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Does the Associate Minister agree with the Auditor-General's office regarding the Inquiry into the Alternative Provision Model for Ka Ora, Ka Ako (school lunch programme), that "It is important that public organisations... get value for money for New Zealanders"; if so, does he believe that "value for money" is demonstrated through the Ministry of Education not having tested the $3 cost with the market or thoroughly analysed the cost, and advice from the ministry changing so that where $3 was initially intended as a "high-level estimate" covering only food, it became a policy benchmark and was expanded to cover all costs?

Answered Question 30181 (2026)
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Asked by

Lawrence Xu-Nan

List MP · Green Party

Question

  • Does the Associate Minister agree with the Auditor-General's office regarding the Inquiry into the Alternative Provision Model for Ka Ora, Ka Ako (school lunch programme), that "It is important that public organisations... get value for money for New Zealanders"; if so, does he believe that "value for money" is demonstrated through the Ministry of Education not having tested the $3 cost with the market or thoroughly analysed the cost, and advice from the ministry changing so that where $3 was initially intended as a "high-level estimate" covering only food, it became a policy benchmark and was expanded to cover all costs?

Answered by

Hon David Seymour

Member for Epsom · ACT Party · Associate Minister of Education

Answer

I agree that it is important that public organisations get value for money for New Zealanders. I am advised that the External Advisory Group appointed by the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) refined the alternative provision model and found that cost savings at scale had a potential to be delivered at $3 per meal. In response to the Registration of Interest from the market, one supplier responded with a model that met the $3 per meal price point, and the Ministry followed government procurement rules to evaluate this proposal. The procurement process was independently evaluated by the Audit Office. The office was overall satisfied with the procurement process.