Measuring our performance

Our Estimates measures

Our Estimates measures track our delivery of the initiatives and services we are funded to deliver against specific annual targets. While these measures are reviewed annually, we aim to minimise changes to maintain comparability over time.

Performance information

Measure	Standard 2023/24	Actual 2022/23	Actual 2023/24	Status
Departmental output expenses
Connecting people with supports and communities
Enabling Good Lives (EGL) Christchurch Demonstration
The EGL approach (access to an EGL connector and a flexible, personalised budget) is made available to 98 percent of eligible Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) verified students in Christchurch (Note 1)	Achieved	Achieved	Achieved	Status
Mana Whaikaha
Access to EGL budgets (Personal Budget, Early Investment and Immediate Resourcing) and support are made available to 99 percent of eligible disabled people who submit an EGL Proposal to Mana Whaikaha	99%	100%	100%
Stewardship of the Disability System
The Ministry procurement process is in line with government standards (Note 2)	Achieved	Achieved	Achieved
This measure relates only to Departmental spend.
The percentage of complaints in regards to Disability Support Services (DSS) that receive either a resolution notification or progress update within 20 days of DSS receiving the complaint	95%	94.5%	96.2%
Whaikaha received 79 complaints about the quality of DSS - three of those were not managed in the timeframe.
Average score attained from a sample of Whaikaha written policy advice as assessed using the agreed Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Framework	Greater than 3.2 out of 5	N/A (Disclosure 1)	3.23
Ministerial satisfaction with the policy advice service	Equal to or greater than 4 out of 5	4.2	3.68
The standard was not met. The 2023/24 satisfaction survey noted a decrease in the overall trust rating and a slight decrease in the general satisfaction rating. A change in Minister was announced part-way through the financial year in April 2024.
Non-departmental output expenses
Community-based support services
The percentage of self-directed funding arrangements to improve the person's choice, control and flexibility (for example, Choices in Community Living, Individualised Funding, Enhanced Individualised Funding, Flexible Disability Supports, Personal Budgets and EGL) within the total client population is greater than or equal to	10%	28.5%	33.9%
The standard was significantly exceeded. In 2022/23, changes in purchasing guidelines were made to provide additional flexibility, particularly around Individualised Funding respite. As more people have become aware of the flexibility that individual funding offers, more people have approached NASC requesting this option. Changes to the guidelines in March/April 2024 has restricted the use of Individualised Funding, which may reduce this trend going forward.
Connecting and strengthening disability communities
All new eligible DSS clients are assessed within 20 days of referral is equal to or greater than	80%	82.5%	41.3%
The standard was not met. Upon review of Whaikaha measures, we noted an error in the calculation of this measure and have corrected this. For the purposes of this result, new clients include re-entered clients requiring assessment. The recalculated result for 2022/23 is 48%. Refer to disclosure of judgements.
All new clients assessed as being eligible for Whaikaha-funded support are provided with their support options within 20 days of assessment is equal to or greater than	85%	91.6%	82.8%
The standard was not met. Twelve NASCs exceeded the standard. The median is skewed by a NASC that is operating significantly below the standard. The contributing factors for this included providers not being able to give the requested service due to difficulties recruiting and retaining staff, a small pool of available workers to recruit from, and having potentially too few providers for some services.
Early intervention support services
The percentage of those disabled people who were referred to a Behaviour Support Treatment Programme and completed it is greater than or equal to	75%	69.5%	68%
The standard was not met. Due to increasingly long waitlists, by the time people are offered the service they may not wish to continue, or it is no longer required. Long wait times also mean that behaviours have become far more complex and challenging for families to manage. Work is underway to provide support to waitlisted families and trial options to offer a range of options for service. These are intended to help reduce the waitlists.
Environmental support services
The percentage of equipment available and supplied from the Ministry of Health's standardised equipment list to ensure value for money is greater than or equal to	75%	74.9%	73.6%
The standard was not met. The number of people served has grown at a rate that requires the overall stock of equipment to grow faster than expected, which means reissue has made up a lower proportion of the total.
Residential-based support services
Percentage of DSS clients moving from mainstream residential service to community support services increases over time so that the percentage receiving community support services is greater than or equal to	77%	83.6%	86.3%
The standard was significantly exceeded. The number of people in residential support has been relatively static over the last 10 years, while the number of total people supported by DSS has increased significantly.
Non-departmental other expenses
*Community Capacity and Support* An exemption from performance reporting was granted under section 15D(2)(b)(iii) of the Public Finance Act 1989.

Disclosure 1: Whaikaha was established on 1 July 2022. In its first year of operation, it did not produce sufficient policy work to provide an accurate measurement for 2022/23.

Note 1: Currently ORS-verified students aged 14+ are eligible for the EGL approach in the Christchurch demonstration.

Note 2: This measure considers whether the Whaikaha departmental expenditure procurement process is aligned to MSD’s procurement processes and procedures, which in turn align with the Government Procurement Rules.

Disclosure of judgements

The judgements, estimates and assumptions that have the most significant impact on selection of performance measures are disclosed below.

The Ministry of Disabled People - Whaikaha is a New Zealand government departmental agency as defined by section 5 of the Public Service Act 2020. The relevant legislation governing our operations includes the Public Finance Act 1989, the Public Service Act 2020 and the Public Accountability Act 1998.

Whaikaha's ultimate parent is the New Zealand Crown. We are the principal steward of New Zealand’s DSS which works to drive improved outcomes for disabled people.

Most of the funded supports for disabled people previously commissioned through MoH are now commissioned through Whaikaha.

The Ministry is focused on creating an inclusive and accessible Aotearoa New Zealand, recognising the importance of involving people from the disabled community in decision-making that affects their lives.

We work to ensure that services we administer, and the system as a whole, are effective and efficient, work as intended, achieve the intended outcomes and are fit for purpose. We do not operate to make a financial return and are a Public Benefit Entity (PBE) for performance reporting purposes.

The section on Measuring Our Performance covers all our activities as set out in the 2023–2024 Estimates of Appropriations for Vote Social Development.

The section on Measuring Our Performance relates to the year ended 30 June 2024. It was authorised for issue by the Chief Executive of Whaikaha. Performance measures are reported on pages 226 to 228.

Statement of compliance

The Measuring Our Performance section has been prepared in accordance with Tier 1 PBE financial reporting standards, which have been applied consistently throughout the period, and it complies with PBE financial reporting standards.

We have made judgements on the application of reporting standards and estimates and assumptions concerning the future, discussed below. The estimates and assumptions may differ from the subsequent actual results.

Critical reporting judgements, estimates and assumptions

Performance measures have been selected for our key activities. In selecting measures, we have made judgements to determine which aspects of performance are relevant and material to readers. The Ministry sets targets for output performance measures based on a combination of historical performance, with consideration of factors that may impact future performance and opportunities for improvement. As such, future performance may differ from budgeted performance. There were no pervasive constraints on information that influenced our service performance information. Judgement is also involved in determining how to measure performance for the measures selected. The judgements that have the most significant impact on selection and measurement are disclosed below.

We review our performance measures each year. Any proposed changes are approved by our Executive Leadership team – proposed changes to output measures are then socialised with the Minister. With the exception of policy advice measures, and some externally mandated indicators, we have discretion to select our measures and targets.

Stewardship of the disability system

In keeping with the Policy Quality Framework provided by the DPMC, we measure:

the quality of our policy advice by applying the Policy Quality Framework’s prescribed measures for quality of policy advice
ministerial satisfaction that all government agencies with a policy advice appropriation must apply.

This includes a target score for ministerial satisfaction. More information can be found at The Policy Project’s Progress and Performance section on DPMC’s website: dpmc.govt.nz. The Policy Quality Framework sets out a common set of standards that specify what good-quality policy advice looks like. Its purpose is to assess and improve the quality of our written policy and other advice, and whether it is fit for purpose. The advice may be for a Minister, Cabinet or other decision-makers, and may be jointly provided with other agencies.

The Ministerial Satisfaction Survey contains a common set of questions provided by the DPMC. The survey asks about general satisfaction, quality of policy advice and overall performance using a five-point scale. There are also three free-text questions about satisfaction. The survey covered the entire year, during which the Minister was in that role. The survey is done once a year.

Connecting and strengthening disability communities

The performance measure: ‘All new eligible Disability Support Services clients are assessed within 20 working days of referral is equal to or greater than’. The standard for this measure is currently 80 percent. An amendment to the performance standard will be made during the next Supplementary Estimates.

The measure assesses the timeliness in which new people eligible for Whaikaha funded DSS receive their assessment which is completed by the NASC agency.

The measure shows the number of new disability support clients who have had needs assessments within 20 working days of their initial referral.