Lee Melissa: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLee Melissa: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 30 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:3075. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]3.MELISSA LEE (National)to the Minister of Finance: What steps has the Government taken to deliver better public services and how is this benefiting the Government’s books?Hon PAULA BENNETT (Associate Minister of Finance)on behalf of theMinister of Finance: Three years ago the Prime Minister set 10 challenging targets for the Public Service. These included improving health and education outcomes reducing crime lowering welfare dependence and increasing online connectivity. The framework has contributed to some significant improvements—for instance there has been a 38 percent reduction in youth crime since 2011. The number of teenage solo parents on a benefit has dropped by 40 percent since 2011. The Government recently revised its workforce skills target due to better-than-expected results. We believe better public services that help more people back into independence sooner helps to manage long-term costs. What works for communities works for the Government’s books.Melissa Lee: How is the Government’s focus on getting better results for vulnerable New Zealanders changing the way it delivers public services?Hon PAULA BENNETT: What we are doing is building a system that allows Governments to invest today in tailored interventions for the child for the individual and for the family to track the results of that investment and to do more of what works. We are already seeing results through the investment approach to welfare. Last year we reduced the expected cost of supporting current beneficiaries over their lifetimes by $7.5 billion mostly by getting more sole parents back into work. The number of sole parents on benefits is the lowest it has been since 1986. This Government is willing to pay a bit more upfront to secure long-term results for New Zealanders.Darroch Ball: Will the Minister justify the confidence in the robustness of the Better Public Services target results by having them independently scrutinised by the Office of the Auditor-General; if not why not?Hon PAULA BENNETT: We do better than that; we get them scrutinised by the New Zealand public. We transparently put them out for them to be analysed by New Zealanders. We actually do more transparency-wise than anyone else does. If the member would like to get those results and have them audited in any which way he likes then he can. We are actually more than happy for them to be analysed in any which way you like.Melissa Lee: What alternative models of public service delivery were proposed in the draft Productivity Commission report released yesterday?Hon PAULA BENNETT: The Productivity Commission’s draft report considered seven models of social services delivery. Among those were in-house delivery of public agencies contracting out and voucher systems. The commission noted the current widespread use of vouchers in the education sector including in early childhood education and their role in delivering choice to households but the commission also made it clear that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. As I have said we are focused on results and making things better for those New Zealanders in most need. That means more educational achievement better health outcomes less recidivism and higher employment.Melissa Lee: What reports on alternative approaches to addressing social dysfunction has the Minister seen?Mr SPEAKER: The Hon Paula Bennett as far as there is ministerial responsibility.Hon PAULA BENNETT: I have seen the Salvation Army’s state of the nation report from February 2008 about 9 months before the National-led Government was elected. It noted that social spending in the 5 years to 2008 had increased 70 percent from $23 billion to $39 billion yet all that spending had “contributed very little to our social progress”. At that time more of our children appeared to be at risk of harm more of our young people were engaged in petty crime there was more violent crime and more people were in jail despite billions of dollars of new spending. That is why this Government is focused on getting results for our most vulnerable people and families not on how much is spent.