Andrew Coster focuses on prevention rather than policing at the Social Investment Agency

The Minister for Social Investment will work with a fund worth millions of dollars and advise the Government on the rollout of services for vulnerable people.

In the first few days at his new job, Coster said he talked to a wide variety of people about his approach to social investing.

“That’s my main focus in the early stages – understanding the scope of what we’re moving towards and then I’ll focus on what we need to do.”

agency Social Investment Fund From 2025 we will start pouring money into groups and agencies to improve outcomes.

Coster expects to work closely with Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis in the top job: “She sets the priorities for this portfolio,” he said.

“The very clear outcome we are looking for from social investment is that we get better impact from the significant amount of money we spend on social services,” Coster added.

In May, Willis confirmed the allocation of $50.5 million to the social investment agency, which included fundraising initiatives.

In October, Willis reiterated plans for what the Government calls results contracts to scrap initiatives that are not working and invest in those that deliver results.

Willis told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that there are multiple contracts coming from various agencies and these can be centralised.

“They spend hours filling out forms and reporting and doing all this administrative red tape.”

“Social investment is about delivering better outcomes for people from the more than $70 billion the Government invests in social services each year. Despite decades of good intentions, multiple strategies and thousands of contracts, we are not seeing enough impact from the government’s investments in our most vulnerable people,” Willis said. Confirms Public Service Commission is looking for a Social Investment Secretary in August.

“Our government wants a different approach to breaking cycles of disadvantage: more concrete evidence, more power in the hands of communities and a clearer focus on the consequences of money spent.”

Financially, Coster said there is a “huge amount of money” that needs to be spent on social services; “but the opportunity is very real and we are ready for the challenge.”

“The simple idea is to use the evidence to do the things now that will make the biggest difference in the future in terms of social outcomes.”

Coster saw possible cuts to institutions that did not deliver, ultimately as Ministers’ decision.

Oranga Tamariki weathers criticism cut funding for providers who have been cited as not performing as well as they could.

“The role of the (Social Investment) agency is to advise ministers on what is working and what is not working to achieve the outcomes we want, and ministers make decisions based on that advice,” Coster said.

“The agency’s role is to provide evidence to the decision-making process so that we can make sure that the huge amounts of taxpayer money spent on social services are effective.”

During the hiring process, Coster’s ability to drive change while at the top of the Police force was applauded.

Acting Public Service Commissioner Heather Baggott said at the time that a successful candidate would be an effective leader who could stand out.Tough conversations when funding needs to be reallocated to achieve better results”.

Baggott praised Coster’s work with iwi and Māori in the force.

“He has built strong and trusted relationships with iwi and Māori, including the Iwi Chairs Forum.”

Coster said working with iwi and cultural organizations was just as important in terms of social investment as it was with the police.

“We know that for the most complex needs within our communities, community-based provision is one of the most effective services and iwi providers are part of this.

“We need to be able to work with providers who understand their content and can connect with people who need this type of help.

“Some of this will be direct relationships with the agency, some of it will be through other departments, but it will be very important.”

Looking back on his time as a top cop, Coster said he experienced a “very dynamic” role.

“The whole time I was there we had Covid and everything related to it. I have reflected before that parliament protest It was a significant challenge.

“Then (there were) Covid’s long tail “We have been managing as Police for a long time.”

Coster summarized the results he was pursuing as Social Investment boss as helping “people live better lives”.

“Ultimately, this is about helping people live lives free of many of the negative consequences that we know exist for some segments of our community today.”

Azaria Howell is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington and covering the entire region. He joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in council decisions, utility reform and transport.