Good news about the Wage Subsidy Scheme On Monday, the Ministry of Social Development released their report, “Who received the 2021 Covid-19 wage subsidies”. Although this is being sold as a sign that the government is cracking down on misuse of the wage subsidy scheme, the numbers being charged are actually tiny, given that the allegations of wage subsidy abuse were much more widespread. And of course, last year the Office of the Auditor-General put out a scathing report on how poorly MSD had been monitoring and auditing the Wage Subsidy Scheme. The Auditor-General has once again intervened on the Covid spending, last week writing to Treasury to ask for Covid spending decisions to be subject to greater rigour and accountability. What is clear is that the Government’s Covid spending has been a very mixed bag in terms of value.

Source: Stuff May 10, 2022 22:21 UTC