Media release: Social service reform needs proper assessment
Wellington (15 September 2015): The New Zealand Initiative says the Productivity Commission’s final report on improving outcomes from social services underscores the need to constantly assess their effectiveness.
Jenesa Jeram, a researcher at The New Zealand Initiative, said that the commission was right to note that there are many social services that continue to receive funding without proper assessment of their impact or cost-effectiveness.
“The clear message from this report is the need to make sure that social programmes actually deliver the results they set out to achieve,” said Jeram. “Throwing taxpayer money at social services without any assessment criteria may feel like it is helping, but it leaves New Zealand doubly worse off by propping up programmes that don’t work and underfunding those that do.”
The Initiative released a report on social service innovation in in May, titled Investing for Success: Social Impact Bonds and the future of social services. The report concurs with the Productivity Commission’s conclusion that social impact bonds could be useful in stimulating policy experimentation, and testing the effectiveness of new approaches.
Jeram, who co-wrote the report with Dr Bryce Wilkinson, said: “It is disappointing social bonds received such strong opposition, much of it ideological, when it is one of the few models that has built in accountability and measurement mechanisms.”
ENDS
About The New Zealand Initiative
The New Zealand Initiative is an evidence-based think tank and research institute, which is supported by a membership organisation that counts some of the country’s leading visionaries, business leaders and political thinkers among its ranks.
Our members are committed to developing policies to make New Zealand a better country for all its citizens. We believe all New Zealanders deserve a world-class education system, affordable housing, a healthy environment, sound public finances and a stable currency.
The New Zealand Initiative pursues this goal by participating in public life, and making a contribution to public discussions.
For more information visit www.nzinitiative.org.nz