Independent Auditor’s Report

To the readers of the Ministry of Social Development’s financial statements, non‑financial performance information and schedules of non‑departmental activities for the year ended 30 June 2014.

The Auditor‑General is the auditor of the Ministry of Social Development (the Ministry). The Auditor‑General has appointed me, J R Smaill, using the staff and resources of Audit New Zealand, to carry out the audit of the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities of the Ministry on her behalf.

We have audited:

• pages 85 to 116 of the Financial Statements of the Ministry that comprise the statement of financial position, statement of commitments, statement of contingent liabilities and contingent assets as at 30 June 2014, the statement of comprehensive income, statement of changes in taxpayers’ funds, statement of departmental expenses and capital expenditure against appropriations, statement of unappropriated departmental expenses and capital expenditure against appropriations, statement of trust monies and statement of cash flows for the year ended on that date and the notes to the financial statements that include the statement of accounting policies and other explanatory information; and
• the non‑financial performance information of the Ministry comprising the Statement of Objectives and Service Performance on pages 47 to 83 and the reports included in Ministry Outcomes; and
• the schedules of non‑departmental activities of the Ministry on pages 117 to 137 of the financial statements that comprise the schedule of non-departmental assets, schedule of non-departmental liabilities, schedule of non-departmental commitments and schedule of non-departmental contingent liabilities and contingent assets as at 30 June 2014, the schedule of non-departmental expenses, statement of non-departmental expenditure and capital expenditure against appropriations, statement of non-departmental unappropriated expenditure and capital expenditure, schedule of non-departmental income, schedule of non-departmental capital receipts and statement of trust monies, for the year ended on that date and the notes to the schedules that include the statement of accounting policies non-departmental and other explanatory information.

Opinion

In our opinion:

• pages 85 to 116 of the financial statements of the Ministry:
  • comply with generally accepted accounting practice in New Zealand; and
  • fairly reflect the Ministry’s:
    • financial position as at 30 June 2014;
    • financial performance and cash flows for the year ended on that date;
    • expenses and capital expenditure incurred against each appropriation administered by the Ministry and each class of outputs included in each output expense appropriation for the year ended 30 June 2014; and
    • unappropriated expenses and capital expenditure for the year ended 30 June 2014; and
• the non‑financial performance information of the Ministry comprising the Statement of Objectives and Service Performance on pages 47 to 83 and the reports included in Ministry Outcomes:
  • complies with generally accepted accounting practice in New Zealand; and
  • fairly reflects the Ministry’s service performance and outcomes for the year ended 30 June 2014, including for each class of outputs:
    • its service performance compared with the forecasts in the statement of forecast service performance at the start of the financial year; and
    • its actual revenue and output expenses compared with the forecasts in the statement of forecast service performance at the start of the financial year.
• the schedules of non‑departmental activities of the Ministry on pages 117 to 137 of the financial statements fairly reflect, in accordance with Treasury Instructions:
  • the assets, liabilities, contingencies, commitments and trust monies as at 30 June 2014 managed by the Ministry on behalf of the Crown; and
  • the revenues, expenses, expenditure and capital expenditure against appropriations and unappropriated expenditure and capital expenditure for the year ended on that date managed by the Ministry on behalf of the Crown.

Our audit was completed on 30 September 2014. This is the date at which our opinion is expressed.

The basis of our opinion is explained below. In addition, we outline the responsibilities of the Chief Executive and our responsibilities, and we explain our independence.

Basis of opinion

We carried out our audit in accordance with the Auditor‑General’s Auditing Standards, which incorporate the International Standards on Auditing (New Zealand). Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and carry out our audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities are free from material misstatement.

Material misstatements are differences or omissions of amounts and disclosures that, in our judgement, are likely to influence readers’ overall understanding of the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities. If we had found material misstatements that were not corrected, we would have referred to them in our opinion.

An audit involves carrying out procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities. The procedures selected depend on our judgement, including our assessment of risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, we consider internal control relevant to the Ministry’s preparation of the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities that fairly reflect the matters to which they relate. We consider internal control in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Ministry’s internal control.

An audit also involves evaluating:

• the appropriateness of accounting policies used and whether they have been consistently applied;
• the reasonableness of the significant accounting estimates and judgements made by the Chief Executive;
• the appropriateness of the reported non‑financial performance information within the Ministry’s framework for reporting performance;
• the adequacy of all disclosures in the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities; and
• the overall presentation of the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities.

We did not examine every transaction, nor do we guarantee complete accuracy of the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities. Also we did not evaluate the security and controls over the electronic publication of the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities.

We have obtained all the information and explanations we have required and we believe we have obtained sufficient and appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for our audit opinion.

Responsibilities of the Chief Executive

The Chief Executive is responsible for preparing:

• financial statements and non‑financial performance information that:
  • comply with generally accepted accounting practice in New Zealand;
  • fairly reflect the Ministry’s financial position, financial performance, cash flows, expenses and capital expenditure incurred against each appropriation and its unappropriated expenses and capital expenditure; and
  • fairly reflect its service performance and outcomes; and
• schedules of non‑departmental activities, in accordance with the Treasury Instructions that fairly reflect those activities managed by the Ministry on behalf of the Crown.

The Chief Executive is also responsible for such internal control as is determined is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements, non‑financial performance information and schedules of non‑departmental activities that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. The Chief Executive is also responsible for the publication of the financial statements, non‑financial performance information and schedules of non‑departmental activities, whether in printed or electronic form.

The Chief Executive’s responsibilities arise from the Public Finance Act 1989.

Responsibilities of the Auditor

We are responsible for expressing an independent opinion on the financial statements, the non‑financial performance information and the schedules of non‑departmental activities and reporting that opinion to you based on our audit. Our responsibility arises from section 15 of the Public Audit Act 2001 and the Public Finance Act 1989.

Independence

When carrying out the audit, we followed the independence requirements of the Auditor‑General, which incorporate the independence requirements of the External Reporting Board.

Other than the audit, we have no relationship with or interests in the Ministry.

J R Smaill
Audit New Zealand
On behalf of the Auditor‑General
Wellington, New Zealand