Collins JudithPOLICING (COST RECOVERY) AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Police): I move That the Policing (Cost Recovery) Amendment Bill be now read a second time. This bill amends the Policing Act 2008 to enable cost recovery for certain police services that fall within the definition of a demand service. I would like to thank the members of the Law and Order Committee in particular the chair of the committee Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi for his and his committee's work on this bill. I would also like to thank all members of the public who took the time to submit. The committee members commented on the high quality and the number of the written oral submissions that were received.The New Zealand Police is one of the few police services worldwide that does not have legislation that explicitly allows for some degree of cost recovery particularly for those services that predominantly deliver direct benefits to private individuals. Currently most police services in New Zealand are funded out of the police's baseline funding. Providing for cost recovery will enable police to meet the cost associated with increases in demand for certain services. This will avoid placing additional strain on taxpayer funds or shifting resources towards those services at the expense of front-line police activities. It will also safeguard the delivery of these services by ensuring that funding is specifically ring-fenced for them.Cost recovery is common for many Public Service agencies in New Zealand both at local government and central government level—for example the Ministry for Primary Industries has a system in place to recover the cost of providing for food safety fisheries and biosecurity services and the Department of Internal Affairs charges fees for the provision of New Zealand passports.Under this amendment bill the Minister of Police can recommend regulations to prescribe a fee for services that meet certain criteria. These criteria are as follows: the service is a demand service the fees or charges are consistent with the specified criteria and the commissioner has done everything reasonable to consult the persons or organisations affected.A demand service" is defined as a service that constitutes policing is provided only on the request of an individual organisation is provided to the individual organisation requesting it and is of direct benefit to that individual or organisation. A "demand service" does not include policing services such as 111 calls conducting criminal investigations or the prosecution of criminal offences.The bill does not list the specific policing services that costs can be recovered for other than police vetting services. The bill provides that other services could be subject to cost recovery by regulation providing they meet the principles and criteria set out in the bill. The only policing service currently being considered for cost recovery is the police vetting service. Future examples of services that may be subject to these regulations could include keeping peace at repossessions responding to insurance company inquiries and supervising lottery draws.The Law and Order Committee recommended a number of amendments that will clarify the intentions of the bill. First is to incorporate into the primary definition of "demand service" those services to be excluded—for example police response to calls for service relating to potential offending. This amendment means that the services that cannot be subject to cost recovery have been incorporated into the primary definition of a "demand service". This tightens the definition of a "demand service" serves as a stronger limitation and provides more clarity and certainty as to the scope of regulation. Secondly to replace the words "a Crown bank account" with "a departmental bank account". This amendment ensures that the police receive the fees needed to meet the costs of providing the service being charged for. Thirdly to clarify that regulations made under the Act may include exemptions waivers or refunds of fees or charges payable under the regulations. This amendment means that exemptions waivers and refunds will be specifically set out in regulations or granted by the Commissioner of Police in accordance with the regulations.Following the passage of this bill it is intended to introduce regulations to enable cost recovery for the police vetting service. This bill includes the police vetting service as an example of a demand service because it is a service that is provided on request from agencies registered with the police such as schools district health boards non-governmental organisations and private sector organisations—for example retirement homes. I acknowledge that there is a degree of indirect benefit involved with the police vetting service. However the direct benefit is to the users of the service. Agencies requesting a police vetting check on an individual may do so because of due diligence or legal requirements. These agencies are therefore the ones to capture the benefit. This is because the information supplied allows them to make informed decisions about the suitability of that individual for employment in an agency to act as a volunteer to conduct business or to gain citizenship.The regulations will set a fixed fee for users of the police vetting service. The costs will be calculated based on the full costs of the service including both direct and indirect costs averaged by the number of vetting applications. Emphasis has been placed on ensuring the cost is the minimum possible to enable the provision of the police vetting service. The regulations will include a waiver regime. Decisions on the criteria for waivers have yet to be finalised by Cabinet but I am keen to ensure that waivers are provided for registered charities. I would like to thank the Hon Peter Dunne for his advice on this matter. The regulations may provide for other exemptions waivers or refunds of any fee or charge prescribed under this bill. They will also give the Commissioner of Police the discretion to waive fees as he or she thinks fit in certain circumstances.I am proposing that the bill be enacted as soon as possible. In conclusion the Policing (Cost Recovery) Amendment Bill enables the police to recover the costs of certain police services and will help the police to ensure that resources are not diverted from front-line services will help to provide greater transparency about where costs lie and will lead to a better allocation of taxpayer resources overall. Cost recovery by Government agencies from other Government agencies already occurs and leads to a better allocation of taxpayer resources. I believe there is a strong case for cost recovery for services where the benefit accrues directly to individuals and private organisations rather than the public as a whole.I acknowledge that Poto Williams David Clendon and Chris Hipkins have proposed three Supplementary Order Papers. These will be debated in the Committee of the whole House. The bill has emerged from the Law and Order Committee with a number of changes as a result of the committee's careful consideration. This has strengthened the bill. I commend the bill to the House."