administering the bond on behalf of Treasury. Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children has responsibility for verifying that the social bond outcomes have been achieved prior to dividends being paid out to investors. 21. Please provide an electronic copy of each output plan drawn up between you (or an agent) and a department and/or other party for the supply of outputs for the 2018/19 year related to this Vote. If output plans have not yet been finalised, and you prefer not to provide draft plans, please let us know the timetable for finalising these and provide an electronic copy of each output plan as it is completed. Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children does not have an Output Plan. All key information on appropriations and expenses are contained in the 2018/19 Vote Oranga Tamariki Estimates of Appropriations. 22. Please provide hard copies of the 4-year plan for each agency funded under this Vote. Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children does not have a traditional 4 year plan but is currently working with the Treasury on the timing and requirements for the creation of a 4 year plan in the future. It has, however, a range of planning documents and information available on its website including its Strategic Intentions document. 11