MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday 20 May 2009

Praise for Government social services support

The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS) sees the announcements made by the Minister of Employment and Social Development, Paula Bennett, as providing a good basis to meet the increasing social services needs arising from the recession and for further discussion and development of a long term funding model.

“The injection of funding to provide immediate support for poor and vulnerable New Zealanders during the recession is welcomed” said Shaun Robinson, NZCCSS President, “we congratulate Minister Bennett on this initiative and on the inclusion of the wider community in decision making around the allocation of this funding”.

The Council is particularly pleased with the Minister’s commitment to engaging with the sector to develop a long term funding plan. “This plan will need to recognise the long-term needs of the social services sector”, said Robinson. “These are not just driven by the recession but have been building over many years. We need to ensure that the sector has a solid sustainable funding path and we are very willing to work with the Minister to help develop a long term funding model”.

“The Government’s commitment to maintaining the same level of funding that was previously committed to Pathway to Partnership is good news” says Trevor McGlinchey, NZCCSS Executive Officer. “Prior to the recession providers of social services were already experiencing increases in clients and in the complexity of their needs, now these are even more pressing. The combination of the Community Response Fund and the longer term reshaping of the Pathway to Partnership funding will help to address these demands”.

“The Minister’s commitment to working alongside of the sector over the next 18 months provides an exciting opportunity to develop an effective funding model that will achieve the best result for New Zealand’s families”, said NZCCSS Vice President, Ruby Duncan, who attended the Auckland launch of the Community Response Fund this morning, “We were pleased that NZCCSS was one of the national social service umbrella groups that were engaged with the Minister when this Community Response Fund was developed and we thank the Minister for acknowledging the sector’s input over this time. We look forward to further discussions on the reshaping of the long term funding model”.

ENDS

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