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The Government has extended the employee support subsidy for quake-affected businesses inWellington and Hurunui District, Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley have announced.

“While Wellington is mostly open for business, a small number of employers are still unable to open their doors and we’re still seeing new applications come in,” Mr Bridges says.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says that a Bill enabling the second stage of major state care reforms has passed its first reading in Parliament.

The reforms are part of the overhaul of care and protection, aimed at improving the long-term life outcomes for New Zealand’s most vulnerable children and young people.

“The current system is not delivering the futures that our children deserve,” says Mrs Tolley.

The wage subsidy package for quake-affected businesses in and around Kaikoura will be extended for a further eight weeks, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley announced today.

Following on from the 14 November earthquake, the Government announced an initial wage subsidy package of eight weeks to help businesses in and around Kaikoura. Ministers committed to reviewing the package before Christmas as more information became available.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the second stage of major legislative reforms aimed at improving the long-term life outcomes for New Zealand’s most vulnerable children and young people has been introduced into Parliament.

“Significant reform is essential for truly transformational change in the overhaul of state care and protection, to provide children and young people with loving, stable homes and the successful lives they deserve,” says Mrs Tolley.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has congratulated the young people who have been recognised at today’s tenth annual William Wallace Awards ceremony in Wellington.

The awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of young people in care or with experience in care, and provide scholarships of up to $3,000 to help them pursue tertiary study, vocational training, leadership programmes or an Outward Bound course.

The youth justice system will be extended to include lower risk 17 year-olds, Justice Minister Amy Adams and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley have announced today.

The changes, which will take place by 2019, will ensure that all 17 year-old offenders are dealt with according to which jurisdiction is best suited to the particular case.

The vast majority of 17 year-old offenders are lower risk. They will be dealt with in the Youth Court where the interventions are more targeted and lead to better results.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the first set of major reforms in the overhaul of care and protection have passed a third reading in Parliament.

“These reforms are crucial if we are to deliver a truly child-centred care system,” says Mrs Tolley.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Corrections Minister Judith Collins have announced the launch of the second stage of a new $15.3 million initiative to help offenders prepare for, find and stay in employment and reduce reoffending.

The Salvation Army and Workwise will work with the offenders from ten weeks before until twelve months after their release to give them the support they need to develop the necessary skills to find and maintain a job, while also increasing support for employers to take on offenders.

The Government has announced today that the employee support subsidy for quake-affected businesses has been extended to support specific Wellington region businesses prevented from operating for several weeks due to building damage as a result of the November 14 earthquake.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley say the assistance package will be available to businesses that cannot operate due to cordons put in place, and are unable to move and operate anywhere else.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has announced extra support for the clean-up in Kaikoura and surrounding areas following the recent earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.

The Minister has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), a temporary employment programme which helps councils to employ local jobseekers to support the clean-up operation.

Initial funding of $500,000 will be available to cover the wages of workers and supervisors, help hire or purchase personal safety or light equipment and hire transport for work crews.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced an increase in the number of seasonal workers who can come to New Zealand to work in the horticulture and viticulture industry under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.

The current cap will be increased by 1,000 from 9,500 to 10,500 RSE workers for the 2016-17 season.

Mr Woodhouse says the horticulture and viticulture industry is New Zealand’s fourth largest export industry, producing almost $5 billion in exports.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says that current Work and Income clients who were underpaid due to a coding error in Accommodation Supplement payments will start to receive reimbursements this week.

The incorrect payments, which date back to 1993, have resulted in 49,000 current and former clients being eligible for payments. 22,000 current clients will receive a total of $14 million in reimbursements, with all of the payments expected to be made by the end of the year, accompanied by a letter of apology from the Ministry.

Eligibility for housing assistance and student allowances could be established more accurately under information sharing proposals released for public consultation today by Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse.

Information sharing already exists between IRD and MSD, but the Government is proposing to group the various current information sharing agreements into one.

The proposals also extend the use of information to enable MSD to:

The Government has announced a wage subsidy package as an initial step to help small businesses in and around Kaikoura. The package will assist those companies most seriously disrupted by this week's earthquakes to retain their staff while the district recovers.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley say that the complete closure of State Highway One to the north and south of Kaikoura has stranded the business sectors of Kaikoura and other small towns in the area.

The 0800 779 997 Government Helpline has been activated to assist people needing financial and other support following the November 14 earthquake, Acting Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley say.

The 0800 779 997 number will operate seven days a week from 7am to 9pm until further notice.

“The Helpline provides a one-stop source of information on the services and assistance available to people affected by the emergency,” Mr Brownlee says.

Changes to tax laws will clarify that payments to foster carers for the care of children and young people cannot be treated as income and are not subject to income tax, say Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse.

Foster carers receive a care allowance from the government to help meet the needs of a child or young person such as board, personal items, pocket money, and additional reasonable costs.

Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley have today announced two new Auckland jobs and skills hubs as part of the latest update of the Skilled and Safe Workplaces chapter of the Business Growth Agenda.

“I am pleased to announce new jobs and skills hubs at both the Wynyard Quarter and Tamaki, which will give young people a pathway to employment in the construction sector, as well as on-site numeracy, literacy and practical skills training,” Mr Joyce says.

Justice Minister Amy Adams and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley say that a comprehensive information sharing framework is to be created to keep vulnerable children and young people safe from harm, as part of the radical overhaul of care and protection.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says that the first stage of major state care reforms has passed its second reading in Parliament.

As part of the radical overhaul of care and protection, the first raft of legislative changes in the Children, Young Persons and Their Families (Advocacy, Workforce and Age Settings) Amendment Bill will:

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says the latest Better Public Services update shows the number of working age people on a main benefit fell to 279,769 at the end of March 2016, and has reduced the future liability to the benefit system and taxpayers by $3.6 billion.

“As part of this Government’s Better Public Service targets, we are working to help more families be independent of welfare and reduce the future costs of long-term benefit dependence,” Mrs Tolley says.

Associate Social Development Minister Jo Goodhew is welcoming technological advances as part of the Simplification programme at the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), which are making a big difference for beneficiaries.

“The Government is committed to delivering Better Public Services to all New Zealanders. Serving over 1 million Kiwis every year, it is important that clients can access MSD services in user-friendly and modern ways,” says Mrs Goodhew.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says more young people will have access to increased support to become independent following an extension of the Youth Service which comes into effect this week.

Budget 2016 invested $41 million to allow the Youth Service to be extended to 19 year-old parents, one of the groups most at risk of long-term welfare dependency. 

Ministers today welcomed the start of the second Integrated Safety Response (ISR) pilot site in Waikato and announced another $1.4 million in new funding to support the pilot programme.

The ISR pilot involves core agencies and specialist family violence NGOs working together as a team to ensure that families experiencing violence get the help and support they need to stay safe.

An additional $1.4 million from the Justice Sector Fund will support the new site in Waikato, as well as the Christchurch pilot site which has been up and running since 4 July.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley say a collaboration between MSD and four DHBs will trial different ways to support people with health conditions and disabilities into work.

“Across government, Ministries are exploring ways they can work more collaboratively with the aim of improving the overall life outcomes of New Zealanders,” says Dr Coleman.