Stanford Erica; Tinetti JanERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays): The NZ Educational Institute (NZEI) was at pains Minister to explain that in fact the loss of the inquiry time was nothing to do with the offer and the negotiations. So in fact the Minister can talk about it because it has nothing to do with the pay and conditions of the staff and it's actually said to its members It is outside that; we just noted it in our summary agreement." but it has nothing to do with the actual bargaining.So it sounds like the ministry has told NZEI that they are going to disestablish the inquiry time but in fact it has nothing to do with the actual bargaining. That's what the NZEI has said to its members—I've got a copy of it in my hand. So the question that she hasn't answered remains is: if—and when I should say because it looks like it's happening—the inquiry time is being disestablished what are the calculations that she has made of the 999 schools that have less than 175 students that will not gain anything from her recent announcement but will lose inquiry time?Finally I think the question that wasn't answered which is very important—which the Minister can point me to calculations on websites—but in terms of the 2022 Budget year what was the total value in millions of the inquiry time funding? So that relates to that financial year. What was the total value in millions of the inquiry time funding?Now the Minister can say "This is how it's worked out" and point me to a website but I'm asking her directly—with all her officials behind her—what is the total value in millions of the inquiry time funding allocated to kāhui ako for the 2022 year. She's explained how it's all worked out and I can go to a website and look how it's worked out but the fact is there's no mention anywhere on that website of the total allocation in millions and that's what I'm asking her with all the officials behind her.I'll move on while she gets advice on it: learning support coordinators (LSCs). The sector has been asking why the roll-outs stopped and I guess my question to the Minister is: there was the first tranche rolled out and then in the 2022 year there was no further roll-out. Now schools have been upset about this because the evidence has shown that schools with learning support coordinators do end up being allocated more learning support funding and the schools that missed out in the first roll-out—which I think the previous Minister did indicate was rather shambolic and not done on need at all because some schools who were higher-decile or even were State integrated schools got LSCs and lower-decile schools didn't get them at all.So my question to the Minister is: why did the roll-out stop after the first tranche and why was nothing allocated in that financial year?Hon JAN TINETTI (Minister of Education): I thank the member for questions about learning support coordinators because this is an area that I'm absolutely passionate about. As I've been quite publicly saying for a couple of years now part of the reason for the slower roll-out has absolutely been about the fact that we need to make certain that they are making a difference—and not just anecdotally—to the sector and part of that has been around the three tranches of evaluation that did cover off different areas and do absolutely point to the difference that they are making.So it backed up what we were hearing anecdotally. It has been signalled within the Highest Needs Review; you can see that when you are reading in the Highest Needs Review about the changes in the system that we want to see to make certain that all learners are experiencing success within our system. While it might not say "learning support coordinators" specifically you can definitely see where the role sits within the results of that review. As far as future roll-outs are concerned that is subject to future Budgets.ERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays): Thank you Madam Chair. Given the dramatic increase in youth crime in terms of ram raids and the amount of children—very young children—that we're seeing involved in those given the number of unenrolled children who aren't enrolled in school at all which is I think sitting around 7500 at the moment. And also I suppose given the very high unjustified absence rate and very high chronic truancy rate that the Minister is well aware of I know my question to her is: in the last financial year what was done in terms of alternative education? What additional funding what outcomes were gained from alternative education? What improvements did she see? My question to her around alternative education is: does she think that the Government's efforts in the last 12 months or in that period made a difference in that sector? And has she heard anything to the opposite to suggest that alternative education in fact is creating more harm than it is doing any good?Hon JAN TINETTI (Minister of Education): Another area that I'm absolutely passionate about because I believe that the education system needs to be inclusive of alternative education. And just on that my officials know that I absolutely hate the words "alternative education" because it makes it sound like it sits outside the system and we need to make certain that it is part of the system and that young people who do have alternative education as their preferred way of providing their learning pathways feel like they're very much part of the system and don't see themselves as failures.So in Budget 2022 we did have an increase into the alternative education—basically their operational grant—just like schools and that will mirror going forward or that's what we had said at the time. The intention was for that to mirror what schools' increase would be. We've also re-signed in the alternative education space the contracts for delivery. They were re-signed at the end of 2022.I know personally that there are some absolute pockets of excellence in this space. I have visited many of them where I'm seeing absolutely outstanding results and young people who are highly engaged in their learning. It has turned their life around and they are experiencing way stronger outcomes than they have ever experienced in the past and feeling good about themselves as learners.So I've just been told that it was a 2.75 percent increase in 2022 and that equates to $2.25 million over the five years. So that's quite a significant increase when you're talking about the numbers of young people that are in there. But I do acknowledge that there's more to do in this space. Again I feel that we see too many times where people position alternative education as outside the system and we need to always position it as part of the system so that young people feel like they are being included and that they're as I said not seeing themselves as failures.So again it's subject to future Budgets. We do have an ideal state that we have developed—and Cabinet has agreed upon that ideal state. That preceded me but we're constantly looking at that about how we can bring forward that work. I also do a lot of work with the national boards in this area. I've presented to and talked with conferences—the alternative education conferences—to make certain that we are keeping in contact with those people that are doing that very very important work of really working with some of our hardest-to-reach young people.But as I said I have seen some amazing results in this area and I strongly believe that we are well on the path of making certain that we're getting the answers right for all our young people."