How much, if any, has the Crown spent on the Head Start and Back Stop processes to date, including departmental staffing, contractors and consultants, and what is the forecast total cost through to the October 2028 local elections?

Answer

Work on the Head Start process has been undertaken by existing departmental staff as part of their normal duties. Neither the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport, nor the Department of Internal Affairs has separately recorded or allocated employee salary costs directly to the Head Start process. Accordingly, a reliable figure for departmental staffing costs is not available. As such, the figures provided in Annex A do not include departmental employee costs. The forecast expenditure for 2026/27 reflects only costs that are currently known and approved. As the Head Start process remains in the assessment phase, future resource requirements will depend on the number and nature of proposals received, subsequent decisions by Ministers and Cabinet, and the scope of any detailed design and implementation work. At this stage of the programme, it is not feasible to forecast out to 2028/29, as the overall requirements are not yet known. The forecast costs should not be regarded as a complete estimate of total expenditure through to the October 2028 local elections.

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