Terms of reference for meth report released

Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford has today released the terms of reference for Housing NZ’s comprehensive report into its meth contamination response.

The terms are outlined in a letter today from Housing NZ’s Board Chair Adrienne Young-Cooper.

Phil Twyford says a report from the Prime Minister’s Chief Science advisor Sir Peter Gluckman revealed the flawed use of meth contamination standards which resulted in tenants being unnecessarily evicted from state houses and Housing NZ spending $100 million on mostly unnecessary testing and remediation.

“I’ve commissioned a comprehensive report from Housing New Zealand on this failure of public policy.

“The report will include every aspect from Housing NZ’s policies and processes, Ministry of Health guidelines, the Tenancy Tribunal’s approach, the number of houses tested, contamination levels, the number of tenancies ended and costs tenants were forced to repay.

“It will also look at what redress or further steps – both moral and legal – might be appropriate for any unfairness to tenants.

“Just as Sir Peter’s review carried no additional cost to the taxpayer, this comprehensive report will be carried out internally by existing staff and won’t incur any further costs. I have committed to releasing it publicly.

“Our Government did not create this sorry saga but we are responsible for fixing it. We are willing to front up and admit when things have gone wrong,” Phil Twyford says.

Letter_from_HNZ_Chair_12_June_2018.pdf

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