Black mark for Horomia over information delays

By RUTH BERRY, political reporter

Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia and his ministry have been chided by the Ombudsman for their handling of Official Information Act requests.

The criticisms, included in Ombudsman John Belgrave's annual report to Parliament, centre around inappropriate attempts by the minister's office to vet information and long delays by it and Te Puni Kokiri in responding to information requests.

In the year to June, Mr Horomia's office by far outrated any other minister's office in "areas where significant numbers of Official Information Act complaints arose".

Thirty-eight complaints were investigated, up from just two investigations the previous year.

This compared with 23 involving Prime Minister Helen Clark's office, up from 17 the year before. Finance Minister Michael Cullen came third with 14 complaints.

The report said complaints about delayed responses from Te Puni Kokiri were at least partly caused by an instruction that all requests should be referred to Mr Horomia for his "information and clearance".

Ministry chief executive Leith Comer confirmed that the practice had existed for several years - initially in the case of highly sensitive material, but then for all requests.

The Ombudsman said individual cases sent to the ministry could sometimes be the subject of consultation with the minister, but the blanket "clearance" process did not accord with the act.

Mr Horomia had agreed to amend the practice after concerns were raised with him.

The report also criticised other aspects of Te Puni Kokiri's handling of requests that had resulted in long delays.

Mr Horomia told the Ombudsman's office the reason was a marked rise in the number of requests.

"While a large increase in requests can place a considerable burden on departmental staff, there are clear mechanisms available ... to manage such issues," the report said.

A number of complaints remained unresolved and under review.