The Auditor-General, Lyn Provost, took no pleasure in issuing a disturbing report on the Whanau Ora scheme this week. She prefaces her findings with this prediction: "I have no doubt some commentators will make light of the successes described in this report and make much of the criticisms. However, an innovative idea should not be abandoned just because of implementation problems."
It is hard to find notable successes in her report, perhaps because the purpose of Whanau Ora - the strengthening of families - is a hard thing to measure. Her criticisms of the scheme are clearer. After four years in operation, it was hard to define what Whanau Ora is and what it has achieved. She could not get a consistent explanation of the aims of its initiatives from the agencies charged with implementing them.
Nearly a third of the $137.6 million put into Whanau Ora so far had been spent on administration, including research and evaluation, rather than the people the programme is intended to help. No wonder those who were sceptical from the outset have made much of the Auditor-General's criticisms. But Whanau Ora is not about to be abandoned, and not just because it is the flagship policy of the Maori Party.
Social support directed to families is a good idea in principle. The practical problem is obvious. The recipient family has to have, or be capable of forming, a collective body that can be trusted to put it to the right use. According to the Auditor-General, the scheme has brought together many families to produce a plan for improving their lives. Some whanau are aiming to get young people living and working on their ancestral land.
She suggests the making of these plans together has benefits wider than the plans themselves. Family members reconnect for the project, discover the skills and resources within the whanau and learn how to set goals and manage projects and budgets to achieve them. That sounds more like the hopes of public servants than known results.
