8. Question No. 8—Social DevelopmentMARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister for Social DevelopmentQuestion No. 8—Social Development8. MARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister for Social Development: Has there been a reduction in the number of single mothers having their benefits cut for not naming the father since this Government took office?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): Thank you for that question. I am pleased to say although there have not been changes to the policy at this stage we have seen a reduction in the number of section 192—formerly known as section 70A—deductions applied to parents who do not or are unable to name the other parent of their child. There has been a drop from 17731 deductions as at March 2017 to 15302 deductions as at March 2019. This reflects Work and Income case managers ensuring that sanctions are being applied correctly and having conversations with clients to better understand their circumstances and situations.Marama Davidson: Does the Minister agree that the social welfare system should value the work done by caregivers and provide support for mums struggling to get by rather than making their lives harder with excessive sanctions?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I do agree that we should have a welfare system that is fair accessible and provides people with the support they are eligible for. That is why the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) started a proactive campaign in April this year to contact sole parents who currently have a section 192 deduction applied to do a full review of their entitlements. So far 93 reviews have been completed resulting in 23 people getting more financial support five people having more manageable debt repayments and 12 people having the deduction itself removed due to new information about their situation or because they have named the other parent and/or applied for child support.Marama Davidson: Has any advice been provided on the impact of sanctions particularly for children?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I have received a range of advice on sanctions in particular on section 192. I started looking into these deductions in more detail in November 2017 and have continued to do work in this area. MSD alongside Oranga Tamariki also recently completed work on section 192 deductions which will be proactively released this Friday alongside the Welfare Expert Advisory Group report. This evidence reflects that these sanctions are not in the best interests of children and there is no evidence that they have achieved their original objective to encourage child support applications. The previous Government received the same advice in 2016. I've also seen international evidence which suggests that a very harsh sanctions regime can have adverse effects that drive people away from rather than closer to employment.Marama Davidson: So is the Minister concerned that despite this reduction in numbers there are still over 15000 children who are missing out because of this sanction?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Yes I am concerned about that particularly based on the evidence I have seen which shows that sole parents who have this deduction applied to them are one of the major groups who rely on other supplementary assistance through the welfare system. I look forward to working with our coalition and confidence and supply partners to address this.