School Lunch Programme - more details on feedback
Andrew Riddell made this Official Information request to David Seymour
Currently waiting for a response from David Seymour, they must respond promptly and normally no later than (details and exceptions).
From: Andrew Riddell
Dear David Seymour,
On 24 March you answered an information request of mine about the positive feedback you state has been received on the current school lunch programme (your reference DSOIA459).
You attached an Appendix A which is, apparently, positive feedback from schools.
You also note that
"My Ministerial and Electorate offices do not categorise incoming correspondence according ot the apparent personal characteristics of the correspondent, such as their age, or according to the nature of the feedback provided." and
"A selection of positive feedback from schools has been emailed to the School Lunch Collective and the Ministry of Education. The Ministry and area managers are also receiving positive comments when they visit schools. While an official record of positive comments from schools is not maintained, it is gratifying for the team working on the school lunches programme to receive this feedback."
Frankly what you have provided to support your claims about positive feedback on the current school lunch programme is deficient in terms of context and when the recorded comments were made.
So I request:
(a) an estimate of the proportion of correspondence received by your Ministerial Office on the school lunch programme that is positive
(b) the dates each of the comments recorded in the Appendix A document were received
(c) for each the comments recorded whether that comment was received by School Lunch Collective or whether it was received by the Ministry of Education
Finally I note that the apparent lack of record keeping on correspondence from the public on the school lunch programme that you reported in your previous letter may be in breach of the Public Records Act.
Ngā mihi
Andrew Riddell
From: David Seymour (MIN)
David Seymour
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From: David Seymour (MIN)
David Seymour
Dear Andrew
Thank you for your email in which you submitted an Official Information
Act request as follows:
(a) an estimate of the proportion of correspondence received by your
Ministerial Office on the school lunch programme that is positive
(b) the dates each of the comments recorded in the Appendix A document
were received
(c) for each the comments recorded whether that comment was received by
School Lunch Collective or whether it was received by the Ministry of
Education
We received your request on Wednesday 26 March 2025. We will endeavour to
respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than
Monday 28 April 2025, being 20 working days after the day your request was
received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will
notify you of an extension of that timeframe.
The response date takes into account:
1. Good Friday (18 April 2025)
2. Easter Monday (21 April 2025)
3. Anzac Day (25 April 2025)
Kind regards,
Office of Hon David Seymour
[1]A pink and Deputy Prime Minister (from 31 May 2025)
white emblem
with two women Minister for Regulation
holding flags Associate Minister of Education
Description
automatically Associate Minister of Justice
generated
Associate Minister of Finance
Associate Minister of Health
7.6 Executive Wing, Parliament Buildings, Wellington
DSOIA479
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Riddell <[FOI #30538 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 26 March 2025 9:01 PM
To: David Seymour (MIN) <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - School Lunch Programme - more
details on feedback
Dear David Seymour,
On 24 March you answered an information request of mine about the positive
feedback you state has been received on the current school lunch programme
(your reference DSOIA459).
You attached an Appendix A which is, apparently, positive feedback from
schools.
You also note that
"My Ministerial and Electorate offices do not categorise incoming
correspondence according ot the apparent personal characteristics of the
correspondent, such as their age, or according to the nature of the
feedback provided." and
"A selection of positive feedback from schools has been emailed to the
School Lunch Collective and the Ministry of Education. The Ministry and
area managers are also receiving positive comments when they visit
schools. While an official record of positive comments from schools is not
maintained, it is gratifying for the team working on the school lunches
programme to receive this feedback."
Frankly what you have provided to support your claims about positive
feedback on the current school lunch programme is deficient in terms of
context and when the recorded comments were made.
So I request:
(a) an estimate of the proportion of correspondence received by your
Ministerial Office on the school lunch programme that is positive
(b) the dates each of the comments recorded in the Appendix A document
were received
(c) for each the comments recorded whether that comment was received by
School Lunch Collective or whether it was received by the Ministry of
Education
Finally I note that the apparent lack of record keeping on correspondence
from the public on the school lunch programme that you reported in your
previous letter may be in breach of the Public Records Act.
Ngā mihi
Andrew Riddell
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From: David Seymour (MIN)
David Seymour
Dear Andrew
Thank you for your email of 26 March 2025 requesting the following
information in light of my response of 24 March 2025 to your previous
request:
(a) an estimate of the proportion of correspondence received by your
Ministerial Office on the school lunch programme that is positive
(b) the dates each of the comments recorded in the Appendix A document
were received
(c) for each the comments recorded whether that comment was received by
School Lunch Collective or whether it was received by the Ministry of
Education
I have considered your request under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act).
As noted in my previous response, I receive a significant volume of
correspondence on all matters within my portfolio and electorate
responsibilities, including the school lunches programme. My Ministerial
and Electorate offices do not categorise incoming correspondence according
to the nature of the feedback provided – for example, whether that
feedback is positive or negative. On that basis, I am again refusing part
(a) of your request under section 18(f) of the Act, as the information
cannot be made available without substantial collation or research.
As also stated in my previous response, the selection of positive feedback
from schools that I provided to you was a collation of emails or comments
made to the School Lunch Collective and the Ministry of Education (the
Ministry) that was provided to me in the format released to you. As such,
I do not hold the information requested, but I believed it to be held by
and more closely connected with the functions of the Ministry. I am
therefore transferring these parts of your request to the Ministry under
sections 14(b)(i) and 14(b)(ii) of the Act, and am extending the 10
working day time limit available to make this transfer, to 24 April 2025,
due to the consultations necessary to make a decision on these parts of
your request.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to
review this decision. You can do this by writing to
[1][email address] or Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152,
Wellington 6143.
On behalf of Hon David Seymour
Associate Minister of Education
Office of Hon David Seymour
[2]A pink and Deputy Prime Minister (from 31 May 2025)
white emblem
with two women Minister for Regulation
holding flags Associate Minister of Education
Description
automatically Associate Minister of Justice
generated
Associate Minister of Finance
Associate Minister of Health
7.6 Executive Wing, Parliament Buildings, Wellington
DSOIA479
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Riddell <[FOI #30538 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 26 March 2025 9:01 PM
To: David Seymour (MIN) <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - School Lunch Programme - more
details on feedback
Dear David Seymour,
On 24 March you answered an information request of mine about the positive
feedback you state has been received on the current school lunch programme
(your reference DSOIA459).
You attached an Appendix A which is, apparently, positive feedback from
schools.
You also note that
"My Ministerial and Electorate offices do not categorise incoming
correspondence according ot the apparent personal characteristics of the
correspondent, such as their age, or according to the nature of the
feedback provided." and
"A selection of positive feedback from schools has been emailed to the
School Lunch Collective and the Ministry of Education. The Ministry and
area managers are also receiving positive comments when they visit
schools. While an official record of positive comments from schools is not
maintained, it is gratifying for the team working on the school lunches
programme to receive this feedback."
Frankly what you have provided to support your claims about positive
feedback on the current school lunch programme is deficient in terms of
context and when the recorded comments were made.
So I request:
(a) an estimate of the proportion of correspondence received by your
Ministerial Office on the school lunch programme that is positive
(b) the dates each of the comments recorded in the Appendix A document
were received
(c) for each the comments recorded whether that comment was received by
School Lunch Collective or whether it was received by the Ministry of
Education
Finally I note that the apparent lack of record keeping on correspondence
from the public on the school lunch programme that you reported in your
previous letter may be in breach of the Public Records Act.
Ngā mihi
Andrew Riddell
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[3][FOI #30538 email]
Is [4][David Seymour request email] the wrong address for Official
Information requests to David Seymour? If so, please contact us using this
form:
[5]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://fyi....
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[6]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://fyi....
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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From: Enquiries National
Kia ora Andrew
Thank you for the information request below, that was transferred to the
Ministry on 24 April 2025.
The Ministry will consider and respond to your request in accordance with
the Official Information Act 1982 the Act).
Under section 15(1) of the Act, we are required to make and inform you of
our decision on your request as soon as reasonably practicable and in any
case not later than 20 working days after the day on which your request is
received. You can therefore expect to receive our decision on your request
on or before 23 May 2025. If more than 20 working days are needed due to
the potential workload and/or consultations involved in answering your
request, we will notify you accordingly.
The Ministry may publicly release on our website the response to your
request five days after you have received it. Any personal information
will be removed.
In the interim, if you have any questions about your request, please email
[1][email address]
Ngā mihi
Enquiries National Team | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of
Education | TW
[2]education.govt.nz
We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent
outcomes
He mea tārai e mātou te mātauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai
ōna huanga
[3]Te TD huhu o te MD tauranga
From: David Seymour (MIN) <[4][email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 24 April 2025 1:33 PM
To: [5][FOI #30538 email]
Subject: Official Information request - School Lunch Programme - more
details on feedback
Dear Andrew
Thank you for your email of 26 March 2025 requesting the following
information in light of my response of 24 March 2025 to your previous
request:
(a) an estimate of the proportion of correspondence received by your
Ministerial Office on the school lunch programme that is positive
(b) the dates each of the comments recorded in the Appendix A document
were received
(c) for each the comments recorded whether that comment was received by
School Lunch Collective or whether it was received by the Ministry of
Education
I have considered your request under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act).
As noted in my previous response, I receive a significant volume of
correspondence on all matters within my portfolio and electorate
responsibilities, including the school lunches programme. My Ministerial
and Electorate offices do not categorise incoming correspondence according
to the nature of the feedback provided – for example, whether that
feedback is positive or negative. On that basis, I am again refusing part
(a) of your request under section 18(f) of the Act, as the information
cannot be made available without substantial collation or research.
As also stated in my previous response, the selection of positive feedback
from schools that I provided to you was a collation of emails or comments
made to the School Lunch Collective and the Ministry of Education (the
Ministry) that was provided to me in the format released to you. As such,
I do not hold the information requested, but I believed it to be held by
and more closely connected with the functions of the Ministry. I am
therefore transferring these parts of your request to the Ministry under
sections 14(b)(i) and 14(b)(ii) of the Act, and am extending the 10
working day time limit available to make this transfer, to 24 April 2025,
due to the consultations necessary to make a decision on these parts of
your request.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to
review this decision. You can do this by writing to
[6][email address] or Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152,
Wellington 6143.
On behalf of Hon David Seymour
Associate Minister of Education
Office of Hon David Seymour
[7]A pink and Deputy Prime Minister (from 31 May 2025)
white emblem
with two women Minister for Regulation
holding flags Associate Minister of Education
Description
automatically Associate Minister of Justice
generated
Associate Minister of Finance
Associate Minister of Health
7.6 Executive Wing, Parliament Buildings, Wellington
DSOIA479
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Riddell <[8][FOI #30538 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 26 March 2025 9:01 PM
To: David Seymour (MIN) <[9][email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - School Lunch Programme - more
details on feedback
Dear David Seymour,
On 24 March you answered an information request of mine about the positive
feedback you state has been received on the current school lunch programme
(your reference DSOIA459).
You attached an Appendix A which is, apparently, positive feedback from
schools.
You also note that
"My Ministerial and Electorate offices do not categorise incoming
correspondence according ot the apparent personal characteristics of the
correspondent, such as their age, or according to the nature of the
feedback provided." and
"A selection of positive feedback from schools has been emailed to the
School Lunch Collective and the Ministry of Education. The Ministry and
area managers are also receiving positive comments when they visit
schools. While an official record of positive comments from schools is not
maintained, it is gratifying for the team working on the school lunches
programme to receive this feedback."
Frankly what you have provided to support your claims about positive
feedback on the current school lunch programme is deficient in terms of
context and when the recorded comments were made.
So I request:
(a) an estimate of the proportion of correspondence received by your
Ministerial Office on the school lunch programme that is positive
(b) the dates each of the comments recorded in the Appendix A document
were received
(c) for each the comments recorded whether that comment was received by
School Lunch Collective or whether it was received by the Ministry of
Education
Finally I note that the apparent lack of record keeping on correspondence
from the public on the school lunch programme that you reported in your
previous letter may be in breach of the Public Records Act.
Ngā mihi
Andrew Riddell
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[10][FOI #30538 email]
Is [11][David Seymour request email] the wrong address for Official
Information requests to David Seymour? If so, please contact us using this
form:
[12]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://fyi....
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[13]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://fyi....
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Andrew Riddell left an annotation ()
Minister Seymour is trying to deny he has the level of information necessary to provide an estimate of the proportion of school lunch emails he has received that are concerned with the current school lunch programme. He has transferred to the rest of the request to the Ministry of Education. Not good enough I reckon.
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