Our impact indicators
We are developing a suite of indicators to help us understand what progress we are making against the outcomes, impacts and key shifts identified in our performance framework. The first group of indicators were introduced in 2018/19, and their current and historic performance results and trends are shown below.
This first set of progress results are mixed, but they are helping to establish baselines on which we can measure progress in future years. Early results for most of our indicators show that we are maintaining performance levels, but clearly challenges exist in areas such as supporting people to remain off benefit once they are in work and getting people off the Public Housing Register in a timely way.
These indicators do not have fixed targets, but are designed to show the direction in which we would like to see results head over time. We expect them to evolve over time as we develop new and improved ways to measure what we think is important, including what we currently cannot measure but would like to. We will report any new measures in future Annual Reports.
| Impact Indicator | Link to Outcomes [9] | Desired trend | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | Observed trend |
| Percentage of clients who remain off main benefit having secured sustainable work | 1, 2, 3 |
Upwards |
70.6% | 69.3% | 67.7% |
Downwards |
|
Percentage of clients exiting main benefit who return to main benefit: within 13 weeks |
1, 3 |
Downwards |
22.4% | 25.0% | 24.2% |
Maintaining |
|
Percentage of clients exiting main benefit who return to main benefit: within one year |
Downwards |
50.5% | 50.4% | 52.4% |
Upwards | |
|
Case managers are spending more and more time on increasing income support demand, which means that less time is available for work-focused case management. Labour market conditions are an important contributor to the ease with which our clients can find and stay in work. Employment growth over the last few years has been strongest in higher skilled occupations. Other contributing factors include housing affordability and availability, and relatively high unemployment rates in some regions. These factors combined are contributing to a decrease in the number of people leaving main benefits to go into work and remaining off benefit. We secured funding in Budget 2019 to increase work-focused case managers by 170 in 2019/20, with more in outyears; we anticipate this will lead to an additional 25,000 employment interventions a month. | ||||||
|
Average future years on benefit |
|
Downwards |
10.8 years |
10.6 years |
10.6 years [10] |
Maintaining |
|
Median time to house clients on the Housing Register: overall |
|
Downwards |
55 days |
77 days |
125 days |
Upwards |
|
Median time to house clients on the Housing Register: Priority A clients |
Downwards |
53 days |
76 days |
127 days |
Upwards | |
|
Since MSD took management of the public housing register in 2014 the demand for public housing has risen significantly, from approximately 3,500 to over 14,000. Home ownership rates are falling and there is high demand for rental homes at a time when the supply of rental housing is constrained. The lack of affordable housing means that there are fewer options for New Zealanders who struggle to access or afford the private market. As a result, more people are looking to access public housing and the median time to house clients is increasing. The proportion of clients categorised as Priority A is also increasing as New Zealanders face increasingly complex housing needs. Whilst we do not control the supply of housing we continue to focus on helping people in hardship or insecure housing through better register management and supporting families that are in transitional housing. | ||||||
|
Percentage of our spend evaluated as effective [11] (of the portion of our spend that we are able to evaluate) |
Upwards |
72.8% |
71.3% |
72.3% [12] |
Maintaining | |
|
Client Net Trust Score |
Upwards |
82.6% |
81.6% |
81.8% |
Maintaining | |
Footnotes
[9] Outcome 1: New Zealanders get the support they require.
Outcome 2: New Zealanders are resilient and live in inclusive and supportive communities.
Outcome 3: New Zealanders participate positively in society and reach their potential.
[10] The result reported against each year refers to the calculation relating to two years previously, ie the 2018/19 result refers to spending in 2016/17, and so on.
[11] The effectiveness of our spend is based on whether employment interventions such as training or wage subsidies mean participants have higher income, spend more time in employment and less time in corrections services and in receipt of welfare assistance, and gain higher qualifications.
[12] The result reported against each year refers to the evaluation of spending two years previously, ie the 2018/19 result refers to spending in 2016/17, and so on.
