This Week's Select Committee News - 27/10
SELECT COMMITTEE BUSINESS
From 20 October to 27 October
2000
Committee meetings
There were three committee
meetings, all outside Wellington. One committee is also
currently visiting sites in the Nelson-Marlborough
region.
Reports presented
No reports were
presented.
Bills referred to select committees
No bills
were referred.
Committee notes
(for further information
on an item, please contact the committee staff noted in
brackets)
Commerce (Alan Witcombe,
SC-Commerce@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee will meet
on Thursday next week between 10.00 am and 1.00 pm to
consider the Commerce Amendment Bill and will later visit
the Commerce Commission for a site visit between 4.00 pm and
5.00 pm.
Education and Science (Clare Sullivan,
SC-ES@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee is meeting next
week to hear submissions on the Apprenticeship Training
Bill.
Finance and Expenditure (Graham Hill,
SC-FE@parliament.govt.nz)
At the next meeting on 8
November the committee will hear evidence on its inquiry
into the preparation of the 2001 Budget Policy Statement.
Government Administration (Louise Sparrer,
SC-GA@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee next meets on 2
November to commence the 1999/2000 financial reviews.
Appearing before the committee at this meeting will be the
chief executives of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and the
Ministry of Culture and Heritage, and the Secretary of the
Department of Internal Affairs. These hearings are open to
the public.
Health (SC-Health@parliament.govt.nz)
The
committee heard 15 oral submissions on the New Zealand
Public Health and Disability Bill in Auckland on Wednesday,
25 October. The committee has now completed hearing
submissions on the bill and next week will start its
consideration. The report on the bill is due by 14 November
2000.
Justice and Electoral (Wendy Proffitt,
SC-JE@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee did not meet this
week. It next meets on Wednesday 8 November.
Law and
Order (Tracey Rayner, SC-LO@parliament.govt.nz)
The
committee next meets on Thursday, 9 November, from 10.00 am
to 1.00 pm. The meeting will be open to the public from
10.30 am to 12.30 pm during a hearing of evidence from the
New Zealand Police on the 1999/2000 financial
review.
Local Government and Environment (David Bagnall,
SC-LGE@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee met in Tauranga
this week on the Tauranga District Council (Route K Toll)
Empowering Bill. Members are now on a site visit in the
Nelson-Marlborough region.
Maori Affairs (Kia Paranihi,
SC-MA@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee heard submitters
on the Pouakani Claims Settlement Bill in Taupo earlier this
month. A site visit was undertaken by some members and
involved a tour of farm and forest areas north-west of
Taupo. The bill is due to be reported to the House on 6
November.
The committee continues consideration on its inquiry into the mainstreaming of services to Maori. The Te Ture Whenua Maori Amendment (Maori Land Amendment) Bill remains before the committee with an extended reporting date that now stands at 16 November.
The committee intends to meet again on Thursday, 2 November.
Primary Production
(Bob Bunch, SC-PP@parliament.govt.nz)
The next meeting of
the committee will be on Thursday, 9 November.
The committee has called for submissions on its inquiry into sustainable forestry management. The deadline for submissions is 23 January 2001. The media release can be found at www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz/programme/committees/pressrelease.html.
Social
Services (Tim Cooper, SC-SS@parliament.govt.nz)
The
committee met in Auckland on 25 October to hear evidence on
the 1999/2000 financial review of the Department of Child,
Youth and Family Services (DCYFS), and the Social Security
Amendment Bill.
The committee heard from the Hamilton Care and Protection Panel. Care and Protection Panels are appointed by the Chief Executive of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989. The Act charges the panels with acting in an advisory role for social workers and police on care and protection matters and promoting the co-ordination of provision of social work services by the community for children, young people and their families in need of care and protection. The Hamilton Care and Protection Panel raised a number of concerns with the committee including the backlog of unallocated cases, differences between DCYFS offices in unactivated and unallocated cases, bottlenecks in every care and protection team, staff turnover in the Hamilton office, and process issues at the national call centre.
The committee heard six submissions on the Social Security Amendment Bill. Next week the committee will further consider this bill, the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Amendment Bill (No 3) and the financial review of the DCYFS.
Transport
and Industrial Relations (Lyn Main,
SC-TI@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee is next meeting
on 8 November.
Closing dates for submissions on
bills
Committees are receiving submissions on the
following items with the closing date
shown:
Commerce
Chartered Professional Engineers of New
Zealand Bill (27 October 2000)
Finance and
Expenditure
Inquiry into the preparation of the 2001
Budget Policy Statement (3 November 2000)
Taxation
(Beneficiary Income of Minors, Services-Related Payments and
Remedial Matters) Bill (30 November 2000)
Foreign Affairs,
Defence and Trade
Volunteers Employment Protection
Amendment Bill (30 November 2000)
Government
Administration
Films, Videos, and Publications
Classification (Prohibition of Child Pornography) Amendment
Bill (15 November 2000)
Inquiry into New Zealand’s
adoption laws (31 January 2001)
Health
Inquiry into
health strategies relating to cannabis use (7 February
2001)
Primary Production
Inquiry into sustainable
forestry management (23 January 2001)
Regulations
Review
Inquiry into regulation-making powers that
authorise international treaties to override any provisions
of New Zealand enactments (17 November
2000)
General
You can find further information
about select committees on our website at
www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz. If you require additional
information or have any feedback on the contents, please
contact:
Carol Rankin, Senior Parliamentary Officer
at
carol.rankin@parliament.govt.nz
Compiled in the Select
Committee Office, Office of the Clerk, 27 October 2000