Henare PeeniSOCIAL SECURITY (WINTER ENERGY PAYMENT) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon PEENI HENARE (Associate Minister for Social Development) on behalf of the Minister for Social Development: I move That the Social Security (Winter Energy Payment) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services and Community Committee to consider the bill. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be reported to the House by 1 April 2019 and that the committee have authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House—Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Noting the report-back date at what point does that become debatable—at the end?SPEAKER: There's a separate motion. The member's been here for a long time. He knows that there's a separate motion for a referral after a bill has been read a first time if it is.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Just being helpful to those who don't know.SPEAKER: No. The member is being most unhelpful and is deliberately—Hon Member: He's getting out before he goes. Ha ha!SPEAKER: I'm pleased he is because he might have been anyway. Now we're going to start the time again and we're going to start the motion again. Thank you.Hon PEENI HENARE: Thank you Mr Speaker. I move That the Social Security (Winter Energy Payment) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services and Community Committee to consider this bill. At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be reported to the House by 1 April 2019 and that the committee have authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting—except during oral questions of course—during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House and outside the Wellington area despite Standing Orders 191 193 and 194(1)(b) and (c).This is not a very large bill but it contains important amendments. The bill ensures that the winter energy payment can be lawfully paid to all people who were intended to be eligible. In particular the bill amends the Social Security Act 2018 to ensure clients in two specific scenarios are able to be paid the winter energy payment as intended. The winter energy payment was introduced as part of the Government's Families Package the legislation for which was delivered in December 2017 as part of our 100-day plan. The winter energy payment helps older New Zealanders and many of our poorest families to heat their homes during the winter months.The Families Package is a transformational package providing targeted social assistance to improve incomes for low- and middle-income New Zealand families with children. It is part of this Government's focus on reducing child poverty and ensuring children get the best start in life. As a result of the Families Package it is projected that the number of children in poverty will be reduced by around 64000 children once the package is fully implemented. Those 384000 families with children will gain an average of $75 a week and 652000 families without dependent children will gain an average of $14 a week. As part of that package the winter energy payment plays a significant role.As a form of financial assistance it has the largest eligible population within the benefit system. It is available to all those who receive a main benefit New Zealand superannuation or a veterans pension during the winter period. Single people without dependent children receive $450 over winter and couples and people with dependent children receive $700. The payment is in recognition of the increasing cost of living that often leads to those on fixed and low incomes struggling to heat their homes throughout winter. The importance of warm dry healthy homes over winter cannot be overstated. Around 1600 New Zealanders die each year due to living in cold homes and thousands more end up in hospital. This simply is not acceptable.In 2018 approximately 774000 people per month received the winter energy payment at a cost of $265 million. When you add in those with partners this is close to one million New Zealanders benefiting from being warmer and safer as a result of this payment. In 2019 the winter energy payment will be paid from 1 May through to the end of September and is expected to be paid to 807000 recipients per month on average.We have received positive feedback from New Zealanders far and wide following the introduction of the winter energy payment reinforcing the importance of what the payment is intended to achieve. We have had reports of people being able to maintain a warm environment and thus avoiding trips to the doctor and A & E. People have told us that they can better manage their health conditions such as asthma. People have also said they are recovering from illnesses more quickly helped by their warm dry homes. The winter energy payment has had a positive impact on the lives of many New Zealanders. We want to make sure that this continues.After the Families Package (Income Tax and Benefits) Bill 2017 was passed the Ministry of Social Development identified minor errors in the winter energy payment legislation. The errors relate to two specific scenarios where the legislation does not align with the original policy intent. Those scenarios are (1) when people are absent from New Zealand for longer than four weeks at any one time during the winter period and (2) when people receive Government funding for long-term residential care or residential care services but are not eligible for a residential care subsidy or a residential support subsidy. Although these scenarios represent a very small number of the overall population eligible for the winter energy payment if the Ministry of Social Development cannot pay the winter energy payment as intended clients in these groups would be adversely affected. We want to make sure that those intended to receive the winter energy payment can indeed do so.In the first scenario if an eligible individual is absent from New Zealand for more than four weeks then currently under the legislation that individual is not entitled to receive the winter energy payment on any day during this period of absence. This does not align with the policy intent which is to pay the winter energy payment for up to four weeks even where the individual is absent from New Zealand or longer than four weeks at one time. However with other forms of supplementary assistance such as the accommodation supplement it is intended that clients can be absent from New Zealand for more than 28 days and still receive their supplementary assistance. Provided that they still remain eligible for a main benefit they can receive their supplementary assistance for the first four weeks of that absence. This was also the intention for the winter energy payment. The second scenario relates to some people being unintentionally excluded from being eligible to receive the winter energy payment. The winter energy payment is unique in that its eligibility is based on receipt of a main benefit: New Zealand Superannuation or the veterans pension. Everyone who receives these benefits automatically receives the winter energy payment. However a person receiving a residential care subsidy or residential support subsidy is ineligible for the winter energy payment. This is consistent with other forms of supplementary assistance. These groups therefore are excluded from receiving the winter energy payment because the cost of their care including heating costs is already being met by the State. However under the Social Security Act 2018 currently some other recipients of long-term residential care or residential care services are unintentionally caught by these exclusions despite also being recipients of a main benefit—New Zealand Superannuation or a veterans pension—because the payment is not directly administered by the Ministry of Social Development. One of these groups for example comprises people who do not qualify for a residential care subsidy pay the maximum contributions towards the cost of their care and receive a Government top-up. To ensure that the winter energy payment can be paid in a way that is both practical and lawful clause 4 of the bill tightens the wording for the groups that are not entitled to receive the winter energy payment due to receiving a residential care subsidy or residential support subsidy. These two errors need to be corrected to ensure the Government's policy intent can be upheld and that all people intended to be eligible for the winter energy payment can be paid lawfully. Clauses 6 and 7 of the bill also validate the previous practice of the Ministry of Social Development during the 2018 winter period to pay the winter energy payment to people covered by the two scenarios. This ensures decisions made to the benefit of these clients are lawful. The winter energy payment was a new payment introduced as part of the Families Package and provides financial assistance to beneficiaries likely to have the lowest incomes and to older people who are more often susceptible to ill health during the winter. The amendments in the bill are technical and are in line with the original policy intent for the winter energy payment. We want to ensure that the winter energy payment continues to positively impact the lives of New Zealanders by helping eligible people and families heat their homes over the winter months. This bill helps to achieve this and I commend this bill to the House.