Bishop Chris: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBishop Chris: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 08 June 2016. Volume:714;Page:11776. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]2.CHRIS BISHOP (National) to the Minister of Finance: How is Budget 2016 building on the Government’s programme of Social Investment to deliver better long-term results for New Zealanders?Hon PAULA BENNETT (Associate Minister of Finance) on behalf of theMinister of Finance: The Government’s Social Investment approach is about using data-driven investment techniques to determine when and how to intervene to change lives for the better. Budget 2016 includes a comprehensive and wide-ranging Social Investment package providing extra funding of $654 million over 4 years. The Government recently announced an overhaul of New Zealand’s childcare and protection system which will be in place by March next year. This $348 million of new funding will increase accountability for support services and will sharpen the focus on intensive intervention to keep young people safe.Chris Bishop: How will the Social Investment package help young beneficiaries transition to more productive independent lives?Hon PAULA BENNETT: The Social Investment package provides $61 million to extend the Youth Service to 19-year-old parents and to 18 and 19-year-old beneficiaries at risk of long-term welfare dependency. If we do not take action the average 19-year-old sole parent will spend the next 18 years on a benefit and cost the taxpayer over $400000. The good news for the House—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! The question has been asked. I will not put up with continual barrage from my left-hand side. If it happens again I may be asking somebody to leave.Hon PAULA BENNETT: What I think the House can celebrate is that the number of teen parents on benefits has halved under National and we want to continue that success. What the Associate Minister of Finance would also tell me is that actually the number of teen pregnancies has reduced which makes a huge difference as well—that fewer girls have to experience the trauma of abortion at such a young age as well. Social Investment is making a big difference.Chris Bishop: How is the Social Investment approach improving the provision of education in New Zealand?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Budget 2016 targets an extra $43 million for schools with students most at risk of not achieving. This is in contrast to the previous approach of funding an across-the-board operational grant increase. Under the Minister we are looking at those children who have lived an extended part of their life in a family that is benefit dependent and who have only a 48 percent chance of achieving National Certificate of Educational Achievement level 2 before the age of 21. This policy and this money will make a difference.Chris Bishop: How has the Government’s focus on targets helped deliver Better Public Services for New Zealanders? [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I have not called the Minister yet.Hon PAULA BENNETT: The Prime Minister set the 10 challenging targets in the Public Service in 2012 and since then we have come a long way. Benefit dependency continues to fall. We have made significant progress on crime. We currently have the lowest crime rate since 1978. We have reduced the number of children and young people experiencing physical abuse and immunisation rates continue to grow with almost 94 percent of 8-month-olds fully vaccinated.