Bayly Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBayly Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 18 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:9145. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]3.ANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua) to the Minister of Finance: What recent announcements has the Government made around its programme of Social Investment?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): Part of the Government’s approach to doing a better job and having better communities and less Government spending is social investment. It is about using data to better understand what makes a difference to people’s lives and using the evidence to do more of what works and less of what does not work. Today we have released the third and final data set on the risk factors likely to cause children and young people to have poor outcomes—that is all young New Zealanders from 0 to age 24. This data and the portal that enables access to it give Government agencies NGOs iwi and the wider social sector the opportunity to understand better the needs of the most vulnerable New Zealanders and the opportunity to assist the Government in finding better solutions to long-running problems.Andrew Bayly: What does the information released today show?Hon BILL ENGLISH: It shows that there are four indicators that are reasonable predictors of future outcomes for our young people and those are that they are in a household that has been on a benefit long term a parent with a corrections sentence—17 percent of all New Zealand children have a parent with a corrections sentence—a mother with no formal education and a Child Youth and Family notification. For the very small number of New Zealand children as in 1 percent who have all four indicators they are much more likely to leave school with no qualifications and much more likely to find themselves in prison.Andrew Bayly: What steps is the Government taking to improve outcomes for the most vulnerable?Hon BILL ENGLISH: We now have 3 years of tracking the Better Public Services results which focus on improving outcomes with effective Government intervention such as improving the number of young New Zealanders who get National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 2. But alongside those results from 1 April benefit rates for families with children will rise by $25 a week—the first increase after inflation since 1972—and as we look ahead the Government will be looking to provide more effective delivery of its very large amount of spending in areas like for instance family violence.Jacinda Ardern: Will he agree to having the Auditor-General assess Government Better Public Services result number 4 to reduce cases of physical abuse of children given that Child Youth and Family has recorded for his target 3235 cases but the police have recorded 4698 cases; if not why not?Hon BILL ENGLISH: We would welcome the scrutiny of the Auditor-General if the Auditor-General has not already scrutinised it. Those two numbers measured different things. The police are measuring one thing—Jacinda Ardern: Physical abuse.Hon BILL ENGLISH: Well substantiated abuse is different from offending and prosecution. They overlap to some extent but not completely. But I am pleased to see the Labour Party after 8 years is finally—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! I do not think that particular part of the answer is going to help the order of the House.Andrew Bayly: What results has the Government seen from the approach to improve outcomes for the most vulnerable?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The National Party as a party believes in a brighter future. So we always have hope that things can improve and it turns out that when you focus on some of these things they can be improved. The proportion of immunised 8-month-olds has increased from 84 percent to 93 percent since 2012 the proportion of 18-year-olds who get NCEA level 2 has increased from 74 percent to 81 percent and there have been particularly strong increases for Māori and Pasifika. Reoffending has dropped by almost 10 percent and crime has dropped by almost 20 percent. We believe we can change some of New Zealand’s long-running social problems by seeking to reduce the misery not just spending money to service it.