12. Question No. 12—StatisticsREUBEN DAVIDSON (Labour—Christchurch East) to the Minister of StatisticsQuestion No. 12—Statistics12. REUBEN DAVIDSON (Labour—Christchurch East) to the Minister of Statistics: Does he stand by all his statements and actions?Hon CHRIS PENK (Acting Minister of Statistics): On behalf of the Minister yes and yes.Reuben Davidson: Does he agree with Dr Kate Prickett of Victoria University of Wellington that In short the cancellation of the Living in Aotearoa Survey means the government will escape being held to account for how our most vulnerable children are doing."; if not why not?Hon CHRIS PENK: On behalf of the Minister no I do not accept that observation. The Household Economic Survey is being retained whereas it would otherwise have come to an end in 2024. That's a more robust better-quality survey to provide the information that the Government needs on which to base policy decisions in relation to child poverty reduction and other Government aims and also to monitor the effectiveness of those policies going forward.Reuben Davidson: Is he concerned that this cut will limit the Government's ability to track and reduce child poverty?Hon CHRIS PENK: On behalf of the Minister there is no cut and as I've said I do not believe on behalf of the Government that there would be any negative implication in terms of our ability to measure child poverty. Indeed the chief statistician who has statutory independence for these operational decisions regarding methodology of collecting data has assured various Government Ministers that he does not see that there would be such an outcome either.Reuben Davidson: What steps if any has he put in place to ensure Stats NZ can comply with its obligations under the Child Poverty Reduction Act to collect data on persistent child poverty?Hon CHRIS PENK: On behalf of the Minister I reiterate my comment in response to the previous supplementary question that the Government has been assured by the chief statistician exercising that person's statutory independence that they will be able to monitor that data in particular to meet the statutory objectives the 10 requirements under the child poverty Act to be able to measure that progress.Reuben Davidson: How given that the coalition agreement commits to decisions being made using data and evidence will quality decision-making with and for some of our most vulnerable New Zealanders still be possible when the very measure of their needs has been quietly taken away?Hon CHRIS PENK: On behalf of the Minister I reject the characterisation of that one particular relatively new survey as being a sole measure or the sole measure. Indeed there are a number of measures—I've referred already to the Household Economic Survey; additionally there's the use available of administrative data which as per the last census conduct and analysis enables us to fill in gaps so to speak. There are a lot of Government agencies that contribute to the ability to gain a full picture. In addition I note that work that's been undertaken by other Government Ministers for which on behalf of the Minister I'm not responsible but I know it will be very helpfulfor example digitising Government services will be very helpful in this regard."