The fate of Roxburgh's Health Camp will be decided after the November 8 election - and political claims are being made that the timing is a strategic move to keep it open.
The Children's Health Camps Board (Te Puna Whaiora), which will decide the camp's fate, put off making a decision about its closure for at least four weeks after a meeting in Wellington yesterday.
The camp, which caters to about 42 Otago families, is under threat of being closed because of a nationwide $5 million funding shortfall for such facilities.
Roxburgh's camp, as well as one at either Rotorua or Otaki, will close unless the Government provides adequate funding.
National has promised to keep the camps open if it wins next month's election.
The party's welfare spokeswoman, Judith Collins, said she thought the board's decision was a deliberate attempt to delay making a ruling in case National won the election.
"The board is fully aware of what we've said to them about our intentions to properly fund children's health camps and not see up to three of the seven camps closed. I believe they are waiting to see what the result of the election is," she said.
Te Puna Whaiora chairman Wayne Chapman said in a statement last night the board resolved to defer a decision pending the outcome of an independent financial review.
"While the organisation's critical financial situation has not changed, it has agreed to put on hold any decisions about cuts to the service until the findings of the review are available."
Mr Chapman said the decision was made in good faith, after the board met Ministry of Social Development officials.
"Progress has been made but we remain disappointed it has taken this long. We have gone through a series of similar reviews of our operation and our cost structures, which consistently have shown we are badly underfunded and that our costs are beyond dispute."
The ministry gave no guarantee the board's funding shortfall would be met upon the completion of its review, he said.
Central Otago Mayor Malcolm Macpherson was encouraged by the board's decision.
"I asked the board on Thursday to consider waiting until after the election before making a decision, and asked that, whatever the board decided, it would not be irreversible, so Central Otago could mount its own support campaign to try and keep the camp open," he said.
Labour Party MP David Parker was unable to be contacted last night.
