1. State and Social Housing—Emergency HousingMETIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister for Social HousingORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSState and Social Housing—Emergency Housing1. METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister for Social Housing: Can she guarantee that all 3422 people on the Priority A Housing Register who urgently need a place to live will be housed within a month; if not why not?Hon ALFRED NGARO (Associate Minister for Social Housing) on behalf of the Minister for Social Housing: Mr Speaker fa'afetai mo le avanoa. Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa. Most of the people who are priority A on the social housing register are already housed. Their place on the register indicates that they are in need of a social house but not that they are not currently in some form of housing. For those without current housing the Government has a range of options including emergency housing places in a motel or boarding house transitional homes for families to stay in or financial support for private rentals. Anybody on the social housing register who is in need of housing should contact the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and help will be available for them.Metiria Turei: How many of those 3422 people are now living in their own homes?Hon ALFRED NGARO: Our goal is to get people who need it into a social house as soon as possible which is why we have made reducing the time to house priority A clients by 20 percent a Better Public Services (BPS) target. But our first priority is safe secure housing while they are on the register and we have a range of options available to us to use. Metiria Turei: Point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: I will allow the member to repeat that question for the benefit of the Minister.Metiria Turei: Sorry what was that? Point of order to repeat the question? How many of those 3422 people are now living in their own homes? [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! The question has been asked. It will now be answered.Hon ALFRED NGARO: We know that there are a number of measures. There are currently approximately 900 on the social housing register that cite homelessness as a reason for requiring housing. Of the 4197 people on the last census who were without habitable accommodation 1430 were living in rough and improvised dwellings what most New Zealanders would understand as homeless. Also too the Government has been supporting families through the increasing of social housing by 66000 social houses and it is planning to increase that by 6400 by 2020 to 72000. Special needs grants were paid out—9200 grants last quarter—to 2616 families and individuals totalling $8.8 million.Metiria Turei: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I seek your clarification. In answer to my primary question the Minister said that most of those people had already been housed. My supplementary question was: how many of those people have been housed? The Minister has not answered that second question. In two opportunities he has talked about other numbers and other categories of people but not the 3422 on the priority A housing list.Hon Simon Bridges: There was some difficulty with the member's question—it was very imprecise. She talked about their own home". It is difficult to know what that means and so the Minister in answering it gave some numbers that addressed that.Mr SPEAKER: I listened to the question twice—on two occasions. To me the question was quite clear—my understanding of the question: how many of those have now moved into a home of their own? We have had two attempts at answering the question and I do not think it has been answered satisfactorily. But beyond two attempts I think the best way forward is that I will allow the member as she continues her supplementary questions two additional supplementary questions.Metiria Turei: If the Minister has a plan to house everyone on the priority A housing register by what date will all of those people be housed?Hon ALFRED NGARO: Our goal is to get people into social houses as soon as possible which is why we have been reducing the time to house priority clients by 20 percent a BPS target. But our first priority is to have a safe and secure house while they are on the register and we have a range of options available to them.Metiria Turei: Does this mean that the Government has accepted that a number of families will remain sleeping in their cars over this winter; if so how many?Hon ALFRED NGARO: This Government has been working hard to ensure that all families who are in need are provided for. It is the first Government that has provided emergency and transitional funding. Last year we committed $354 million for emergency housing—the first time permanent funding has been committed—which will provide 8600 emergency housing places per year. Metiria Turei: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Yet again the Minister has not addressed my question.Mr SPEAKER: No. On this occasion I do not accept what the member is saying. The member actually asked two supplementary questions and should have asked only one. The second part was not addressed but did not need to be because the first part of that supplementary question was addressed in my opinion.Metiria Turei: What do the Minister's officials advise will be the number of people who are homeless over the 2017 winter?Hon ALFRED NGARO: Of the number of long-term vacancies including those who are currently with housing at the moment there are 890 on the social housing register who have cited homelessness as a reason for requiring housing. Of the 4197 people in the last census who were without habitable accommodation 1413 were living rough or in improvised dwelling—what most New Zealanders would understand as homelessness. Metiria Turei: How many families sleeping in cars and in garages are considered an acceptable number over this winter by this Government?Hon ALFRED NGARO: This Government takes its responsibility for any of those who are regarded as homeless and our efforts have been very clear. Again it is the first Government that has put in $354 million into ensuring that any person who is in a homeless situation can be cared for.Metiria Turei: By when will all of those people he has described as homeless be housed?Hon ALFRED NGARO: This Government has been working with all of those who are in need and has been putting an effort into making sure there are around 8600 emergency housing places per year. Under any terms that is an effort that no other Government has made. We know that emergency and transitional places are currently on track for approximately 900 places available and are on track to have 1598 by the end of this month. As we speak Minister Adams is now opening a 70-unit purpose-built development in Auckland to provide emergency and transitional housing in South Auckland.Metiria Turei: Can the Minister confirm the latest Housing New Zealand figures which show 3422 priority A people waiting for a home and also 1805 empty State houses including 159 that are empty pending sale?Hon ALFRED NGARO: The number of long-term vacancies excluding those that have been meth-contaminated represents just 1.2 percent of the Housing New Zealand stock.Metiria Turei: Can the Minister confirm that Budget 2017 forecasts spending over $15 million on emergency housing each year for the next 4 years; in other words the Government expects the need for emergency housing to remain at record high levels because this Government does not intend to solve the housing crisis?Hon ALFRED NGARO: This Government does intend to address the issue around homelessness and emergency housing hence the reason why the $354 million that is invested—the first of any Government—is the attempt to ensure that 8600 emergency housing places are provided for every year."