Borrows Chester: Families Commission Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Borrows Chester: Families Commission Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 21 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8877. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon CHESTER BORROWS (Associate Minister for Social Development)  
on behalf of the Minister for Social Development: I move  
That the Families Commission Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. This bill amends the Families Commission Act 2003 and is part of the process designed to refocus the Families Commission in order to make it a more relevant effective and efficient organisation. We are streamlining the commission’s core activities through a leaner and more focused structure as part of our confidence and supply agreement with United Future. I wish to thank it them for its contributions and these changes. 
The changes provided for in the bill are relatively straightforward and can be summarised as follows. First the commission will acquire a new monitoring research and evaluation function. This will encompass the whole social sector and be separate from the commission’s current main function of advocating for families. Under this the commission will identify evidence and research that will assist in determining or achieving the Government’s policies and priorities in the social sector. The commission will also play a role in coordinating research and evaluation across the wider social sector. 
Second the bill changes the commission’s governance structure by removing the title “commissioner” from all but one member of the commission who will be known as the Families Commissioner. It puts the commission on the same footing as most other Crown entities and will ensure a more focused structure. Thirdly the bill also provides for the creation of a social science experts panel. This group will complement the work of the commission’s board and provide guidance and academic peer review of research undertaken by or for the commission. This will ensure that all research is rigorous and credible. Finally the bill will require that the commission prepares and publishes an annual family status report. This will provide a means by which the well-being of New Zealand families can be regularly measured and monitored. 
I would like to thank the Social Services Committee for its thorough and careful attention to this bill. A total of 11 submissions were received on the bill. A number of submitters were positive about the new model of the Families Commission. The Salvation Army the National Council of Women and the IHC all support the changes and the new function for monitoring research and evaluation. The IHC pointed to the huge potential advantage of the new—to be known—SuPERU database to avoid research silos and the Salvation Army is particularly interested in joining projects in partnership with the Families Commission. 
There have been some recommended technical amendments from the Social Services Committee and the committee recommended including new clauses 4A and 9A. This addresses some submitters’ concerns based on a misinterpretation of the bill’s provisions and relevant Crown entity legislation. These clauses make it clear that the autonomy of the commission as prescribed in the Crown Entities Act 2004 remains unchanged. 
The committee also recommended changes to new section 8A in clause 7. These changes make it clear that the commission is to actively “identify evidence and research that will assist in determining or achieving the Government’s policies and priorities in the social sector.” Other changes make it clear that in carrying out its monitoring evaluation and research functions the commission must act independently of the programmes and interventions being monitored or evaluated. This is an area where I believe the commission can add real value. 
Finally I wish to comment on the potential of the new SuPERU unit—the monitoring research and evaluation arm of the Families Commission. If we— 
Chris Hipkins 
: I thought Subaru was a type of car. 
Hon CHESTER BORROWS 
: It has got the wheels buddy to do the business. If we are going to make a difference for the families who are struggling we need to be able to invest in interventions that we know will work. This new unit will build a body of evidence that will allow policy makers NGOs and anyone wanting to invest in social services to make informed decisions about which programmes are effective for New Zealand families which will add real value to the way that we all work together. I commend the bill to the House.