Garcia Paulo; Upston LouisePAULO GARCIA (National—New Lynn): I acknowledge that the Minister wasn't able to come to the select committee to answer questions during the annual review process. But now that there is an opportunity to run questions by her at this time in Parliament that is appreciated.The select committee did ask and receive answers to a number of written questions which may be worth exploring further here today or in another opportunity but further remarks from the Minister in the chair would be appreciated today. The key topics of interest that came through the written questions were the establishment of Whaikaha. Any costs establishing Whaikaha in the year this annual review covers and any impact of the time frame in which Whaikaha was established—it was established very quickly. Another theme that came through the written questions was: what were the key drivers of Whaikaha? It'll be interesting to know from the Minister whether this was driven by the number of people with disabilities and whether this has changed over time. There were also questions about the current work plan of Whaikaha. There's a number of longstanding issues in terms of providing disability support services that predate Whaikaha. I'd be interested to know—from the Minister from Whaikaha—how and whether these influence the work plan that we have going into the future.Thank you Madam Chair.Hon LOUISE UPSTON (Minister for Disability Issues): Thank you Madam Chair. I do appreciate the opportunity to answer some of the questions that the member raised given the situation that—we didn't get to go through it in detail in the select committee. So I want to put some of that on the record now. In July 2022 the Whaikaha—Ministry of Disabled People was established with high expectations and a budget of about $2 billion. There was clear evidence within the first year after establishment that there was insufficient funding for the Ministry to provide the public services that it was established to provide let alone to respond to the high expectations set out in the establishment Cabinet paper. Information from the 2023-24 Estimates process also tells us that an additional $863.6 million over four years was required to respond to the then emerging cost pressures. A tracking of expenditure from when disability supports were funded through the Disability Directorate which was in the Ministry of Health tells us these funding issues aren't new. Crown expenditure on disability support services adjusted for inflation has roughly doubled from 2005-6 to now. Since 2018 the population receiving disability support services has increased from about 32000 to almost 50000 people. The number of disabled people accessing supports is currently increasing by 3000 to 3500 people per year with their needs becoming more complex. The Ministry now funds disability supports for approximately 50000 people and equipment and modification services for approximately a 100000 people with an annual budget of $2.3 billion. The increased demand for supports and related fiscal pressures became evident again in late 2023 and the Ministry forecasting the appropriation for disability support was at real risk of being breached due to the growth in the numbers of people accessing supports and the increased costs of these supports. On 18 March adjustments to the flexible funding rules were required to ensure disability supports were prioritised to those with the highest need. Clarification of those changes were announced on 24 April. The Government has made a within financial year budget allocation to respond to the increased demand for disability supports and Budget 2024 will respond to these issues. This is not an approach that can be sustained. Disabled people need confidence that disability supports are financially sustainable and that supports provided are consistent and fair. The 2023-24 Estimates hearing raised the concern that the needs assessment and co-ordination services or the NACS across the country were inconsistent in their approaches to assessing eligibility for disability supports and in the allocation of disability supports. That is why on 30 April I announced an independent review of the disability support system. The review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of disability support funding and services to provide disabled people their families and carers with certainty around what they can access. The review will report back within six weeks on the short-term measures required to stabilise the system with the second phase of the review making recommendations on longer-term policy and funding settings. We need a system where the expectations for support are better aligned to the funding available. The disability support system needs to be cost effective and fiscally sustainable allow disabled people choice and control over the services for which they are eligible and importantly we need to ensure disability support funding is not required to ensure disabled people's fair and easy access to mainstream public services.