Agenda of Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel

Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel

19 August 2015

Housing Programme Update

File No.: CP2015/14917

Purpose

1. To provide an update to the Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel on the overall housing programme and key initiatives underway to help meet the housing needs of Pacific peoples.

Executive Summary

2. Pacific peoples living in Auckland are facing increasing challenges in attaining secure, healthy homes they can afford. Home ownership rates are dropping while overcrowding and the use of boarding houses in increasing. In 2006 just over 35,000 or about 67% of Pacific households were renting¹. Private rental housing is often of poor quality² and does not provide a high level of stability or security³.

3. The Auckland Plan and the Housing Action Plan both recognise the importance of improving housing supply, affordability, quality and choice, and support a targeted approach to meeting the housing needs of Pacific peoples.

4. The Turanga initiative is a co-designed programme to develop insights into the meaning of financial well-being for Pacific households. The first phase of the initiative is now complete and has helped assist four families into home ownership. A programme of work to improve housing in the Southern Initiative (TSI) area has now been developed and additional resourcing brought into the TSI to deliver this, in partnership with the Housing Project Office (HPO).

5. This work programme will focus on facilitating new models of cooperative community housing for pacific peoples in Auckland such as cohousing, as well as more retained, affordable housing in the Special Housing Areas; improving the quality of rental housing; and working with large residential developers in South Auckland to identify and support local business and training opportunities.

6. These targeted initiatives will complement the broader housing programme council has in place to address the housing challenge.

Recommendation/s

That the Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel:

a) note the contents of the report and provide feedback on the proposed TSI housing programme and council’s housing programme overall.

Comments

Pacific people’s housing context⁴

7. Home ownership has fallen across most ethnic groups; however, Pacific peoples had the largest decrease with rates falling from 25.6 percent in 2001 to 17.4 percent in 2013.

8. Within the Pacific people’s ethnic grouping, home ownership was highest for Fijians (23.8 percent) and lowest for Cook Islands Maori and Tongans (both 15.1 percent).

^{1. Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs (2007). Pacific Housing
Experiences: Developing Trends and Issues. Available from www.chranz.co.nz}

^{2. Gillespie-Bennett, Julie et al “Improving health, safety and
energy efficiency in New Zealand through measuring and applying basic housing
standards” NZ Medical Journal, August 2013, Vol 126 No 1379}

^{3. NZIER 2014. The Home Affordability Challenge; Suite of policy
reforms needed in New Zealand. Available from http://nzier.org.nz}

^{4. All statistics sourced from Goodyear, R & Fabian, A
(2014). Housing in Auckland: Trends in housing from the Census of Population
and Dwellings 1991 to 2013. Available from www.stats.govt.nz. unless stated
otherwise}

9. Statistics New Zealand note that “these ethnic variations may be partly related to differences in the types of households that different ethnic groups live in; Māori and Pacific peoples being more likely to live in households containing a family and others, multiple families, or a group of related or unrelated people who did not form a family”.

10. Overcrowding⁵ is a significant issues for Pacific peoples living in Auckland. Crowding was highest among Pacific peoples of all the ethnic groups with 45.3 percent living in a crowded household in 2013.

11. In 2013, 1,362 people in Auckland lived in boarding houses. These figures are believed to be an undercount as boarding houses can be difficult to identify and classify. Pacific peoples made up 14.6 percent of the population of Auckland, but 29.3 percent of boarding house residents.

12. In 2006 just over 35,000 or about 67% of Pacific households were renting. Of these, about 43% had private sector landlords, and 37% rented through Housing New Zealand. Households who rented were more likely to have moved at least once during the previous year than those in households who owned their home⁶.

13. The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs commissioned research into Pacific peoples experiences of renting in 2007. The quality of rental housing was a particular concern for participants in this study. They also raised concerns about the reluctance or slowness of many landlords, including Housing New Zealand, to fix problems notified by tenants.

Strategic context

14. The Auckland Plan includes a strategic direction to house all Aucklanders in secure, healthy homes they can afford. The Plan has a number of housing related targets which are relevant to Pacific peoples including:

· reduce the home ownership gap between Māori and Pacific peoples and the overall rate to less than 10% by 2030,

· reduce preventable housing-related hospitalisation by 35% by 2020,

· reduce the proportion of people living in overcrowded circumstances to 10% by 2020,

· reduce the proportion of households spending more than 30% of income on housing to 20% by 2030, and

· end rough sleeping (primary homelessness) in Auckland by 2020.

^5.^{Overcrowding is calculated when the following conditions are not
met: children under 5 years old may share a bedroom regardless of sex, children
aged 5-18 may only share a bedroom if they are of the same sex and couples and
adults aged over 18 have a bedroom.}^{Goodyear, R & Fabian,
A (2014). Housing in Auckland: Trends in housing from the Census of
Population and Dwellings 1991 to 2013. Available from www.stats.govt.nz.}

^{6. Ministry
of Pacific Island Affairs (2007). Pacific Housing Experiences: Developing
Trends and Issues. Available from www.chranz.co.nz}

15. The Housing Action Plan includes a priority area on housing for Pacific peoples which has resulted in the Turanga initiative (see item 23).

Government programme

16. In 2013 the Government made a number of changes to the way social housing is provided in New Zealand – the social housing reform programme. As part of the reform programme, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is now the single purchaser of government-funded social housing.

17. MSD released information in April 2015 on how and where it expects to fund social housing tenancies. This identifies Auckland as an area of high unmet need where MSD intends to increase purchasing over the next 2-3 years as follows:

Area:	Additional housing to purchase:
Auckland	710
Manukau	550
North Shore	90
Waitakere	330
Papakura	90
Franklin	30
Rodney	10
TOTAL:	1810 (including 140 additional 4-bedroom & larger dwellings)

18. Council is working with MSD to support the development of new social housing in Auckland.

Council’s housing programme

19. Auckland Council has a comprehensive housing programme to improve housing supply, choice, quality and affordability. Key elements of the programme include:

· the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan,

· the Auckland Housing Accord and Special Housing Areas (SHAs),

· the Homelessness Action Plan,

· the Future Urban Land Supply Strategy; and

· the Housing Action Plan.

20. The programme is set out at a high level against the Auckland Plan priorities and targets in Attachment B.

21. A range of initiatives are currently being delivered through the programme which will contribute to the housing needs of Pacific peoples. These are:

· Housing Bond

In December 2014, Auckland Council confirmed that it would serve as a guarantor of up to $6M, for a $30M fund to be raised from socially responsible investors to invest in new community housing. The loans will be available to registered community housing providers including those who specialise in housing pacific families.

· SHAs and affordable housing

There are a number of large SHAs in South Auckland which will in combination deliver approximately 13,600 new houses into the area. SHA’s developing more than 15 new dwellings must provide around 5-10% of affordable housing. Council is working to facilitate the development of retained affordable housing in SHA’s provided by the community housing sector.

· Rental quality

Auckland Council has been working collaboratively with a range of partners to trial and advocate for a minimum quality standard for rental housing. In July 2015 the Government announced that insulation and a working smoke alarm would be required in all rental properties by 2019 and in social housing this year.

· Rental sector stability

The HPO and the Community Development Arts & Culture team at council have been working collaboratively with the government on a project to better understand renters’ needs for tenure security and develop options to address them. The project reinforced the findings of the Productivity Commission in 2012 which stated “insecure tenure has a detrimental impact on tenants, particularly older people and families with children”.

· Emergency housing

Auckland Council has allocated $830,000 to tackle emergency housing, homelessness and rough sleeping in its 10-year budget. This is an increase of $470,000 on funding in the previous budget. The Long-term Plan (2015-2025) provides $250,000 per year for the next two years for emergency housing providers to develop new accommodation for Aucklanders who, due to a range of circumstances, are in desperate need of somewhere temporary to live.

22. There are also a range of emerging opportunities which could potentially be leveraged to meet the growing housing needs of Pacific peoples. These include:

a. The potential for Development Auckland to enable large-scale affordable housing projects.

b. The potential to develop long-term affordable rental housing which provides targeted housing options.

The Southern Initiative Programme

23. The Southern Initiative (TSI) has been involved to date in Priority Area 10 of the Housing Action Plan - Housing for Pacific Peoples. The Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel received a presentation from the TSI at the 25 February 2015 meeting on this work programme.

The Turanga Iniatiative, a ground-breaking, co-designed programme, showed important insights into the meaning of financial well-being for Pacific households. The initiative found there is a tension between the collective and individual models where people are caught between the individual - saving for a house and the collective - contributing to cultural and familial responsibilities. Based on those learnings, the work has evolved into strengthening the collective model through the development of cooperatives.

24. There is a new member of staff in the TSI team who will have a focus on housing for the next year to help deliver a programme in collaboration with the HPO. The TSI will have a focus on Pacific peoples housing while the HPO will take a lead on papakainga with TSI support where appropriate.

25. As a result of TSI’s co-location with the Co-Design Lab, the TSI has also been approached by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to increase the supply of innovative, community-led solutions to overcrowding. TSI is currently discussing the service schedule with MoH.

26. Set out below is the proposed TSI housing programme which includes information on resourcing and timelines for delivery:

Activity	What	Resource	Timeline
New models for affordable housing TSI and HPO will collaborate on supporting community groups and NFPs who want to develop housing	- exploring cooperative housing option for Cook Island community that also links into a broader socio-economic wellbeing created by collective use of assets and skills across the enua and vaka in the TSI area - other potential community housing projects among Pacific communities such as on church land	-TSI strategic broker support community processes and work with HPO team to facilitate. -HPO support to identify SHA potential of sites. -Use of master planning, consenting and infrastructure expertise	-due diligence already completed on Cook Is sites -preparing formal SHA request - community to work through initial design brief and other preparatory documents by December
Housing quality /Better renting Work with others on housing quality in South Auckland	- Collaboration around working with landlords in pilot linked to next stage of WOF work -Exploring community sustainability initiatives that tackle energy poverty with Chief Sustainability Officer	-HPO have recruited Housing Advisor to support programme delivery	- Scoping and project development July-Sept - implementation beginning late 2015. -Initial testing of ideas August 2015
Promoting retained affordable housing in SHAs in TSI	-HPO to link up developers with community housing groups (incl. Māori and Pacific) and encourage them to provide retained affordable housing. -Supporting developers guide to retained affordable housing	-HPO working on linking developers and housing providers - working closely with Community Housing Aotearoa	Continuous until September 2016
Papakāinga programme	-A programme of work and funding to support the Auckland Plan target to increase the number of papakāinga in the Auckland region from 3 to 18 by 2040.	-HPO is working with Te Waka Angamua on the development and implementation of a papakāinga programme. -Funding support: Papakainga -Development Contributions Grants (interim policy), Papakāinga -Development Fund (both administered by Te Waka Angamua).	- Papakāinga programme completed in June 2015. -Ongoing implementation of papakāinga programme.
Work with SHA developers in South Auckland to support local business and training opportunities	Influencing developers in SHA to consider supporting local business and training opportunities	-TSI social entrepreneur outreach to SHA developer through SHA process -HPO support in identifying suitable SHAs.	-Ongoing

Activity

What

Resource

Timeline

New models for affordable housing

TSI and HPO will collaborate on supporting community groups and NFPs who want to develop housing

- exploring cooperative housing option for Cook Island community that also links into a broader socio-economic wellbeing created by collective use of assets and skills across the enua and vaka in the TSI area

- other potential community housing projects among Pacific communities such as on church land

-TSI strategic broker support community processes and work with HPO team to facilitate.

-HPO support to identify SHA potential of sites.

-Use of master planning, consenting and infrastructure expertise

-due diligence already completed on Cook Is sites

-preparing formal SHA request

- community to work through initial design brief and other preparatory documents by December

Housing quality /Better renting

Work with others on housing quality in South Auckland

- Collaboration around working with landlords in pilot linked to next stage of WOF work

-Exploring community sustainability initiatives that tackle energy poverty with Chief Sustainability Officer

-HPO have recruited Housing Advisor to support programme delivery

- Scoping and project development July-Sept

- implementation beginning late 2015.

-Initial testing of ideas August 2015

Promoting retained affordable housing in SHAs in TSI

-HPO to link up developers with community housing groups (incl. Māori and Pacific)

and encourage them to provide retained affordable housing.

-Supporting developers guide to retained affordable housing

-HPO working on linking developers and housing providers

- working closely with Community Housing Aotearoa

Continuous until September 2016

Papakāinga programme

-A programme of work and funding to support the Auckland Plan target to increase the number of papakāinga in the Auckland region from 3 to 18 by 2040.

-HPO is working with Te Waka Angamua on the development and implementation of a papakāinga programme.

-Funding support: Papakainga -Development Contributions Grants (interim policy), Papakāinga -Development Fund (both administered by Te Waka Angamua).

- Papakāinga programme completed in June 2015.

-Ongoing implementation of papakāinga programme.

Work with SHA developers in South Auckland to support local business and training opportunities

Influencing developers in SHA to consider supporting local business and training opportunities

-TSI social entrepreneur outreach to SHA developer through SHA process

-HPO support in identifying suitable SHAs.

-Ongoing

Consideration

Local Board views and implications

27. Local boards have the opportunity to put forward their views prior to any recommendations regarding specific SHAs progressing to the Governing Body.

Māori impact statement

28. The HPO has developed the papakāinga programme in partnership with Te Waka Angamua and with input from the Independent Māori Statutory Board.

Implementation

29. The proposed implementation dates have been set out in item 26.

Attachments

No.	Title	Page
a View	Auckland Council Housing Programme (draft)	13

Signatories

Authors

Rohan Bush - Principal Advisor Housing

Authorisers

Ree Anderson - Project Director for Housing

Gael Surgenor - GM - Southern Initiative

Kim Taunga - Manager Cust. Experience - South and East Libraries

Comments

10. The Mayor’s Proposal for the Long Term Plan 2015-2025 (LTP) included developing a more empowered community led approach to the work of Auckland Council and sought changes to the community development function as follows:

· to transition delivery to a more empowered community approach

· to move away from direct delivery (and therefore save overheads) and fund community groups to deliver more

· for local boards to play a much more active role by allocating more funding through them.

11. This proposal was approved by the Budget Committee on 7 May 2015 as follows:

a) note that an Empowered Communities approach will be implemented during the 2015/2016 financial year with detail of the proposed Community Development and Safety model to be presented to the Regional Strategy and Policy (RSP) Committee on 4 June 2015.

b) note that the associated savings target of $1.6 million in 2015/2016 and $2.0 million per annum each year thereafter, until 2025, has been included in the budget and that any necessary review of implementation and related budget can be undertaken as part of the Annual Plan 2016/2017 process. Resolution number BUD/2015/18.

12. An Empowered Communities Approach (ECA) has been developed to lead a new, more effective and community-led approach to the way council delivers services and supports community activities. As a starting point, a new operating model has been developed for the Community Development and Safety unit within the Community Development, Arts and Culture Department. This will help shift away from direct service delivery, to supporting community-led initiatives, with a view to embedding this way of working across the council family.

13. The operating model has been discussed in workshops with community organisations, mana whenua groups, council staff, local boards, the Pacific People’s Advisory Panel, the disability community and external community development practitioners over the last four months. A summary of the consultation up to 30 March 2015 is outlined in Attachment B.

Political Advisory Group

14. A Political Advisory Group (PAG) chaired by the Mayor was established to provide strategic advice and guidance to staff during the development of the empowered communities approach. The PAG supported the empowered communities approach at its meeting on 6th March 2015.

15. The Political Advisory Group consists of six councillors, six local board chairs and one member of the Independent Māori Statutory Board.

16. Meetings of the PAG in April and early May focused on the new operating model for CDS. Feedback included the importance of meeting local needs, rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach and to ensure the approach and model aligns with the Māori Transformational Shifts and reflects the aims and outcomes of Te Toa Takitini. The ECA and operating model were adjusted to address this feedback (Attachment A).

17. The importance of meeting local needs is a significant priority along with the release of resources for local delivery. Additionally there was a view that more time should be provided to work through the budget and transition issues and allow for various forms of the approach to be tested against the delivery of local board plan outcomes.

18. At the 4th May 2015 PAG meeting there was further concern raised by the local board members about a lack of detail available on implementation issues, resource considerations and budget impacts for local boards. This was a common theme in the local board feedback which is summarised under the local board views and implications section of this report.

19. A further PAG was held on 26th May 2015 where these concerns were addressed directly. A verbal update will be provided at the committee meeting on the outcome of the PAG meeting. A presentation was given to the Local Board Chairs forum on the 25 May to provide further detail around budgets and transition arrangements.

Empowered Communities Approach

20. The proposed Empowered Communities Approach as detailed in Attachment A, is summarised by:

· an ‘Empowered Communities: Enabling Council’: an approach underpinned by a two-way relationship between council and the community; leading to improved outcomes for Auckland

· a strong alignment to the Māori Responsiveness Framework and promotion of working in partnership with Māori

· an empowered community is one where individuals, whānau and communities have the power and ability to influence decisions, take action and make change happen in their lives and communities. This includes communities of place, interest and identity

· community empowerment is about providing real opportunities for people to participate and fostering the conditions that support this. An empowered communities approach is a ‘way of working’ that empowers people to play a more active role in the decisions that affect their communities.

21. Working in a way that empowers communities requires ‘whole of council’ shifts to:

· act on and enable council’s partnership with Māori

· provide a gateway / portal into council resources and information

· provide more support for local boards and other areas of council to work together in joined-up ways with local communities

· facilitate and embed the empowered communities approach across council

· develop and implement creative new engagement and participation practices

· support the devolution of resources / functions / control to communities.

Proposed new operating model

22. The proposed new operating model for the CDS Unit involves a shift from delivering community development activities directly to communities, to using community led development processes. The shift also involves working more broadly across council and the CCO’s to achieve local board, governing body and Māori aspirations aligned to the Māori Plan for Tāmaki Makaurau and the Māori Responsiveness Framework.

23. The five core functions of the new unit are to:

· support delivery of local board plans and more community-led, local initiatives

· support the delivery of the Auckland Council Māori Responsiveness Framework

· focus on community capacity and capability building

· increase diverse input into council decision-making

· embed the empowered communities approach across the whole council.

24. The operating model consists of two components: local strategic brokers and a community practice hub. It is anticipated the strategic brokers will be co-located with local boards and will work closely with local board staff and in the local community.

25. The Strategic Brokers will:

· work with local boards to deliver local priorities and support more community-led planning, place-making and delivery

· scan the local community and share community priorities with the local board for their planning and prioritisation processes

· build strong relationships with local iwi, marae and Māori organisations

· provide operational policy advice to local boards on emerging community issues

· join up the work of all departments and CCO’s working in the local board area to provide an integrated and responsive experience for the community

· enlist additional resources and support for the local board area when needed from the practice hub.

26. The Community Practice Hub will be made up of operational, technical and specialist support. This will cover:

· practical hands on support to deliver work programmes eg: project management, facilitation, technical safety advice

· capacity and capability building

· community participation expertise and support

· helping other departments to deliver projects in a community led way

· Māori responsiveness

· inclusiveness and equality (communities of interest and identity)

· partnering agreements and social investment

· collaborative responses to Auckland-wide issues

· internal innovation to reduce barriers that enable communities

Transition

27. The new CDS operating model will progressively be put in place from August 2015 to January 2016, following consultation with affected staff and adoption of a new organisational design.

28. A plan is under development to ensure continuity of service over the transition period and to implement the 2015/16 work programme under the new way of working. Part of the approach to transition planning will be to work with local boards to ensure the right level of resourcing will be in place to support this and to be flexible to their needs dependent on the current level of devolvement of community services and the capability and capacity of their community to do more for themselves. An evaluation and monitoring framework is also under development in conjunction with council’s RIMU unit and will likely involve external evaluators. This will monitor progress and help inform changes to the operating model during its initial set up phase in the first six months of operation and evaluate the outcomes of the approach over the first three years.

Consideration

Local board views and implications

29. The empowered community approach aims to provide a much more active role for local boards in community development by allocating more funding through them to support community empowerment and community led activities and services.

30. ECA builds on the strong focus on community led planning and development in the Local Board Plans 2014.

31. An engagement programme with local boards will be completed on 28 May 2015, which has included workshops with local board chairs and portfolio holders for community development. Workshops with individual boards were held in April and early May and a report to each local board business meeting was presented by Local Board Services during May.

32. At the May/June round of local board meetings, most local boards confirmed their support in principle for the empowered communities approach proposed in the draft Long-term Plan 2015-25 and Thriving Communities but noted that:

· local boards are allocated decision making in local community development activities

· The approach needs to be flexible to local requirements, this includes an option for boards to decide whether or not the strategic broker role is the most effective way to empower communities in their area

· lack of clarity around the impact of ECA on local board budgets, in particular how resources would be released for local delivery. Boards could not therefore reach a position on whether to support the model or not

· staff should be located with local board services and some recommended organisationally within Local Board Services

· a comprehensive change in organisational culture is required across the organisation to make ECA successful

· there needs to be robust governance and accountability systems

· support a careful and measured introduction to ECA over time with the suggestion of an initial pilot

· some local board resolutions also noted that the PAG had extended discussion on ECA and requested further opportunity for formal feedback

33. Resolutions from each local board are contained in Attachment C. A full list of board resolutions, and an updated summary of these will be tabled at the meeting.

34. Most local board resolutions were made before local boards were made aware of the budget implications of the proposed model at the local board chairs forum on 25 May. At this meeting, chairs noted that there are no additional resources released for local delivery in 2015/2016 ( due to transition costs and the $1.6million saving as proposed in the LTP) and limited resource is released in 2016/2017. Given that the proposal envisages staff taking a strategic brokering role rather than direct delivery of community development initiatives, chairs considered the budget situation puts delivery at risk.

35. Chairs saw this is an issue for both transition (staff currently delivering local board work programmes will be replaced by advisory staff) and in the longer term given that little resource is being released to empower the community to deliver, to replace direct delivery by staff. While the model envisages communities doing more for themselves, there is not community capacity or capability in many local board areas. This will take time to develop, so Chairs believe it would be preferable for cost savings to be programmed in later once the model is established rather than in the first few years. Chairs see retaining the $1.6 million for the early years would give the model a better chance of success.

Māori impact statement

36. The ECA has the potential to impact on Māori over time. Engagement with mataawaka and mana whenua was undertaken during the engagement phase to enable staff to understand potential impacts.

37. Engagement with Māori included a number of approaches and consultation with:

· Hapai Te Hauora Tapui Māori Public Health Services Ltd

· Mangere Rangatahi roopu

· Kaumatua Hau Ora Orakei Health Clinic

· Kaitiaki Forum – iwi information hui (19 iwi)

· Te ora o Manukau (disability sector)

38. The main themes to emerge from the engagement were:

· to put the Treaty partnership at front and centre

· engage Māori in the conversation first

· the model supports partnership and potentially a more accessible council to Māori and the community

· Council cultural change is needed to support an empowered communities approach and this will take time

· there is potential for more opportunities for marae to act as community hubs for reaching out and empowering Māori

39. Feedback from the IMSB representative on the PAG was that the approach and model do not adequately reflect the Māori Transformational shifts and Māori Responsiveness Framework. As a result of this feedback, the ECA and the resulting operating model have been changed. The Māori Responsiveness Framework now guides and shapes the ECA and council will work with iwi, Māori organisations and marae across the region to nurture community led development.

40. Discussion has identified that marae could be community hubs and further Māori input is needed to develop a fresh approach to capacity building.

Implementation

41. The model will begin implementation in CDS in 2015/2016, with the model fully operational in 2016/2017. The intention is for an Empowered Communities approach to be rolled out across the whole of council over the next three – five years.

42. Modelling is underway to anticipate the cost to implement the new model, however this cannot be finalised until after consultation has occurred with staff on a new organisational structure and it is confirmed.

43. During the transition year of 2015/2016 additional costs are likely to be incurred by council. There will be no additional funding redirected to local boards from cost to serve reductions from the new model in the first year but it is anticipated that additional funding will be reallocated locally in 2016/17.

44. A plan is under development to cover the transition period from July-December 2015 to ensure continuity of service and the embedding of the new way of working applied to local board and regional work programmes.

Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel

19 August 2015

Interim list of resolutions from local boards on the Empowered Community Approach

(twelve local boards as at 21 May 2015)

Albert-Eden

That the Albert-Eden Local Board:

a) makes resolutions on the proposed Empowered Communities Approach, for consideration as part of the report to the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee in June.

b) confirms its support in principle for the Empowered Communities Approach proposed in the draft Long-term Plan 2015–2025, recognising that it presents an opportunity to reorient the way that Auckland Council works, so that community-initiated and led projects and activities are better facilitated and supported by the Council and by local boards in particular;

c) notes that the cohesiveness and well-being of local communities is a fundamental concern of local boards;

d) notes that funding for the Empowered Communities Approach, and its impact on local board budgets is unclear, and that it is therefore not possible to come to a definite position of support or otherwise for the proposal;

e) notes that additional funding will be required to establish such an approach across Council, and that inadequate funding will endanger the successful implementation of the Empowered Communities Approach;

f) supports a careful and measured introduction of the Empowered Communities Approach over time, noting that this may require the detailed design and implementation of the Empowered Communities Approach model to continue beyond the commencement of the 2015–2016 financial year;

g) notes the need for flexibility in the structure and resourcing of the Empowered Communities Approach model, as local boards vary greatly in the readiness of their local communities to initiate and lead projects and manage facilities, and in existing structures and resourcing of community events and projects, amongst other things;

h) notes, in this respect, the need for local boards to have the flexibility to engage outside organisations to inter alia manage the process of identifying or attracting expressions of interest from community organisations, and assist such organisations to collaborate with Council departments and other organisations to plan, implement and manage community initiatives and build capacity to do the same;

i) strongly supports locating any staff with responsibility for the functions in (g) physically within local boards and organisationally within Local Board Services;

j) notes the need for a comprehensive change in the organisational culture of the Council, along with the review of many policies and practices across a range of functions, which limit or impede community-led initiatives;

k) notes that the scope of the Empowered Communities Approach includes all of those departments which currently have some interaction with local boards, most notably Community Development, Arts and Culture, and Parks, and some Council Controlled Organisations as well;

l) notes that there is a measure of risk involved with a community-centred approach and therefore a need for robust governance and accountability systems, along with clear understandings about Council’s response where initiatives do not succeed.

m) notes the need to avoid duplication and over-bureaucratisation in the development of new structures to support the Empowered Communities Approach.

Great Barrier

That the Great Barrier Local Board:

a) Supports the devolved empowered community approach to provide additional support for the board and its community focusing on addressing local gaps in provision and provided this is sufficiently funded and flexible to meet Great Barrier’s particular needs, including that this support could be:

i) a person(s) who can be locally based, at least part time, including not necessarily a council employee

ii) additional budget held by the board to allocate as it sees fit to advance community development

iii) broader than the strictest community development definition and include, if desired things like environmental and parks projects

b) Notes that Great Barrier already has a largely devolved community development approach with council officers playing a minimal role mostly around managing community grants and contracts funded from the board’s discretionary (and in future LDI) budgets.

c) Notes its expectation that future Community Development and Safety budgets including staffing costs and overheads are consistent with the level of support provided for Great Barrier and not, as is the case at present, many times higher.

Henderson Massey

That the Henderson-Massey Local Board:

a) Supports in principle, the proposed Empowered Communities Approach.

b) Thanks the Mayor and the Governing Body for their strong support of local boards’ role in delivering local community development, that is implicit in the Empowered Communities proposal;

c) Has received feedback that indicates community groups have high expectations of increased financial support as a result of the Empowered Communities approach and requests realistic messaging around the proposal;

d) Notes that funding for the Empowered Communities Approach, and its impact on local board budgets is unclear, and that it is therefore not possible to come to a definite position of support or otherwise for the proposal;

e) Envisages that Henderson-Massey Local Board would not make much use of the community practice hub as proposed.

f) Supports a careful and measured introduction of the Empowered Communities Approach to enable each Board to develop its own community appropriate approach.

g) Notes the need for flexibility in the implementation of the Empowered Communities Approach, to cater to the individual circumstances of each local board.

h) Strongly supports locating staff physically within local boards and organisationally within Local Board Services;

i) Notes the need for a comprehensive change in the organisational culture of the Council, along with the review of many policies and practices across a range of functions, which limit or impede community-led initiatives;

j) Strongly supports an Empowered Communities approach that addresses staff concerns that the board has encountered such as frequent restructuring, high turnover of staff through local board facing positions, and conflicting accountabilities between regional and local activities

k) Notes that the Henderson-Massey Local Board has experienced some of the risks involved with a more community empowered approach and requests Council and its CCOs develop more robust governance and accountability systems, staff and elected member capacity development, and robust criteria and procedures for Council’s response when agreed community outcomes and standards of governance are not being achieved.

Howick

That the Howick Local Board:

a) Provides the following feedback on the proposed Empowered Communities Approach, for consideration as part of the report to the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee in June:

i) confirms its support in principle for the Empowered Communities Approach proposed in the draft Long-term Plan 2015-2025, recognising that it presents an opportunity to reorient the way that Auckland Council works so that community initiated and led projects and activities are better facilitated and supported by Council.

ii) Notes that funding for the Empowered Communities Approach and its impact on local board budgets is unclear, therefore it is not possible to come to a definite position of support or otherwise for the proposal.

iii) Supports a careful and measured introduction of the Empowered Communities Approach over time, noting that this may require the detailed design and implementation of the Empowered Communities Approach model to continue beyond the commencement of the 2015/2016 financial year.

iv) Emphasises that one size one size does not fit all and the approach must accommodate local requirements not limit local options and provide for flexibility in resourcing and models adopted for local delivery.

v) Emphasises that the Empowered Community Approach needs to take into account the wide variety of communities and their capacity, be responsive, support Maori in achieving their outcomes and be culturally attuned.

vi) Strongly supports locating any staff with responsibility for the Empowered Communities Approach physically within local board areas and organisationally within Local Board Services.

vii) Notes the need for a comprehensive change in the organisational culture of Council, along with the review of many policies and practices across a range of functions which may limit or impede the Empowered Communities Approach.

Kaipātiki

That the Kaipātiki Local Board:

a) recognises that local boards have a statutory role of community engagement, consultation and advocacy, which is also embedded in the ‘Allocation of decision making responsibility for non-regulatory activities’, as this provides for local board decision making in local community development activities.

b) notes the successful empowered community approach currently being delivered in Kaipātiki.

c) supports the intent of the Mayor's Proposal for the Long Term Plan 2015-2025 to develop an enhanced empowered community approach that funds community groups to deliver more and for local boards to have an active role by allocating more funding through them.

d) reiterates their support for the Thriving Communities Policy, which empowers our community, as adopted by Auckland Council in 2014, and notes that the Empowered Community Approach makes ‘live’ this policy.

e) wishes to emphasise that one size does not fit all and the approach must accommodate local requirements, not limit local options and provide for flexibility in resourcing and models adopted for local delivery including taking into account the wide variety of communities and their capacity, and being responsive and supportive of Maori in achieving their outcomes.

f) suggests that various local boards are asked to carry out pilot programmes implementing an Empowered Communities Approach, using their local board plan outcomes to guide such work.

g) requests to be one of the areas in the pilot programme referenced in resolution f), noting that:

i. the board will be open and honest with Auckland Council, its community and other local boards about the lessons learned and outcomes achieved locally;

ii. the board is also keen to learn from the learnings and outcomes achieved by other local boards piloting the engaged communities approach elsewhere in the Auckland region; and

iii. it is vital that an empowered community approach devolves the delivery of community development and safety services directly to our community.

h) notes that there is a need for a comprehensive change across the council family to achieve the purpose of an Empowered Communities Approach.

i) supports the establishment of a cross-council team, as a means to address the intent of resolution h), that provides specialist advice to our community in areas such as, but not limited to, procurement, human resource, infrastructure, finance, project management, environment, consenting, planning, legal, design, parks and transport.

j) requests investigation occurs to establish a best practice governance structure for our community organisations.

k) requests that staff provide information about funding of the proposed approach, which identifies the total budget for Community Development and Safety, regional and local operating costs, potential funding that can be reallocated to local delivery and details on the functions and roles and those involved with implementing the approach.

l) understands the Political Advisory Group has extended their discussion on the Empowered Communities Approach and therefore requests a new timeframe be provided identifying further formal feedback opportunities for local boards.

Manurewa

That the Manurewa Local Board:

a) provides the following input on the proposed Empowered Communities Approach, for consideration as part of the report to the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee in June:

i) notes that all local boards have a significant role in the wellbeing of local communities and decision making allocated to them for local community development activities.

ii) supports the Long-term Plan 2015-2025 direction to develop a more empowered community approach to the work of Auckland Council through a shift from direct delivery to funding community and voluntary organisations to deliver more and enhancing the role of local boards.

iii) supports the Thriving Communities action plan which sets out to create an enabling council implementing a community-led approach and in so doing empowering local boards so they can drive that approach.

iv) highlights that the level of resourcing for the Empowered Community Approach is unclear, details of the impact on local boards and communities are lacking and the functions described are unclear. Therefore it is not possible to reach a position as to whether or not the proposal can be supported

v) requests that staff provide a robust proposal describing functions not form, budget and resourcing information, impact analysis through testing against Local Board Plan outcomes and an implementation programme.

vi) the Political Advisory Group has extended discussion on the Empowered Communities Approach, therefore a new timeframe for development is required identifying when local boards will be able to provide additional formal feedback on any amended proposal.

vii) reinforces that one size does not fit all. The approach must accommodate local requirements and take into account the wide variety of communities and their capacity, plus be responsive to Maori.

viii) recognises that changing organisational culture, as sought by the proposal, needs to include policies, procedures and practices across departments and council controlled organisations (CCOs) and not solely focus on one unit within one department.

ix) with change there are always potential risks that need to be minimised. Solid governance and accountability frameworks need to be put in place, linked to a pilot phase for the approach which should inform an implementation programme.

b) request that the above resolutions be circulated to all the local boards.

Orākei

That the Orākei Local Board:

a) expresses concern that the purpose of developing the empowered communities approach has been to save money, rather than to achieve the best outcomes for Aucklanders.

b) expresses concern that the new concept has been developed without the input from external expertise and questions the ability of a council department to transform itself without credible external expertise.

c) considers that significant reform is needed in the way the Community Development and Safety team operates.

d) notes that community needs in the Orākei Local Board area are likely to differ substantially from those in other parts of the region.

e) supports the concept of a community–led approach and reducing bureaucratic barriers, noting that community development is not a core council service.

f) supports a model of community development where council’s main role is subsidising provision of facilities such as community centres and addressing market failures in the provision of community development services.

g) recommends that the empowered communities approach should first be trialled in one or a few local board areas and that this should inform any changes to the model and how it is implemented across the region.

h) recommends deferring implementation of the empowered communities approach across the region until the start of the next term of council so that trials can be completed.

i) considers that each local board should have the flexibility to decide how they respond to their communities in this area.

j) does not support the proposed community broker as it is likely to limit local boards’ flexibility and responsiveness to their communities.

k) considers that if the proposed community broker position is implemented:

i. local boards should be able to decide whether to have a broker or to use the funding to support the community in running programmes, as this will allow local boards greater flexibility

ii. local boards should have input into their appointment, as it is important for local community brokers to have standing and influence in their communities in order to perform the role as described and local boards are well placed to advise on this

iii. local boards should be able to share a broker and use the remaining funding to progress local programmes

iv. they should support community groups in the areas of accountability, monitoring and transparency of deliverables

v. they should be based in local areas and not in the central city

vi. they should have decision-making ability and a budget with which to deliver local initiatives.

l) considers that local boards should have access to community development resources in council which can drive local place-making and community development outcomes where there are areas of need.

m) notes that a further weakness of the empowering communities proposal is the absence of any budget implications for local boards.

Ōtara-Papatoetoe

That the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board:

a) provide this feedback on the proposed Empowered Communities Approach, for consideration as part of the report to the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee in June.

b) support, in principle, reduced direct delivery of community development by council, moving to a more community empowered approach to delivering activities, including funding community groups to deliver more, with local boards playing an active role in this.

c) does not support the proposed Empowered Communities Approach on the information available, but requests details of the total budget for community development and safety, regional and local operating costs, and the funding that will be reallocated to local boards. Details of the roles of the people implementing the approach are also requested.

d) agree the need for flexibility in the structure and resourcing of the Empowered Communities Approach, to recognise that local boards vary greatly in the readiness of their communities to initiate and lead projects and manage facilities. The final adopted approach needs to:

i. empower local boards so that they can in turn empower their communities in a way that best suits their areas

ii. take into account the wide variety of communities and their capacities

iii. be responsive and support Māori, Pasifika and ethnic groups in achieving their outcomes (following approaches in “Te Toa Takitini”, MCC “Pacific Connections” or equivalent material from ethnic and Pasifika cultures)

iv. ensure adequate funding is available

v. provide robust governance and clear accountability mechanisms for funds channelled to community groups

vi. locate relevant staff in Local Board Services offices.

e) request clarification of the ongoing timeframe for the project, and when further feedback by local boards will be sought on what emerges from this round of feedback.

Papakura

That the Papakura Local Board provides the following resolutions for the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee meeting on 04 June 2015:

i. Supports the purpose of the Long-term Plan 2015-2025 to change the way services are delivered to communities, which will enhance, enable and empower them.

ii. Supports the Thriving Communities action plan which sets out to create an enabling council implementing a community-led approach and reducing bureaucratic barriers and in so doing help empower local boards so as they in turn can empower communities in a way that suits the area.

iii. Notes that the level of resourcing for the Empowered Community Approach is unclear and as a result it is not possible to reach a position as to whether or not the proposal can be supported.

iv. Requests that staff provide the following:

a) Current total budgets for Community Development and Safety

b) Regional and local operating costs

c) Potential funding that can be reallocated to local delivery

d) Details on the functions and roles described in the initiative

v. Seeks clarification on how the proposed approach will function in terms of helping improve trust in the democratic system whilst at the same time transferring some powers and resources to communities. To achieve this the initiative requires communities to understand and influence the operations of a large complex bureaucracy and requires the organisation to better interact and engage with communities. The functions will therefore need to include strengthening the quality and quantity of relationships between communities and the organisation.

vi. To proceed and have effect the approach will need to provide practical support to the local board, be focused on solutions and work closely with community organisations in Papakura. Additionally the approach will need to:

a) Resource the local board to enhance the role it plays with local communities

b) Align with the local board plan outcomes

c) Substantially alter the balance of resources within Community Development Arts and Culture to focus on and enable locally driven initiatives to enhance community wellbeing.

vii. Notes that local boards have:

a) A statutory role of community engagement, consultation and advocacy

b) Decision-making roles in local community development activities

c) Currently fund a significant amount of community programmes

d) Ability to leverage in additional resources to support communities.

viii. Highlights that inadequate funding for the Empowered Communities Approach increases the risks inherent in any change of this nature, which may in turn hinder implementation.

ix. Understands that the Political Advisory Group has extended discussion on the Empowered Communities Approach and therefore requests a new timeframe be provided identifying when further formal feedback by local boards will be sought on what emerges from these discussions.

x. Emphasises that one size does not fit all and therefore work will be required with each local board to determine the resources and skill requirements. The approach needs to take into account diverse communities, their capacity, be responsive to Maori outcomes and be culturally attuned.

xi. Notes that to achieve the Empowered Communities Approach to develop a new more effective and empowering focus to the way council delivers services and supports community activity comprehensive changes is required across the council family. It needs to start somewhere such as a Community Development and Safety programme but has to be extended across the organisation.

xii. Notes that the timeframe for implementing the Empowered Communities Approach is from 01 July 2015 and would support delaying this to provide for pilots to take place with local boards. This would inform the introduction of the approach.

Rodney

That the Rodney Local Board:

a) provide the following feedback on the proposed Empowered Communities Approach, for consideration as part of the report to the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee in June:

i. support the empowered communities approach including a move away from direct delivery to support and fund community groups and organisations.

ii. support the Thriving Communities action plan to implement a community-led approach.

iii. express its concern that the level of resourcing for the Empowered Community Approach is unclear.

iv. seek information about funding of the proposed approach, identifying budget for Community Development and Safety, regional and local operating costs, local delivery and details on the functions and roles for the approach.

v. requests a new timeframe be provided identifying when further formal feedback from local boards will be sought.

vi. strongly emphasises that one size does not fit all, particularly for rural communities, and the adopted approach must respond to local requirements, provide for flexibility in resourcing and models for local delivery, take into account the wide variety of communities and their capacity.

vii. request that any approach be responsive and support Maori in achieving their outcomes and acknowledge the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

viii. acknowledge that for the Empowered Communities Approach to be successful there needs to be a whole of a council approach to its delivery, noting that:

a) the need for a comprehensive change in the organisational culture of the Council, along with the review of many policies and practices across a range of functions, which limit or impede community-led initiatives;

b) the scope of the Empowered Communities Approach includes all of those departments which currently have some interaction with local boards, most notably Community Development, Arts and Culture, and Parks, and some Council Controlled Organisations as well;

ix. seek acknowledgement from the Council and is prepared to share its experiences and issues as this approach is already being delivered across the local board area as it is not a new way of working with our communities.

Upper Harbour

That the Upper Harbour Local Board:

a) recognise that an empowered communities approach is already successfully in operation in the Upper Harbour Local Board area, and that any future model of service delivery must further enhance the way this model currently operates.

b) understand that the Political Advisory Group has extended discussion on the Empowered Communities Approach, and therefore requests a new timeframe be provided to identify when further formal feedback by local boards will be sought on what emerges from these discussions and the Upper Harbour Local Board request the opportunity to be involved.

c) recognise that local boards have a statutory role of community engagement, consultation and advocacy, which is also embedded in the Allocation of decision making responsibility for non-regulatory activities, as this provides for local board decision making in local community development activities.

d) note that the cohesiveness and well-being of local communities is a fundamental concern of local boards.

e) Support, in principle, the intent of the Long-term Plan 2015-2025 decision to develop a more empowered community approach, through a move away from direct service delivery and fund community groups to deliver more.

f) feel that at this stage the impact of the Empowered Community Approach is not clear enough, and the level of uncertainty is too great for the Upper Harbour Local Board to have a position.

g) request that staff provide information about funding of the proposed approach, which identifies the total budget for Community Development and Safety, regional and local operating costs, potential funding that can be reallocated to local delivery, and details on the functions and roles of those involved with implementing the approach.

h) support a careful and measured introduction of the Empowered Communities Approach over time, noting that this may require the detailed design and implementation of the Empowered Communities Approach model to continue beyond the commencement of the 2015–2016 financial year.

i) wish to emphasise that one size does not fit all and the approach must accommodate local requirements, not limit local options and provide for flexibility in resourcing and models adopted for local delivery. It needs to take into account the wide variety of communities and their capacity, be responsive and support Maori in achieving their outcomes and be culturally attuned.

j) note the need for a comprehensive change in the organisational culture of the Council, along with the review of many policies and practices across a range of functions, which limit or impede community-led initiatives. Whilst it is recognised that there is a need to start somewhere, such as Community Development and Safety, a programme is required which sets out how this will be extended to other departments. A strong mandate from the Chief Executive Officer to empower and equip departments to respond to community initiatives is imperative.

k) propose that the Empowered Communities Approach be piloted in various local areas, using Local Board Plan outcomes as a guide for such work programmes, and the lessons learnt be used to refine and adapted the approach as required. This would inform the introduction of the approach.

l) note the need to avoid duplication and over-bureaucratisation in the development of new structures to support the Empowered Communities Approach.

Waitematā

That the Waitematā Local Board:

i) Notes local boards have a statutory role of community engagement, consultation and advocacy which is also embedded in the allocation of decision making responsibility for non-regulatory activities as this provides for local boards decision making role in local community development activities.

ii) Supports in principal the community empowered approach proposed in the draft Long Term Plan 2015-2025 to the work of Auckland Council through a move away from direct delivery (and therefore save overheads) and to capacity-building programmes for communities that funds community groups to deliver community initiatives and activities and for local boards to play a much more active role by allocating more funding through them.

iii) Supports the Thriving Communities action plan which sets out to create an enabling council implementing a community-led approach and reducing bureaucratic barriers and in so doing helps empower local boards so they in turn can empower communities in a way that suits the area.

iv) Notes that at this stage the level of resourcing for the Empowered Community Approach is unclear and as a result it is not possible to reach a position as to whether or not the proposal can be supported.

v) Requests that staff provide information about funding of the proposed approach, which identifies the total budget for Community Development and Safety, regional and local operating costs, potential funding that can be reallocated to local delivery and details on the functions and roles and those involved with implementing the approach.

vi) Highlights that inadequate funding for the Empowered Communities Approach increases the risks inherent in any change of this nature, which may in turn hinder implementation.

vii) Notes that the Political Advisory Group has extended discussion on the Empowered Communities Approach and therefore requests a new timeframe be provided identifying when further formal feedback by local boards will be sought on what emerges from these discussions.

viii) Wishes to emphasise that one size does not fit all and the approach must accommodate local requirements, not limit local options and must provide for flexibility in resourcing and models adopted for local delivery. It needs to take into account the wide variety of communities and their capacity, be responsive and support Maori in achieving their outcomes and be culturally attuned.

ix) Notes that as the purpose of the Empowered Communities Approach is to develop a new more effective and empowering approach to the way council delivers services and supports community activity there is a need for a comprehensive change across the council family and whilst it is recognised there is a need to start somewhere such as Community Development and Safety, a programme is required which sets out how this will be extended to other departments.

x) Notes the need for a change in the organisational culture of the Council, along with the review of policies and practices across a range of functions, which currently limits or impedes a community empowered approach.

xi) Requests that the Empowered Communities Approach be piloted in various local areas using Local Board Plan outcomes as a guide for such work programmes and the lessons learnt be used to refine and adapt the approach as required. This would inform the introduction of the approach.

xii) Supports taking a multi-board approach if a project is deemed to be of greater community interest than a single local board area.

xiii) Supports locating the strategic broker role physically within local boards and recommends to the Chief Executive that organisationally the role is within Local Board Services.

Chairperson	Aiolupotea Sina Aiolupotea-aiono
Deputy Chairperson	Sefita Hao'uli
Members	Apulu Reece Autagavaia
	Tunumafono Ava Fa'amoe
	Rev Tevita Finau
	Tevita Funaki
	Afa'ese Manoa
	'Ofeina Manuel-Barbarich
	Richard Pamatatau
	Sam Sefuiva
	Leilani Tamu
Councillor Liaison	Cr Anae Arthur Anae

Authors	Crispian Franklin - Democracy Advisor
Authorisers	Kim Taunga - Manager Cust. Experience - South and East Libraries