Lauren
Crimp Political reporter
A
rushed law change last year saw a number of people’s benefit
payments wrongly suspended because officials could not keep
up with the paperwork, the Social Development Ministry has
confirmed.
It’s the second major error identified due
to the law passed under urgency last year.
The new law
requires some beneficiaries to re-confirm their
circumstances at least once every 52 weeks, to check whether
they are still eligible.
That saw thousands of
pensioners missing out on their Winter Energy Payment this
year, which the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Social
Development Minister Louise Upston apologised
for last week.
The Winter Energy Payment should
have been excluded from the legislation.
MSD has now
confirmed to RNZ there was another separate problem: due to
the high volume of people confirming their circumstances,
some of them missed out on their benefit
payments.
“Some responses were not fully processed
before their expiry date, and some payments were suspended
despite people providing the information we requested,” said
service delivery group general manager Shannon
Soughtton.
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
“We apologise to those affected and
recognise the impact this may have had.”
MSD could not
confirm how many people were affected or how long payments
were suspended for, because that information was held in
individual client files.
All payments had resumed and
been backdated, Soughtton said.
“Processing volumes
are now back at expected operating levels, and we are
keeping pace with incoming demand.”
The delays did not
affect most beneficiaries because not everyone needs to
confirm their circumstances, she
said.
New Zealand’s public broadcaster, providing comprehensive NZ news and current affairs, specialist audio features and documentaries.
Radio New Zealand is a Crown entity established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. Radio New Zealand News are vital elements in our programming, providing impartial news and information to New Zealanders every day. Radio New Zealand (RNZ) provides listeners with exciting and independent radio programmes in accordance with the Radio New Zealand Charter.
