9. PHIL HEATLEY (National—Whangarei) Link to this
to the Minister of Housing
Does he stand by his statement on 3 October regarding Housing New Zealand Corporation tenant fraud or dishonesty that “At the beginning of last month, 1164 referrals were with the Investigations Unit. More than half of those have now been reviewed and closed or referred for other types of action, leaving 431 cases either waiting to be assessed, under investigation or currently being assessed by the Crown prosecutor.”?
Hon CHRIS CARTERHow could the investigations unit possibly have reviewed 700-plus cases in only 23 working days, given that it had allowed such a backlog in the first place?
The backlog at the Housing New Zealand Corporation that the member referred to was located in two places: at the beginning, when cases were referred on; and at the end, when cases needed to be sent to the Crown prosecutor. I can report that the cases that were waiting to be sent to the Crown prosecutor have all happened; they required no further investigation. Those at the beginning of the process were looked at to see whether there was any correct documentation, and whether there was any validity to the accusations. Most of those accusations were by neighbours about alleged partners being in the house, or undeclared income, and many of them were found to have no basis or substance. [ Interruption]
Madam SPEAKERI would hear the calls for points of order if, in fact, members did not make so much noise in the House. I do not need any assistance from members.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. If you will reflect, you will see that my question was quite clear: how could the investigations unit possibly have looked at 700-plus cases in only 23 working days? He never said how it had possibly looked at 700-plus cases.
I thank the member. I understand his point of order. The Minister did address the question. I listened to it very carefully.
Russell Fairbrother Link to this
What action has the Minister taken to improve the operation of the investigations unit of the Housing New Zealand Corporation?
This answer may go some way to answering the previous question, as well. As I have previously advised the House, I wrote to the board of the corporation on 28 June, seeking assurances about the investigations unit. In response, the corporation has appointed a new central manager to take clearer responsibility for this area; started enhancing the processes of the unit; commissioned a peer review of the investigations unit from the Ministry of Social Development, which operates a similar function; introduced a screening framework for incoming referrals, to decide on how to deal with them; and, of course, dramatically reduced the backlog.
Is the corporation’s deputy chair’s confession true that of the 700-plus cases reviewed over those 23 working days, only 12 percent have been closed, leaving 600-plus cases still under some sort of action; if so, what sort of action?
I think I should clarify the situation, because the member is making a great deal of these numbers. Last year the investigations unit investigated over 600 cases; 87 percent did not result in a Crown debt, a finding of fraud, or a prosecution. Most of these cases are actually malicious cases of people dobbing in neighbours, which very quick investigation reveals are not true.
Will the Minister admit that of the September backlog of 1,164 cases, 600-plus cases are still under some sort of investigation, and 431 are still to be assessed; and when will these 1,000-plus cases be properly investigated and finally put to bed?
No, I cannot confirm that. What I can confirm is that last year 87 percent were found not to be true.