Was the Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Koutu in Rotorua project she announced on 15 April 2025 one of the building projects the Ministry of Education had paused for a value for money review and if so, what changes to the project, if any, were made as a result of the review?

Answer

This project was part of the value for money review. It was not paused/delayed. The two teaching spaces were funded for construction in Budget 25/26 as no funding was allocated. This was the case for most of the projects in the value for money process. Buildings were promised but no funding was allocated. Previously, classrooms cost $1.2m on average, the value for money review reduced costs of a classroom to $620k. This saving, together with Budgets 24 and 25 allowed us to go ahead with these projects.