Accountability will be key to Whanau Ora taskforce report

A taskforce report on the new Whanau Ora policy is expected to suggest providers delivering it are held accountable to actual improvements in a family's health and social welfare.

The Whanau Ora taskforce report is due on Thursday on the system under which private providers will be contracted to provide all the social and health needs of individual families, rather than dispensing help through different government departments.

Associate Social Development Minister Tariana Turia said it would allow those providers to work a lot more closely to monitor a family's overall wellbeing than could currently happen with multiple government departments looking after separate aspects.

As well as financial scrutiny, the contracts would include accountability for improvements in areas such as health and education for individual families.

"My own view is that people must be accountable for the money they get. Outcomes is a different story and that's where negotiations will take place with the providers."

A decision on the initial scope of the new system and the funding required would be made over the next three weeks so it could be included in the Budget. While some providers would be able to get started quickly, it was a major change and would take this year for it to be "bedded down".

Prime Minister John Key has thrown his support behind the Maori Party policy and agreed to include it in May's Budget, but has stipulated it must cater for all those in need rather than solely Maori.

Mrs Turia agreed there was a need to include all low-income families, saying that during the consultation many non-Maori had also shown an interest in it.

Labour MP Shane Jones said the policy was a means of currying favour with Maori Party supporters and reeked of privatisation of welfare.

Mrs Turia said the Labour Government of the 1980s had started the process of privatising social services and Labour had done little to peg it back in its last nine years of power.

"I don't call it privatisation. I call it opening an opportunity for others who perhaps can provide better than the state."

She said that was clear in the health sector where private providers - including iwi providers - had performed well over the past 20 years.