NZDSN CEO Peter Reynolds opinion
We’re getting a clear idea of this government’s modus operandi. Warn about living within your means. Then start cutting.
Heaven and earth have been moved to achieve the personal tax cuts promised on the campaign trail – but for the good people delivering social support services to vulnerable New Zealand children, elderly and people with disabilities, they won’t mean much.
Oranga Tamariki’s funding cuts means support providers, already working to razor thin margins, are scrambling to maintain their crucial social work while contemplating cutting services and the staff who deliver them.
Others, like the disability community, are wondering if they’ll be next. There’s real fear for the future among disabled people and the services that support them.
There’s a high price to pay for saving money. Any reduction in service must be carefully managed to ensure our most vulnerable people are safe and supported properly.
Not having a suitable place to live, losing a trusted support worker or a programme that enriches their lives will be extremely traumatic for disabled people and their whānau and families. And when frontline services are affected, the worst case scenarios are dire, with emergency services often called in to pick up the pieces.
The complicated nature of disability support means there simply isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. I fear the current ‘cut first, ask questions later’ approach of reviewing sectors without consultation will lead to extremely challenging outcomes. That goes for disabled people, whose support structures and lives could be turned upside down, and support providers, many of whom won’t survive a round of funding cuts.
Sectors like ours are full of smart, passionate people who understand the environment intimately. They spend a lot of time thinking about how to do more with less, not to meet arbitrary cost saving targets, but because their existence depends on it.
I sit on a group of sector CEO’s with plenty of good ideas to help the Minister’s independent reviewers find ways to deliver services more efficiently. These 17 CEO’s wrote to the Minister formally asking to meet the reviewers, which was largely ignored. There’s still time for the reviewers to pick up the phone and consult the sector – why wouldn’t you listen and build on the knowledge of those with a deep understanding of the environment for the best chance of success?
Everyone wants to get the most from the resources we have, especially when times are tight. But there are huge risks to people’s wellbeing if we just cut funding, including ballooning financial costs in the short and medium term if they’re not managed carefully. The government has the chance to show their values and prioritise people, not spreadsheets – I just hope they take it.