22/04/2024
Sal y Kidd
[FYI request #26037 email]
Tēnā koe Sal y
OIA: 1324542 – Physical Disabilities services
Thank you for your email of 9 March 2024, and clarification of 18 March 2024, to the Ministry of
Education (the Ministry) requesting the fol owing information:
Could you please provide me with the number of children [for the 2022/2023 Financial year]
who have been referred to the Physical Disabilities services in New Zealand, and the
number that have been successful in their application and since received services.
Could I please also have a breakdown of these applications on geographical locations.
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
In most parts of New Zealand, the physical disability service is provided by the Ministry. In some
areas this service is provided by other specialist providers. There are five contracted providers
(four specialist schools and external provider OTRS). In areas where the Ministry is the provider,
schools send their requests for support to their local Ministry office to be processed. Schools who
are in the areas that use other providers send their requests for support straight to the provider for
processing.
I note that data recorded by the Ministry for Ministry delivered services is held separately to data
recorded by the five contracted providers.
In Table One in Appendix A, I am providing you with data on Physical Disabilities services
delivered by the Ministry at a national and regional level for the Financial Year 2022/2023.
When schools make requests for support to the Ministry, the requests are processed by each
regional office and the jobs are al ocated accordingly. There are a number of ways in which a
school can request support, including through a form. Schools do not request a particular service,
rather they request support by describing a presenting learning and wel being need.
Al requests that come to the Ministry, no matter what the need, are processed and loaded into the
Ministry Client Management System and the appropriate Service Manager works with the school
and their specialist team to decide on next steps. For this reason, there is not specific data
Wel ington National Office, 1 The Terrace, Levels 5 to 14, Wellington 6011
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140, DX SR51201 Phone: +64 4 463 8000
col ected on requests related to services, as the response to the request wil be dependent on the
needs of the child, not a specified service.
This aspect of your request is therefore refused under section 18(g) of the Act, as the information
requested is not held by the Ministry and I have no grounds for believing that the information is
either held by or connected more closely with the functions of another department or agency
subject to the Act.
For the five contracted providers I am providing you with information about their requests for
support and their number of delivered services in Tables Two and Three in Appendix A. The
information is col ected by the providers and reported on annual y to the Ministry. Some providers
report on calendar years as opposed to financial years. Where this is the case, I am providing you
with their reported data for 2022 and 2023 calendar years.
Please note, we may publish this response on our website after five working days. Your name and
contact details wil 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, Wel ington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Michel e Ashby
General Manager, Learning Support
Te Mahau | Te Pae Aronui (Operations and Integration)
OIA: 1324542
Appendix A
Table One: Ministry provided Physical Disabilities services in New Zealand at a National and
Regional Level for the Financial Year 2022/2023
Regions
FY22/23
Tai Tokerau
16
Auckland
133
Waikato
37
Bay of Plenty, Waiariki
60
Hawke's Bay, Tairāwhiti
11
Taranaki, Whanganui, Manawatū
55
Wel ington
40
Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast
67
Canterbury, Chatham Islands
100
Otago, Southland
111
National
630
Please note:
- Data was extracted on the 01/07/2023.
- Data reflects the number of services granted rather than the number of children.
Sometimes a child may receive more than one service during a year or throughout their
schooling. In these cases, the service may have finished but needs to start again later
based on the child’s changing needs or changing circumstances.
Table Two: Physical Disability Service OTRS provider data for the 2022/2023 Financial Year
Physical
Number of
Number of
Year
Disability
Applications /
Successful
provider
referrals received
applications
FY 22/23
OTRS
15
10
Please note:
- Data has been sourced from the OTRS annual report and has not been verified by the
Ministry.
OIA: 1324542
Table Three: Physical Disability Service provider data for the calendar years 2022 and 2023
Year
Physical Disability provider
Number of
Number of
Applications /
Successful
referrals received
applications
2022
Lincoln Heights School
10
8
Waitakere Col ege
21
19
Papatoetoe South School
118
82
Kimi Ora School
38
12
2023
Lincoln Heights School
5
3
Waitakere Col ege
19
14
Papatoetoe South School
101
54
Kimi Ora School*
46*
32*
Please note:
- Data has been sourced from providers annual reports and has not been verified by the
Ministry.
- 2023 Kimi Ora data is not complete as it does not include Term 1 data.
OIA: 1324542
