Agenda of Seniors Advisory Panel

I hereby give notice that an ordinary meeting of the Seniors Advisory Panel will be held on:

Date:

Time:

Meeting Room:

Venue:

Monday, 23 March 2015

10.00am

Rooms 1 & 2

Level 26
135 Albert St
Auckland

Seniors Advisory Panel

OPEN AGENDA

MEMBERSHIP

Chairperson	Margaret Devlin
Deputy Chairperson	Russell Rigby
Members	Dr Judy Blakey
	Janet Clews, CNZM,QSO, JP
	Roger Fowler, QSM
	Joan Lardner-Rivlin, QSM
	Sonny Niha
	Richard Northey, ONZM
Council liaison	Councillor Dr Cathy Casey

(Quorum 5 members)

Barbara Watson

Democracy Advisor

16 March 2015

Contact Telephone: (09) 890 8105

Email: barbara.watson@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Website: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

1 Apologies

An apology has been received from member Sonny Niha.

2 Declaration of Interest

Members are reminded of the need to be vigilant to stand aside from decision making when a conflict arises between their role as a member and any private or other external interest they might have.

3 Confirmation of Minutes

That the Seniors Advisory Panel:

a) confirm the ordinary minutes of its meeting, held on Monday 9 February 2015, as a true and correct record.

4 Extraordinary Business

Section 46A(7) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (as amended) states:

“An item that is not on the agenda for a meeting may be dealt with at that meeting if-

(a) The local authority by resolution so decides; and

(b) The presiding member explains at the meeting, at a time when it is open to the public,-

(i) The reason why the item is not on the agenda; and

(ii) The reason why the discussion of the item cannot be delayed until a subsequent meeting.”

Section 46A(7A) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (as amended) states:

“Where an item is not on the agenda for a meeting,-

(a) That item may be discussed at that meeting if-

(i) That item is a minor matter relating to the general business of the local authority; and

(ii) the presiding member explains at the beginning of the meeting, at a time when it is open to the public, that the item will be discussed at the meeting; but

(b) no resolution, decision or recommendation may be made in respect of that item except to refer that item to a subsequent meeting of the local authority for further discussion.”

Seniors Advisory Panel

23 March 2015

Advice on voting and candidates for the 2016 local government elections

File No.: CP2015/02925

Purpose

1. To seek input and advice from the Seniors Advisory Panel on voting and candidates for the 2016 local government elections.

Executive Summary

2. The next local government elections will be conducted by postal vote, concluding at 12 noon on Saturday 8 October 2016.

3. Auckland Council has begun planning for these elections and is seeking advice from the council’s advisory panels. Council’s key objectives for the next elections are to deliver:

· an excellent experience for candidates and voters, resulting in a pool of candidates that reflects Auckland’s diversity, and a voter turnout of at least 40%

· a candidate-to-member ratio of three

· user-centric, innovative and transparent local body elections.

4. We seek your input and advice on:

a. What can we do to encourage younger people and those from diverse and migrant communities to consider standing as candidates?

b. What can we do to encourage younger people to register and to vote?

c. What can we do to support the needs of older people to ensure they are able to vote?

5. Generally speaking, the turnout in local government elections in New Zealand is on the decline. Younger people and people from some cultural and migrant communities have a lower incidence of voting than other groups. By way of background, please find attached the Justice and Electoral Select Committee Inquiry into the 2013 Local Government Elections (Attachment A); and the Results from the General Social Survey 2013 (Attachment B).

6. The Manager, Democracy Services and Manager, Elections Planning will attend the Panel meeting to hear your advice on the above questions and any other input panel members may wish to provide, and can also answer questions.

Recommendation/s

That the Seniors Advisory Panel:

a) advise on ways to engage a diverse range of people to stand as candidates and to vote.

Attachments

No.	Title	Page
a View	Justice and Electoral Select Committee Inquiry into the 2013 Local Government Elections	9
b View	Results from the General Social Survey 2013	25

Signatories

Authors

Glyn Walters – Manager Elections Planning

Authorisers

Marguerite Delbet - Manager Democracy Services

Greg Morgan – Lead Officer Support

Seniors Advisory Panel

23 March 2015

Update on Housing for Older Persons

File No.: CP2015/03843

Purpose

1. To update the panel on activities in the Housing for Older Persons portfolio including consultation on rental standardisation, eligibility criteria and renewals planning and to discuss ways to ensure high levels of participation by older people.

Executive summary

2. Powerpoint presentations will be given at the meeting and feedback sought on the following topics:

i) Rental standardisation consultation update

ii) Eligibility criteria for Housing for Older Persons

iii) Renewals planning for Housing for Older Persons portfolio.

Recommendation/s

That the Seniors Advisory Panel:

a) receive the updates and provide advice on strategies to achieve high levels of participation by older people across all aspects of activity

Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

Signatories

Authors	Kat Teirney - Team Leader – Community Facilities, South
Authorisers	Greg Morgan – Lead Officer Support

Seniors Advisory Panel

23 March 2015

Seniors Advisory Panel Work Programme Update - March 2015

File No.: CP2015/03822

Purpose

1. To receive up-to-date information regarding the Seniors Advisory Panel’s work programme and how the panel’s advice has been used.

Executive Summary

2. This report provides an overview of the panel’s programme of work and make it possible for panel members to see how staff are using the advice and input provided by the panel. The lead officer has begun requesting staff to report back to him on how advice from the Seniors Advisory Panel is applied.

Recommendation/s

That the Seniors Advisory Panel:

a) receive the Seniors Advisory Panel Work Programme Update for March 2015

b) note that the Lead Officer Support is requesting staff to report back, where possible, on how the panel’s advice and input are used.

Comments

3. This report provides an overview of the panel’s programme of work and make it possible for panel members to see how staff are using the advice and input provided by the panel. Some of the commentary on how advice has been used is necessarily general because either (a) the particular topic brought to the panel by staff has received wide stakeholder and community input and the input as a whole informs the development of the policy or framework or (b) there is the time needed for development and the panel's advice will be applied over a number of months. Sometimes advice indicates what not to do, and the effect of such advice can sometimes be hard to capture.

4. The lead officer has begun requesting staff to report back to him on how advice from the Seniors Advisory Panel is applied. Over time this will build a fuller picture of the panel’s influence. In some cases advice provided by the panel will not be separable from stakeholder and community input as a whole.

5. In August 2014 the panel provided input on the draft Local Alcohol Policy, the consultation process around draft Local Board Plans, the draft Significance and Engagement Policy and the financial policy issues to be considered as part of the Long Term Plan. In each case staff reported using feedback from the panel to validate and shape material for consultation. This included ensuring that language and engagement opportunities provide appropriate focus on the inclusiveness of older people. Panel members provided information on stakeholder groups to be added to mailing lists for engagement purposes. Staff shared advice from the Seniors Advisory Panel with the staff who support local boards. The advice included:

· the messenger is more important than the message for reaching and engaging with people, particularly for minority groups

· it is important to reach out to people who are not a part of established networks and to use realistic scenarios and questions that draw out their views

· intergenerational fora are valuable

· documents such as local board plans need to include images of senior people.

6. In September the panel gave input on the Housing for Older Persons work programme and received the first of two presentations on the drafts Arts and Culture Strategic Action Plan. On the latter the panel provided feedback highlighting accessibility, inter-generationalism, the imaging of older people and the intersect between art and culture. As a result of the panel’s input on ACSAP:

· recommended text changes have been incorporated into the ACSAP Part 1

· positive images of older people have been inserted into Part 1

· organisations suggested by members to take part in the stakeholder engagement on the ACSAP Part 2 Delivery plan will be invited to attend a hui (March 2015).

7. In relation to Auckland Council’s housing for older people, advice from the panel was a strong influence on the method and key messages adopted for rent harmonisation consultations. When reporting on Harmonisation and increases to social housing rents on 5 November 2014, staff reported on engagement with the Seniors Advisory Panel and noted panel members’ advice giving consideration to the impact of rent adjustments on current tenants.

8. The panel provided advice on the draft Community Facility Network Plan in October. The final draft will come back to the panel before it is reported for endorsement. Staff have added a section on ‘Our Communities’ which includes feedback they heard through engagement, including advisory board engagement. There is now a section outlining why facilities are important for older people and key aspects that are important, including drop in space for informal connections and socialisation, technology assistance, accessibility and affordability.

9. In December the panel also discussed the community facilities customer experience project, and the panel’s advice on the need for easy access to information about venues and bookings informed the design work undertaken by the project team. The project has now moved to the business case phase.

10. In December the panel also provided ideas on increasing the awareness of venues operated by Regional Facilities Auckland and advice on addressing issues such as affordability and parking accessibility.

11. In October the panel considered the council’s guidelines around accessible and inclusive communications. Among other advice, members emphasised the distinction between Deaf people who use NZSL and hearing impaired people, using metadata to tag images ‘active older person’, using a variety of images to show physically and mentally active older people, and older people having fun too.

12. In December 2014 and February 2015 the panel provided advice on the 10-year budget consultation approach to engaging diverse communities and in particular older Aucklanders Subsequently feedback was relayed via the Lead Officer in response to the LTP household summary, which the panel felt did not adequately represent older people in its images and text. Staff noted that in line with advice received from the Seniors Advisory Panel, the 10-year budget consultation document ‘Help shape the future of Auckland’ does include some images of older people in its artwork.

13. In February the panel considered the uptake of the rates rebate and provided recommendations including ideas on communicating information about the rebate in new ways. It is expected some of these ideas can be implemented this year. The Lead Officer forwarded further input regarding a rates rebate support service to the staff who had sought the panel’s advice. One recommendation that has been actioned already was a media release in which the panel chair and liaison councillor urged older Aucklanders to take up their entitlement to a rebate. This statement was emailed to a range of organisations (GreyPower, Age Concern (Auckland Central, North Shore, Rodney, Manukau), Eldernet, Commission for Financial Capability, Ministry of Social Development, Salvation Army, Community Housing, Auckland District Council of Social Services) and was picked up by Scoop, Voxy, Yahoo News and Newstalk ZB.

Attachments

No.	Title	Page
a View	Advice and Feedback Provided	41
b View	Work Programme March 2015	43

Signatories

Author and Authoriser

Greg Morgan - Lead Officer Support

Seniors Advisory Panel

23 March 2015

Workshop on Potential Topics and Format of Community Summits

File No.: CP2015/03842

Purpose

1. To recommend that the panel workshop potential topics and formats for community summits.

Executive Summary

2. At its meeting on 13 December 2013 the Governing Body resolved to establish demographic panels, including a Seniors Advisory Panel.

3. As part of its role, panels may hold community summits to give direction to panel work programmes, and that these be integrated with council’s programme so they enhance and inform, not duplicate, other council engagement and consultation activities.

4. It is proposed that the Seniors Advisory Panel hold a workshop on potential topics and formats for community summits, immediately following its March meeting.

Recommendation/s

That the Seniors Advisory Panel:

a) agree to hold a workshop to consider potential topics and formats for community summits.

Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

Signatories

Author and Authoriser

Greg Morgan - Lead Officer Support