1323952 Response.pdf

23/04/2024
A Collins
[email address]
[FYI request #25713 email]
[email address]

Tēnā koe A Collins

OIA: 1323952 – Information regarding proposed and planned major building projects at
schools that have or are being considered to be paused or reprioritised
Thank you for your requests via the FYI website of 12 February 2024 to the Ministry of Education
(the Ministry) requesting information. As agreed to on 29 February 2024, the information requested
is for the following:
1.  Details of any proposed or planned major building projects at schools that are under
consideration or are confirmed for reprioritisation, rescoping, pausing or delay and the
dates that the decisions on these actions were made or are proposed to be finalised.

2.  Copies of all advice, briefings, memos or any other documents provided by the Ministry to
the Minister regarding the reprioritisation, rescoping, pausing, or delaying of proposed or
planned major building projects at schools, since 20 November 2023.

3.  Copies of all internal correspondence regarding the reprioritisation, rescoping, pausing, or
delaying of major building projects at schools, since 20 November 2023.
4.  Copies of all external correspondence sent or received by the Ministry regarding the
reprioritisation, rescoping, pausing, or delaying of major building projects at schools, since
20 November 2023.
On 29 February 2024, you also provided the following clarification of your request:
Regarding the third part of the request, I will refine my request to internal correspondence
with tier 1 and tier 2 staff.
Regarding the fourth part of my request, I would like to define the scope as external
correspondence with the Office of the Minister of Education, and schools.
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).

8 Gilmer Terrace, Levels Ground floor, 1, 2, and 6-14, Wellington
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140 Phone: +64 4 463 8000

41 documents have been identified as being in scope of the first, second, and fourth parts of
your request. These comprise 25 primary documents and 16 associated attachments.
I am releasing to you 19 of these documents in full and 14 in part as Appendix A, with the
following information withheld:
•  The names of former Ministry staff and the phone numbers of individuals which are not
publicly available have been withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to protect the privacy
of natural persons.
•  Information which is Budget sensitive has been withheld under section 9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act,
to maintain the constitutional conventions for the time being which protect the confidentiality
of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown and officials.
•  Free and frank advice has been withheld under section 9(2)(g)(i) of the Act, to maintain the
effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions by or
between or to Ministers of the Crown or organisation in the course of their duty.
•  Information regarding ongoing negotiations has been withheld under section 9(2)(j) of the
Act, to enable a Minister of the Crown or any organisation holding the information to carry
on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial
negotiations).
Please note, Document 1 forms an initial briefing that was provided to Hon Erica Stanford as the
incoming Minister of Education in December 2023, in response to questions raised by the Minister
during a verbal briefing on the Marlborough Colleges project. Following this initial, high-level
briefing note, the Minister requested further details from the Ministry around the history of the
project, including in relation to the changing costs and previous Ministerial/Cabinet engagement on
the matter. These additional details are set out in Documents 5 and 9, which should be read
alongside Document 1.
In the course of preparing this response, a point of potential confusion was raised relating to the
content of Document 9. That Document refers at points 7 and 9 to the Ministry having been
verbally instructed by the former Minister of Education to deliver on the “scope agreed by Cabinet”.
For clarity, the word “scope” refers here to the broad project specifications (i.e. co-location of the
two colleges) that had been agreed to by Cabinet, rather than referring to costs that had been
approved by Cabinet.
Additionally, please also note that through the Dec 2023 – Feb 2024 period where advice was
provided to the Minister’s Office there are inconsistencies with the total projected cost of the
project. These inconsistences primarily relate to using estimates with differing approaches to
adopting cost reduction, risk allowances and value engineering opportunities while maintaining
project scope.
The estimate in Document 1 was informed by independent cost advice as well as cost advice
received from the appointed construction contractors. This estimate did not include adoption of all
available cost reduction and value engineering opportunities, and included significant allowances
for risk.
OIA: 1323952

The estimate in Document 16B was primarily informed by the independent advice received, rather
than the view of the appointed construction contractors. It took a more optimistic view of risk and
the adoption of cost reduction and value engineering opportunities.
I am withholding four documents in full under sections 9(2)(f)(iv) and 9(2)(g)(i) of the Act.
I am refusing the remaining four documents under section 18(d) of the Act, as the information
requested is currently and/or soon to be publicly available.
One of these documents, the list of 352 property projects which are subject to review, can be found
on the Ministry’s website at the following link:
https://assets.education.govt.nz/public/Documents/Primary-Secondary/Property/Value-for-money-
list-for-website-250324.pdf
Once published, you will be able to find the remaining information at the following link:
https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/information-releases/
You can find further information regarding the documents I am releasing to you in the Document
Table below this letter.
As required under section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered the public interest in releasing the
information withheld. I do not consider the public interest considerations favouring the release of
this information are sufficient to outweigh the need to withhold it at this time.

Additionally, regarding the fourth part of your request, we sought additional clarification from you
on 5 March 2024, advising the following:

You clarified that “Copies of all external correspondence sent or received by the Ministry
regarding the reprioritisation, rescoping, pausing, or delaying of major building projects at
schools, since 20 November 2023” included correspondence with schools. This requires
additional clarification as a large number of schools are in scope of your request and it
would require substantial collation to review and provide copies of all of the
correspondence to these schools.

Could you please specify it there are specific schools that you would like to receive
regarding? This would allow the Ministry to ensure we can provide the specific information
you require in a timely manner. Failure to clarify may mean that correspondence to schools
may be refused under section 18(f) of the Act, as the information requested cannot be
made available without substantial collation or research.

As we have not received a clarification from you, I am refusing your request for correspondence
with schools under section 18(f) of the Act, as the information requested cannot be made available
without substantial collation or research.

OIA: 1323952

Three email chains have been identified as in scope of the third part of your request. I am
releasing these to you in part as Appendix B, with the following information withheld:
•  The names and contact details of non-Ministry staff, and all cellphone numbers, have been
withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to protect the privacy of natural persons.
•  Free and frank advice has been withheld under section 9(2)(g)(i) of the Act, to maintain the
effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions by or
between or to Ministers of the Crown or organisation in the course of their duty.
•  Information that is out of scope of the request has also been redacted.
You may also be interested in the following page and its associated links on the Ministry website.
Here you can find information regarding the value-for-money reviews, standard property solutions
for schools, and answers to frequently asked questions:
https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/changes-in-education/value-for-money-reviews/
Please note, we may publish this response on our website. Your name and contact details will be
removed.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision
on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā

Scott Evans
Hautū | Deputy Secretary
Te Pou Hanganga, Matihiko | Infrastructure and Digital

OIA: 1323952

Appendix A Document Table
#
Date

METIS #  Title

Decision on release
1
5 Dec 2023  1319807  Briefing Note: Marlborough Schools
Release in part. Some
Co-location Project
information has been
withheld under section
9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act.
2
6 Dec 2023  1319934  Information Update
Release in part. Information
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(j) of the Act.
3
7 Dec 2023  1319368  Briefing Note: Briefing to the Incoming
Refused in full. Information
Minister | Infrastructure and Digital
has been refused under
section 18(d) of the Act.
3A

Infrastructure & Digital | Te Pou
Refused in full. Information
Hanganga, Matihiko Slides
has been refused under
section 18(d) of the Act.
4
14 Dec
1320375  Information Update
Release in full.
2023
5
19 Dec
1320514  Briefing Note: A summary of
Release in part. Information
2023
Marlborough Colleges Co-location
has been withheld under
Project advice and decisions
sections 9(2)(a) and
9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act.
6
19 Dec
1320562  Information Update
Release in full.
2023
7
9 Jan 2024
1320917  Rapid Response
Release in full.
8
15 Jan
1322810  Rapid Response
Release in part. Information
2024
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(j) of the Act.
9
16 Jan
1320919  Rapid Response
Release in part. Information
2024
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act.
10
17 Jan
1320859  Information Update
Release in part. Information
2024
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(j) of the Act.
11
25 Jan

Agenda – Deep Dive: Property
Release in full.
2024
Funding
11A

Understanding Property Investment
Withhold in full. Information
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act.
11B

Property Capital Injection Funding
Withhold in full. Information
View
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act.
OIA: 1323952

#
Date

METIS #  Title

Decision on release
11C

Redevelopment Dashboard
Release in part. Information
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(j) of the Act.
11D

Growth Fund Dashboard
Release in full.
11E

Property: Focus on a sustainable and
Release in full.
affordable future
12
5 Feb 2024
1322168  Information Update
Release in part. Information
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(j) of the Act.
13
7 Feb 2024
1322389  Information Update
Release in part. Information
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act.
14
9 Feb 2024
1322286  Information Update
Release in full.
15
12 Feb
1322411  Information Update
Release in part. Information
2024
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act.
16
14 Feb
1322740  Information Update
Release in part. Information
2024
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(a) of the Act.
16A

Marlborough Project Summary
Withhold in full. Information
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act.
16B

2024 Project Review Communications
Release in part. Information
Plan
has been withheld under
sections 9(2)(f)(iv) and 9(2)(j)
of the Act.
16C

School visit briefing and profiles
Release in part. Information
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(a) of the Act.
17
14 Feb
1322809  Information Update
Release in full.
2024
18
16 Feb
1322947  Information Update
Release in full.
2024
18A

Ngā iti Kahurangi Dashboard
Release in full.
19
16 Feb
1322938  Information Update
Release in full.
2024
19A

Transforming School Building: A
Release in full.
sustainable and affordable future
OIA: 1323952

#
Date

METIS #  Title

Decision on release
19B

Property: Focus on an affordable and
Release in full.
sustainable future
19C

National sector associations
Release in full.
19D

Phases of delivery rate
Release in part. Information
has been refused under
section 18(d) of the Act and
withheld under section 9(2)(j)
of the Act.
20
16 Feb
1322983  Rapid Response
Release in full.
2024
21
16 Feb
1323007  Rapid Response
Withhold in full. Information
2024
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(g)(i) of the Act.
22
20 Feb
1322984  Information Update
Release in part. Information
2024
has been withheld under
section 9(2)(j) of the Act.
23
28 Feb
1323670  Briefing Note: Meeting with the
Refused in full. Information
2024
Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Poverty Bay
has been refused under
Intermediate and Middle School
section 18(d) of the Act.
Principal Association 10-12pm,
Thursday 29 February at Mount
Maunganui
24
28 Feb
1323728  Rapid Response
Release in full.
2024
24A

Review Project List
Release in full.
24B

List of Projects
Refused in full. Information
has been refused under
section 18(d) of the Act.
25
28 Feb
1323801  Rapid Response
Release in full.
2024

OIA: 1323952