Estimates of appropriations

Vote Serious Fraud - Justice Sector - Estimates 2021/22

Formats and related files

Vote Serious Fraud#

APPROPRIATION MINISTER(S): Minister of Police (M51)

DEPARTMENT ADMINISTERING THE VOTE: Serious Fraud Office (A37)

RESPONSIBLE MINISTER FOR SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE: Minister of Police

Overview of the Vote#

The Minister of Police is responsible for appropriations in Vote Serious Fraud for the 2021/22 financial year covering the following:

  • a total of just over $14 million for preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting cases of serious financial crime, including corruption. This includes activities directed at making the commission of financial crimes more difficult, and its detection and prosecution more effective.

Details of these appropriations are set out in Parts 2-4.

Details of Appropriations and Capital Injections#

Annual Appropriations and Forecast Permanent Appropriations#

  2020/21 2021/22
Titles and Scopes of Appropriations by Appropriation Type Final
Budgeted
$000
Estimated
Actual
$000
Budget
$000

Departmental Output Expenses

     

Prevention, Investigation and Prosecution of Serious Financial Crime (M51) (A37)

This appropriation is limited to preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting serious financial crimes by the Serious Fraud Office.
13,850 13,850 14,011

Total Departmental Output Expenses

13,850 13,850 14,011

Departmental Capital Expenditure

     

Serious Fraud Office - Capital Expenditure PLA (M51) (A37)

This appropriation is limited to the purchase or development of assets by and for the use of the Serious Fraud Office, as authorised by section 24(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989.
307 307 140

Total Departmental Capital Expenditure

307 307 140

Total Annual Appropriations and Forecast Permanent Appropriations

14,157 14,157 14,151

Capital Injection Authorisations#

  2020/21 2021/22
  Final Budgeted
$000
Estimated Actual
$000
Budget
$000
Serious Fraud Office - Capital Injection (M51) (A37) 207 207 -

Supporting Information#

Part 1 - Vote as a Whole#

1.1 - New Policy Initiatives#

Policy Initiative Appropriation 2020/21
Final Budgeted
$000
2021/22
Budget
$000
2022/23
Estimated
$000
2023/24
Estimated
$000
2024/25
Estimated
$000
Strengthening the Response to COVID-19 Related Serious Financial Crime Prevention, Investigation and Prosecution of Serious Financial Crime (M51) 940 1,450 1,480 - -
Total Initiatives   904 1,450 1,480 - -

Summary of Financial Activity

  2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
  Actual
$000
Actual
$000
Actual
$000
Actual
$000
Final Budgeted
$000
Estimated
Actual
$000
Departmental
Transactions
Budget
$000
Non-
Departmental
Transactions
Budget
$000
Total
Budget
$000
Estimated
$000
Estimated
$000
Estimated
$000

Appropriations

                       
Output Expenses 9,418 10,099 10,185 9,690 13,850 13,850 14,011 - 14,011 13,521 12,128 12,128
Benefits or Related Expenses - - - - - - N/A - - - - -
Borrowing Expenses - - - - - - - - - - - -
Other Expenses - - - - - - - - - - - -
Capital Expenditure 122 825 205 146 307 307 140 - 140 140 140 140
Intelligence and Security Department Expenses and Capital Expenditure - - - - - - - N/A - - - -
Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure (MCA)                        
Output Expenses - - - - - - - - - - - -
Other Expenses - - - - - - - - - - - -
Capital Expenditure - - - - - - N/A - - - - -

Total Appropriations

9,540 10,924 10,390 9,836 14,157 14,157 14,151 - 14,151 13,661 12,268 12,268

Crown Revenue and Capital Receipts

                       
Tax Revenue - - - - - - N/A - - - - -
Non-Tax Revenue - - - - - - N/A - - - - -
Capital Receipts - - - - - - N/A - - - - -

Total Crown Revenue and Capital Receipts

- - - - - - N/A - - - - -

Note - where restructuring of the vote has occurred then, to the extent practicable, prior years information has been restated as if the restructuring had occurred before the beginning of the period covered. In this instance Total Appropriations for the Budgeted and Estimated Actual year may not equal Total Annual Appropriations and Forecast Permanent Appropriations and Multi-Year Appropriations in the Details of Appropriations and Capital Injections.

Adjustments to the Summary of Financial Activity Table Due to Vote Restructuring

There have been no restructuring adjustments to prior year's information in the Summary of Financial Activity.

Total Vote: All Appropriations

Increased Output expenses in 2017/18 were due to the development and introduction of a new Case and Evidence Management System where the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) received $730,000 operating and $660,000 capital, with an additional $284,000 operating budget in each outyear thereafter.

Additional expenditure of $490,000 in 2018/19 was due to the implementation of a national Anti-Corruption Work Programme. The SFO hosted the biennial Fraud and Corruption Conference and an Economic Crime Agencies Network meeting with a combined cost of $133,000. The New Zealand contribution to the International Anti-Corruption Co-ordination Centre (IACCC) cost $91,000. Other items of additional expenditure included assistance to the Vanuatu Office of Public Prosecutors and provision of a multi-agency Electronic Forensic Investigator.

In 2019/20, multi-agency commitments to an initial national Anti-Corruption Work Programme continued and a multi-agency funded Electronic Forensic Investigation service was continued. Assistance was provided to the Vanuatu Office of Public Prosecutors.

An increase in expenditure from 2020/21 of $2.320 million is enabling the SFO to meet existing demand for increasingly complex financial crime investigations and to facilitate organisational resilience. The national Anti-Corruption Work Programme (phase 2) started in 2020/21 and will conclude in 2021/22 at a cost of less than $800,000 per annum. The SFO has been funded from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund (CRRF) Foundational Package to lead prevention activities in the public sector to reduce losses due to fraud and corruption in COVID-19 recovery activities. Additional expenditure from the CRRF will respond to the expected increase in serious and complex financial crime following the COVID-19 pandemic related economic downturn. This capability is planned to be retained to 2022/23 at a cost of $940,000 in 2020/21 and less than $1.500 million in each following year.

Part 2 - Details of Departmental Appropriations#

2.1 - Departmental Output Expenses#

Prevention, Investigation and Prosecution of Serious Financial Crime (M51) (A37)

Scope of Appropriation
This appropriation is limited to preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting serious financial crimes by the Serious Fraud Office.
Expenses and Revenue
  2020/21 2021/22
  Final Budgeted
$000
Estimated Actual
$000
Budget
$000
Total Appropriation 13,850 13,850 14,011
Revenue from the Crown 13,536 13,536 13,926
Revenue from Others 314 314 85
What is Intended to be Achieved with this Appropriation

This appropriation is intended to ensure that financial crime and corruption is addressed through prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution; a high level of trust in New Zealand's public institutions and financial system is maintained; and New Zealand's international reputation in the fight against financial crime and corruption is maintained.

How Performance will be Assessed and End of Year Reporting Requirements
  2020/21 2021/22
Assessment of Performance Final Budgeted
Standard
Estimated
Actual
Budget
Standard

Timeliness: Percentage of complaints evaluated within 30 working days

80% 90%-95% 80%

Quantity: Number of Part 1 enquiries commenced

28-32 26-30 28-32

Timeliness: Percentage of enquiries completed within three months

80% 50%-70% 80%

Quantity: Number of Part 2 investigations commenced

10-14 10-12 10-14

Timeliness: Percentage of Part 2 investigations completed within targeted time (see Note 1)

Cat.A: 50% within 18mths Cat.B: 60% within 12mths Cat.A:50-60% under 18mths Cat.B:40-60% under12mths Cat.A: 50% within 18mths Cat.B: 60% within 12mths

Quality: Percentage of formal post-investigation reviews that meet SFO quality criteria

90% 90% 90%

Quantity: Number of cases brought to prosecution

8-10 7-9 8-10

Quality: Percentage of defendants convicted

80% 100% 80%

Quality: Percentage of formal post-prosecution reviews that meet SFO quality criteria

90% 90% 90%

Quantity: Number of prevention publications or guidelines published (see note 2)

New measure New measure 6-8

Note 1 - Category A cases are those that involve high complexity. For example, a case that may contain one or all the following:

  • a significant number of victims, large scale loss or a long period of alleged offending
  • multiple alleged suspects
  • inter-agency cooperation
  • international assistance
  • legal complexity.

Category B cases are all other cases.

Note 2 - A Strategy and Prevention team was established in September 2020 to undertake counter-fraud and corruption activities. Prevention publications or guidelines are published or circulated primarily to government agencies, but also more widely.

End of Year Performance Reporting

Performance information for this appropriation will be reported by the Serious Fraud Office's 2021/22 Annual Report.

Current and Past Policy Initiatives
Policy Initiative Year of
First
Impact
2020/21
Final Budgeted
$000
2021/22
Budget
$000
2022/23
Estimated
$000
2023/24
Estimated
$000
2024/25
Estimated
$000
Strengthening the Response to COVID-19 Related Serious Financial Crime 2020/21 940  1,450  1,480 
Protecting New Zealand as a Safe Place to do Business 2020/21 2,320 2,376 2,435 2,522 2,522
Anti-corruption Work Programme 2018/19 570 579 - - -
Case and Evidence Management System 2017/18 295 295 295 295 295

 

 

 

2.3 - Departmental Capital Expenditure and Capital Injections#

Serious Fraud Office - Capital Expenditure PLA (M51) (A37)

Scope of Appropriation
This appropriation is limited to the purchase or development of assets by and for the use of the Serious Fraud Office, as authorised by section 24(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989.
Capital Expenditure
  2020/21 2021/22
  Final Budgeted
$000
Estimated Actual
$000
Budget
$000
Forests/Agricultural - - -
Land - - -
Property, Plant and Equipment 245 245 120
Intangibles 62 62 20
Other - - -

Total Appropriation

307 307 140
What is Intended to be Achieved with this Appropriation

This appropriation is intended to ensure that assets and intangibles required to support the delivery of the Serious Fraud Office's services are routinely renewed and maintained. Expenditure is in accordance with the SFO's capital expenditure plan.

How Performance will be Assessed and End of Year Reporting Requirements
  2020/21 2021/22
Assessment of Performance Final Budgeted
Standard
Estimated
Actual
Budget
Standard

The capital plan developed and managed throughout year

Capital plan for implementation by 1 July 2020 Completed by 1 July 2020 Capital plan for implementation by 1 July 2021
End of Year Performance Reporting

Performance information for this appropriation will be reported by the Serious Fraud Office's 2022 Annual Report that will cover the 2021/22 financial year.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The decrease to this appropriation for 2021/22 is mainly due to the return to a normal level of capital expenditure following a one-off increased level of expenditure in 2020/21 for additional IT infrastructure and forensics tools to meet existing demand for increasingly complex financial crime investigations.

Capital Injections and Movements in Departmental Net Assets
Serious Fraud Office
Details of Net Asset Schedule 2020/21
Estimated Actual
$000
2021/22
Projected
$000
Explanation of Projected Movements in 2021/22
Opening Balance 1,112 1,319  
Capital Injections 207 - Purchase of additional equipment to meet existing demand for increasingly complex financial crime investigations in 2020/21
Capital Withdrawals - -  
Surplus to be Retained (Deficit Incurred) - -  
Other Movements - -  

Closing Balance

1,319 1,319