Funding/grant programmes

A list of our content (including reports, articles, blog posts, and published letters) about funding arrangements or grant programmes.
Making infrastructure investment decisions quickly

13 December 2023: Any spending of public money should deliver good value for New Zealanders. We carried out this audit to understand how consistent the decision-making processes for investments in the New Zealand Upgrade Programme and the Shovel-Ready Programme were with the Government’s guidelines and the public’s expectations that public money is well managed.

Review of the Provincial Growth Fund reset

12 June 2023: We wrote to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee after reviewing how Kānoa – Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit managed the repurposing of more than $600 million from the Provincial Growth Fund.

Cost of living payment

29 August 2022: We have written to Inland Revenue and Nicola Willis, MP about cost of living payments made by the government.

Inquiry into the Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme

31 March 2022: Concerns were raised in the media and our Office about how the Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme (STAPP) was managed. Because of these concerns, and the amount of public money involved, we carried out an inquiry into the STAPP eligibility criteria for funding and the process for assessing funding applications.

Inquiry into the Ministry of Social Development’s funding of private rental properties for emergency housing

December 2021: In 2020, issues were raised about the Ministry of Social Development's use of private rental properties as emergency housing. These included issues about the quality of some of the private rental properties, the amount that the Ministry paid for the rental properties, and the impact on the long-term rental market of using private rental properties as emergency housing. We carried out an inquiry into these matters.

Managing the Provincial Growth Fund

July 2020: In December 2017, the Government announced that it was setting up the Provincial Growth Fund (the Fund) to increase growth and development in regional New Zealand. There has been a high level of public interest in the Fund. It was established at pace and included a range of different types of funding arrangements. Therefore, as well as completing additional annual audit work on the departments administering the Fund, we decided to do a more in-depth review of the Fund's systems and processes.

Crown investment in freshwater clean-up

September 2019: We examined how the Ministry for the Environment administered four Crown freshwater clean-up funds for improving lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands. Our primary objective was to assess whether Crown funding was being used effectively to improve freshwater quality.

Department of Internal Affairs and grants administration

March 2014: We reviewed the Department’s progress in implementing the three recommendations in our progress report, "Public entities’ progress in implementing the Auditor-General’s recommendations 2012". By early 2012, the Department had addressed two of the recommendations. However, it had experienced delays in replacing the old system for managing grant applications...

Department of Internal Affairs: Administration of two grant schemes

November 2010: We carried out a performance audit to determine whether the Department's administration of grants is consistent with the principles and expectations that we outlined in our good practice guide, "Public sector purchases, grants, and gifts: Managing funding arrangements with external parties"...

Allocation of the 2002-05 Health Funding Package

October 2006: We undertook this audit to provide Parliament with a better understanding of where the Health Funding Package had been allocated between 2002 and 2005. The Ministry of Health had good documentation to support decisions on allocating the package. However, it is not possible to say from this audit how the Health Funding Package was ultimately spent, because district health boards, and many Ministry directorates, did not keep separate records of Health Funding Package funds...

Making good use of resources

October 2006: Article published in the Chartered Accountants Journal and reproduced here by kind permission of the Editor of the Journal.

Making good use of resources

October 2006, article published in the Chartered Accountants Journal and reproduced here by kind permission of the Editor of the Journal.

Principles to underpin management by public entities of funding to non-government organisations

June 2006: This good practice guide takes a principles-based approach to guide public entities’ decisions when they enter into funding arrangements with NGOs. The guide has been developed for both the central government and local government sectors – and the Auditor-General expects all public entities to demonstrate that they have considered and acted in keeping with these principles...

Management of the West Coast Economic Development Funding Package

May 2006: In May 2000, a once-only payment of $120 million was made to help the West Coast region’s economy adjust to the Government’s policies to end the logging of indigenous forest. Of this funding package, $92 million was placed with the West Coast Development Trust, and the remaining $28 million was divided equally between the 4 West Coast local authorities. This report looks at how these 5 entities have managed the use of the funding package...

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise: Administration of grant programmes

December 2004: We looked at whether the grant programmes were being administered effectively and efficiently, and in keeping with the policy parameters set by Cabinet. NZTE has not yet established a framework to ensure that, for each grant programme, consideration has been given to important aspects of grant administration...