6. Question No. 6—Housing (Homelessness)CHRIS BISHOP (National) to the Associate Minister of Housing (Homelessness)Question No. 6—Housing (Homelessness)6. CHRIS BISHOP (National) to the Associate Minister of Housing (Homelessness): How much of the $75 million she announced in Budget 2022 for delivering the Government's vision of an Aotearoa where homelessness is prevented wherever possible has been spent to date if any and what are the metrics if any for how each of the initiatives funded through the investment will be measured?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON (Associate Minister of Housing (Homelessness)): This is funding that I fought hard for and signals a new way of working. We are delivering long-term solutions to homelessness in authentic partnership with the community and we must not be drawn into the same old short-term thinking. Let me be clear; we are on track. Budget 2022 funded four initiatives three of which are brand spanking new: supported housing for rangatahi kaupapa Māori solutions to homelessness and new funding for outreach programmes. All four initiatives are going to plan exactly as we set out in the original Budget documents and are either already delivering or will have funding allocated by July 2023 as we planned. Almost $17.5 million of the funding has been contracted with providers for rangatahi transitional housing; this includes nearly $1.8 million already spent with providers who are housing youth in new places across Christchurch Hamilton and Auckland. Developing measures of success for initiatives is part of developing these new services themselves. New initiatives which are community-led—thank you—take time to design and I am committed to getting them right and delivering real change for our people.Chris Bishop: Why has just over 1 percent of the $75 million announced last year been spent when 24000 families are on the housing register and nearly 3500 households live in emergency housing?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: It is absolutely unacceptable that even one person is experiencing housing insecurity. We are very clear that Aotearoa should be a place where everyone has warm affordable secure housing where they can put down roots and I want to be clear that the Budget 2022 funding is only one aspect of this Government's response to homelessness. Delivery of the Homelessness Action Plan has been ongoing and crucial. There are a range of drivers which contribute to the housing insecurity and work is under way across Government to address the range of issues including housing affordability and supply; poverty; access to and availability of social support services and health services—and we know there is definitely still more work to be done. My role in the Homelessness Action Plan has been absolutely crucial to focus the Government's efforts on preventing and interrupting homelessness.SPEAKER: That was a lot of information but it didn't actually address the basic part of the question. Mr Bishop do you want another question or do you want to ask that one again?Chris Bishop: Oh I'll ask that one again if that's all right—it is very simple: why is only just over 1 percent of the money announced in Budget 2022 in relation to homelessness services being spent a year later?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: All of those initiatives are working exactly to plan and by July 2023—which is what we said they would do—those initiatives will be ready. These are a new way of working; Mr Bishop should move away from the old way of working that simply counted numbers out the door as opposed to an enduring solution that the communities are authentically helping us to lead and that absolutely does require the time to get these initiatives right.SPEAKER: That still doesn't answer the question. I'm going to give the member an additional question.Chris Bishop: When she says that these programmes are working exactly as planned is she telling the House that it was a design feature of the announcement that no or very little money would have gone out the door a year later and the metrics for success as to analysing the effectiveness of that money will only be developed once the money starts being spent?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: This is four-year funding. It was very clear that working in an authentic relationship with communities was always going to require a different and new way of thinking and approaching this work. New rangatahi-supported housing kaupapa Māori responses to homelessness and outreach in the community with homelessness all require the planning to be done and led by community and they can never scale up this work overnight. Never ever is that going to be an expectation on a four-year funding proposal and I encourage Mr Bishop to continue with new ways of—SPEAKER: The Minister has now addressed it thank you.Chris Bishop: Why didn't the Minister adopt the revolutionary idea of allocating money to pre-existing programmes and groups that are on the ground doing the work who could actually deliver services to those in need right now in the midst of a housing crisis?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: These initiatives are exactly experienced providers who know their communities better than our agencies do. This is where traditionally services have not gotten to the people that need it the most. All of these three new initiatives have exactly been allocated and worked with with the community providers with that experience. That is exactly what these initiatives are.Chris Bishop: Well if these initiatives are ones that already exist and they're delivered by experienced programme providers why after a year has only just over a million—[Interruption] I'm still asking the question. Why after a year has just over 1 percent of the money been actually delivered into the communities when 465 families live in cars?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: Firstly the member needs to listen to my answers. The providers are all experienced providers. The initiatives are new. The three initiatives are new. The existing services in the rangatahi and transitional housing have nearly all been allocated because it is the very existing service that the member is referring to. There are a broad range of other ministerial responsibilities that I work closely with that are also responsible for providing that emergency support to people who need it and that does not fall inside my ministerial delegation but I work with my colleagues to do that. We are also very clear that more work needs to be done and that is the work that we continue to do.Chris Bishop: Will any of the four initiatives funded in Budget 2022 target the 200 16- and 17-year-old independent young people currently living in emergency housing motels and does she have a target for the number of 16- and 17-year-old independent young people who will no longer be in motels as a result of these initiatives?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: As we have already seen through the Homelessness Action Plan it is the very work under that plan that has seen for example more than 138 rangatahi-focused transitional housing places an additional 3000 extra transitional housing places delivered under the Homelessness Action Plan 1737 households turned into a house through Housing First $10 million allocated through the Local Innovation Partnership Fund for brand-new solutions—SPEAKER: No. Order!Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: Hang on—wait. There's some more good stuff.SPEAKER: Yeah I'm sure there is but I'm on my feet and I'm about to make a ruling. Just simply reading out a long list of expenditure doesn't actually address the question that's being asked. The question was very clear around young people and transitional homes. I'm almost afraid to ask the member to say more but I'll leave it to Mr Bishop if he wants to ask that question again.Chris Bishop: I'm happy to ask it again because it's an important point and just—I might get it slightly wrong. But the question was: will any or all of the four initiatives funded in Budget 2022 in relation to homelessness target the 200 16- and 17-year-old independent young people currently living in emergency housing and motels and if so what is the Minister's target for the number of 16- and 17-year-olds who've been moved out of emergency housing motels as a result of these initiatives?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: Yes as I was explaining the examples of exactly where the funding has been going and will continue to go includes for rangatahi like the 138 rangatahi-focused—SPEAKER: Thank you. Given the amount of time that you spent before I think you've addressed it now so thank you. Are there any more supplementaries? No.