10. Question No. 10—EducationPENNY SIMMONDS (National—Invercargill) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 10—Education10. PENNY SIMMONDS (National—Invercargill) to the Minister of Education: Does he stand by his statement regarding the Te Pūkenga forecast deficit of $110 million I've also been clear the projected deficit was too high and that more work needed to be done there"; if so what work has been done to reduce the deficit?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): Yes I stand by the quote in the full context in which it was made which included me going on to say that the approach that we inherited would lock in deficits and not fix underlying issues. Under the old model long-term deficits were projected. My concern about Te Pūkenga's projected deficit is shared by the leadership of the organisation. They've already taken the following actions to reduce the deficit: hiring restrictions have been put in place across the group a directive has been put in place for subsidiaries to put in place cost mitigation strategies and prudent cost control measures a central review of procurement is being undertaken to establish what additional savings can be achieved and further work is being undertaken to improve the financial reporting and the accuracy of the forecasts that are produced to identify further areas of savings. The acting chief executive is keeping me regularly informed and I'm encouraged by the conversations we've had so far.Penny Simmonds: Does the Minister consider a nationwide launch of Te Pūkenga branding at a cost of over $20 million would be a good use of taxpayer money?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The member's figures include regular marketing that would have taken place regardless of which brand it was undertaken under.Penny Simmonds: Does the Minister consider Te Pūkenga's contract with ad agency Clemenger BBDO of between $3.3 and $4.5 million is a good use of taxpayer money?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Well I think the member raises a really good illustration of the kind of efficiencies that Te Pūkenga can gain by operating nationally. Each individual polytech used to do its own marketing going and contracting its own marketing agencies; now they can actually get better value for money by doing it across the country.Penny Simmonds: Will the Minister rule out hundreds of redundancies in the polytechnics as a means of realising Te Pūkenga's acting chief executive Peter Winder's comment "The organisation is identifying significant savings."?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I fully expect the organisation to be identifying significant savings that can be made. And we do need to acknowledge the fact that there has been a significant downturn in the number of students that are enrolled in the provider-based arm of Te Pūkenga at the moment. There have however been increases in the number of students who have been enrolled in work-based training so there will be probably additional employment opportunities in that area. I do expect Te Pūkenga will be making changes in that regard to reflect the changing enrolment patterns that they're seeing.Penny Simmonds: What is the Minister's response to comments from former deputy chief executive of Te Pūkenga Merran Davis "I have no confidence in the current leadership to fix problems given where things are at." and "It's like everyone is in Disneyland."?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The individual concerned is one who I have a lot of respect for. I think she did a very good job at Unitec when she picked up the reins after a massive financial crisis was left behind there by the outgoing National Government. Simeon Brown: It's a Mickey Mouse outfit.SPEAKER: Order! Order! I think the member might reflect on what he just called a Mickey Mouse outfit."