Hipkins Chris: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHipkins Chris: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 30 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:3075. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]7.CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka)to the Minister of Education: Does she agree with the Prime Minister’s statement that “If those partnership schools don’t succeed the Government will be just as quick to close them down as we have been to establish them”?Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education):Yes.Chris Hipkins: Does she stand by her own statement of December last year with regard to the Whangaruru charter school that “Whangaruru had challenges which were not unexpected” and “the readiness review indicated that they were dealing with those challenges”; if so on what basis did she make the claim that those challenges were being addressed?Hon HEKIA PARATA: On the basis of reporting from Te Kura Hourua ki Whangaruru and analysis by the Ministry of Education.Chris Hipkins: Did the readiness review that she released in February upon which she gave Whangaruru a formal performance notice identify concerns with the quality of teaching and learning quality of school management disengaged students and the recruitment of suitable staff; if so was that the same report that she had earlier claimed found that Whangaruru was “dealing with those challenges”?Hon HEKIA PARATA: By definition they were not the same reports and the performance notice that I issued was about engagement and truancy.Chris Hipkins: Did she claim in answers to oral questions in December last year that the Education Review Office readiness review identified that Whangaruru was “dealing with those challenges”?Hon HEKIA PARATA: I do not recall making claims and I do not have in front of me the specific answer to the specific question that the member is pressing on.Chris Hipkins: The answer’s yes.Hon HEKIA PARATA: Well the member is telling me what my answer is. If he knows the answer then he need not have wasted the House’s time asking the question.Chris Hipkins: Has she received an indication that Whangaruru has met the performance criteria she set for it given it is now over 2 months since she gave it 1 month to shape up; if not when does she expect to receive that assurance?Hon HEKIA PARATA: The process that was set in train by the issuing of the performance notice was that the school would have 28 days to identify whether or not it could deal with the challenges and that I would commission a specialist audit which was done and has been carried out by Deloitte and by the Education Review Office. That report would be provided to the Ministry of Education. It would analyse the report and work through the governance legal and contractual matters—Hon Trevor Mallard: Can’t the Minister read?Hon HEKIA PARATA: —I am sorry that I am boring the Opposition with the facts of due process—and then I would receive the analysis upon which time I would discuss it with the trust. Then I would be in a position to make a final decision.Chris Hipkins: What has been the total cost to the taxpayer of the Whangaruru charter school including all of the funding that it was given for its establishment and all of the subsequent expenditure on remediation of the problems that it has encountered?Hon HEKIA PARATA: I cannot give a total cost because we are not at the end of the process. But what I can tell the Opposition is that—and this is publicly available and all of the partnership papers are on the website so the member is free—Tracey Martin: The report’s not there.