28 Nov 2012

Politicians question Te Puni Kokiri on Whanau Ora

6:56 pm on 28 November 2012

Politicians have questioned the Ministry of Maori Development about the monitoring of the social welfare policy, Whanau Ora.

The department, known as Te Puni Kokiri, has been asked how it plans to monitor and review the scheme after a funding assessment found money was being handed out without proper checks.

The deputy secretary of Whanau Ora, Herewini Te Koha, gave a strong defence of the policy.

He told the Maori Affairs Select Committee to dispel the idea that Whanau Ora is being rolled out without adequate and strong monitoring.

He says Whanau Ora is just moving out of the establishment stage, which was about reviewing and refining the programme.

Mr Te Koha says now the focus is about collecting the evidence of the outcomes.

He says Te Puni Kokiri has teamed up with a research group, to set up a website to provide evidence about Whanau Ora - as well as stories from families in the programme.