Nicola Willis indicated the government was looking at making the FamilyBoost scheme easier to access. Photo: Reece Baker
Finance Minister Nicola Willis says the leftover funding from the unexpectedly low uptake of the government's FamilyBoost policy will be redistributed to families who need it.
Government data shows only 249 families have consistently been getting the maximum $75-a-week ECE rebate, well short of the 21,000 IRD initially estimated.
It has prompted criticism from the opposition and the Council of Trade Unions, whose Labour-aligned chief economist Craig Renney says it means very few New Zealanders - at most 170 - will be able to claim National's maximum tax package.
That tax policy combined the FamilyBoost rebate with tax bracket adjustments, promising up to $252 per fortnight to "average-income" families with children.
When challenged on the number of people who would qualify for that maximum amount during the election campaign, National said 3000 families could - but the CTU now says the figure looks closer to 30.
Labour said it was a broken promise and the government should be making the scheme easier for people to access, and the funding should be provided to families who needed it.
Willis confirmed to RNZ the government was looking at policy changes to widen eligibility, which would be announced after the Budget in May.
"Labour seems to have a conspiracy theory that we're intentionally not using this money. I want to get this cash out to Kiwi families, that's always been our intention, that remains our intention. I am surprised by the IRD data, but we now have the opportunity to ensure even more families can benefit from the scheme," she said.
"All the money that was put aside for the scheme remains available for the scheme at the Budget. It will all be there, but we're working on policy changes that we intend to announce after the Budget to make sure that as the scheme goes forward we can make sure it reaches more people.
"The money that we put aside for this policy, we want in the pockets of Kiwi families with young children in early childhood education facing high costs. We don't want that money sitting with the government. We want it with the families who need it. So we'll be making those policy decisions over the next little while."
She also indicated the government was looking at making the scheme easier to access.
When the policy was announced ahead of the election, the payments were intended as an automatic fortnightly payment, but after being advised that would be too difficult to implement in the short term the government decided on a model where parents would collect invoices from ECE centres over three months, to be paid out afterwards.
"I have always wanted to be looking for ways to make this as easy as possible for families," Willis said.
"We will continue to consider what are the ways that IRD systems can work better with early childhood systems to make this as automated and simple as possible."
Willis also disagree with Labour saying so few people getting the full tax package was a broken promise, saying National had always been clear people's eligibility for tax relief would depend on individual circumstances.
"I'm really proud that we have delivered tax relief to New Zealand families, something that Labour denied them for many, many years, and something that Labour voted against in Parliament.
"So I think it's a bit rich for them to now be complaining about it because many more families have benefited from cost of living relief through our tax relief than would have been the case under Labour."
Questioned about the CTU's calculations, she said FamilyBoost had not yet been operating for a full year, so it was too soon to say whether it was accurate.
She stood by the design of the scheme requiring both a low income and high ECE costs to qualify, saying it was always intended to be a further support alongside other benefits offered by the government.
"Some families already get Working For Families support, they get a childcare subsidy through the Ministry of Social Development, they get subsidies for their attendance at Early Childhood Education services. This tax payment was always intended as a boost on top of all of those things."
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