Number of beneficiary No fixed abode addresses in database as of now
Miss W. Forest made this Official Information request to Ministry of Social Development
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From: Miss W. Forest
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
Please provide as of when ever you perform the query -
The total number of clients who have No fixed abode as their residential address regardless what their mailing address and where they receive at least one main benefit.
This should be a simple database query.
Yours faithfully,
Miss W. Forest
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tēnā koe Miss W. Forest,
Thank you for your email received 17 October 2024, under the Official Information Act 1982. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officials at National Office to respond.
Ngā manaakitanga,
Official Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake
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From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tçnâ koe Miss W. Forest
Please find attached the Ministry’s response to your Official Information
Act request.
Nâ mâtou noa, nâ
Official Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent
Manaaki Tangata, Manaaki Whânau
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Miss W. Forest left an annotation ()
Addresses are stored on a client’s file in multiple free-text fields. This means that staff are not restricted to standardised selections when inputting a client’s address, such as a ‘no fixed abode’ option. As staff may choose to write freely into these fields, there is not a central way to collate this information based on a ‘no fixed abode’ option – for example, staff may write other statuses such as ‘not known’ or may spell text incorrectly.
In order to provide you with this information, the Ministry would need to divert personnel from their core duties to confirm the addresses are in a standardised format. The diversion of these resources would impair the Ministry’s ability to continue standard operations and would be an inefficient use of the Ministry’s resources. As such, your request is refused under section 18(f) of the Act, as it requires substantial collation. The greater public interest is in the effective and efficient administration of the public service.
I have considered whether the Ministry would be able to respond to your requests given extra time, or the ability to charge for the information requested. I have concluded that, in either case, the Ministry’s ability to undertake its work would still be prejudiced.
Although it does not specify whether people are on a main benefit, it may be helpful to know that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) publishes the total population of people experiencing homelessness, broken down by ethnicity and region, on their website, at the following link: www.hud.govt.nz/stats-and- insights/homelessness-outlook/homelessness-indicators.
Link to this