331Consultation and other requirements for regulations relating to levy setting

1. The Minister may not recommend the making of regulations under this Act prescribing the rates of levies unless the Minister has first received and considered a recommendation from the Corporation made in accordance with the provisions of this section.

2. The Corporation must consult levy payers before recommending to the Minister that such regulations be made, and that obligation to consult is satisfied if—

3. the Corporation publicly notifies its intention to recommend to the Minister that such regulations be made by publishing in the Gazette, and in a daily newspaper circulating in each of the cities of Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, a notice—
   1. stating that the Corporation is proposing to recommend that such regulations be made; and
   3. explaining the Corporation's proposal to recommend the making of the proposed regulations, or stating where a copy of that explanation may be obtained; and
   5. stating where copies of any actuarial valuation on which levies are based may be obtained; and
   6. inviting members of the public to make written submissions on the proposed regulations; and
   7. stating the last date on which the Corporation will receive written submissions on the proposed regulations (which date must be not less than 28 days after the date of the publication of the notice in the Gazette); and
4. the Corporation considers all submissions on the proposed regulations that are received by the Corporation not later than the date stated under paragraph (a)(vii).

5. The Corporation must, when recommending to the Minister the making of regulations under this Act prescribing the rates of levies, give effect to—

6. the funding policy statement issued under section 166B; and
7. any relevant policy direction given under section 103 of the Crown Entities Act 2004.

8. The Corporation must, after recommending to the Minister the making of regulations under this Act prescribing the rates of levies, publish in the Gazette, and in a daily newspaper circulating in each of the cities of Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, a notice—

9. stating that such a recommendation has been made; and
10. stating where copies of the recommendation, and any information that accompanied the recommendation, may be obtained.

11. Nothing in this section obliges the Minister to accept the Corporation's recommendation or prevents the Minister recommending that the regulations prescribe rates of levies different from the rates recommended by the Corporation.

12. The Corporation must prepare a report in relation to the rates of levies prescribed.

13. The report required by subsection (5A) must—

14. include, without limitation,—
    1. the long-term projections for the relevant Account of solvency rates, levy rates, Account balances, and the lifetime costs of claims in relation to injuries that occur in the year for which the levies apply; and
    2. the key assumptions on which the projections are based, including the assumptions made about claims numbers, trends in underlying costs, growth of the units to which levy rates apply (for example, numbers of vehicles), investment returns, and assumptions about economic conditions and rehabilitation performance; and
15. be prepared in accordance with generally accepted practice within the insurance sector in New Zealand; and
16. be published at the time the regulations prescribing the rates of levies are published under the Legislation Act 2019.

17. The consultation procedure contained in subsection (2) constitutes a code that sets out all the obligations of the Corporation in relation to consultation over the process of recommending to the Minister that regulations be made.