Finance Minister Bill English says the Government is not considering cutting baseline funding to the Ministry of Social Development as part of its welfare reforms.
Cabinet papers indicate that a portion of the ministry's baseline funding could depend on its performance in moving people off welfare.
Mr English says some of the ministry's funding will be performance-based but only in areas where it is specifically tied to getting people off long-term welfare, and baseline funding will be unaffected.
Earlier, Labour's social development spokesperson, Jacinda Ardern, said the ministry is already financially stretched and performance-based funding could plunge it into a funding crisis.
