Appendix 1: Response to feedback on our draft annual plan

Section 36 of the Public Audit Act 2001 outlines the requirements for the preparation of the annual plan of the Auditor-General. This includes the consideration of any comments of the Speaker or any committee of the House of Representatives on our Draft annual plan 2021/22. The information below outlines feedback received from committees and our response to the feedback.

The Finance and Expenditure Committee (FEC) suggested we consider how efficiently Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities is delivering housing projects, the quality of social housing being built, and the interaction between agencies involved in housing delivery. The FEC was also interested in our work on improving education outcomes, in particular the relationship between access to adequate housing and education outcomes, and how the work of other public organisations might contribute to this. We have added an efficiency perspective to our work on planning of significant housing and urban development projects. We will consider FEC's feedback as we carry out more detailed planning of other work.

The Justice Committee suggested we focus on public sector collaboration. We will consider this, where relevant, in all our planned work. Our continued work on the Joint Venture for Family Violence and Sexual Violence, in particular, will assess how agencies are working together.

Komiti Māori suggested we extend our work on improving outcomes for Māori to specifically take into account the Crown's partnership obligations under te Tiriti o Waitangi as a measure of public sector performance.

This is an area of interest for the Office. In 2021/22, we plan to examine the investment in initiatives designed to improve outcomes for Māori, and what has been achieved as a result. In 2022/23, we intend to progress work to look specifically at how well public organisations are meeting Tiriti o Waitangi settlement obligations. In the future, we might look at how the public sector is supporting the Crown in its relationships with Māori under te Tiriti, as required by the new Public Service Act 2020.

As a result of feedback received, we have expanded our planned work on the Canterbury earthquakes response to take a broader focus on the emergency management system. We now propose to carry out this work in 2022/23. This will allow us to build on what we learn through our work on the Covid-19 response and our work on Auckland's emergency management, which we will conclude in 2021/22. It also means we have been able to include additional work in 2021/22 on the Government's progress in improving mental health services.