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Finance and
Performance Committee
22 October
2015
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Funding for
Auckland Regional Migrant Services (ARMS)
File No.: CP2015/21939
Purpose
1. To present
options for re-allocating budget from existing council activities to fund the
Auckland Regional Migrant Services Trust (ARMS).
Executive
Summary
2. In 2014,
Auckland received around 50,000 short and long-term migrants with a net
increase of 22,500 migrants. The 2015 figures are on track to exceed
these figures. Auckland’s migrants come from a more diverse range of
countries than those settling in other regions in New Zealand.
3. Over the last
nine years, around one third of NZ’s Quota refugees (2255) have been resettled
in Auckland, joined by an unknown number coming through the Family Support
Category, those migrating into Auckland from other parts of NZ, and asylum
seekers.
4. The largest
organisation in Auckland working with the Migrant and Refugee sector is the
Auckland Regional Migrant Services Trust (ARMS). ARMS have been funded by
central government for the past 13 years for the provision of settlement
services in the Auckland region. The Trust Deed articulates the ARMS objectives
(Attachment A).
5. The Ministry of
Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) conducted a review of settlement
support provision across New Zealand and as a result ARMS have been notified
that the contract with MBIE will cease on 31 December, resulting in a $250,000
reduction in funding (Attachment B).
6. The Chief
Executive of ARMS and the Race Relations Commissioner and Patron of ARMS
addressed the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee meeting on 8 October, 2015
through public input and as a result of their presentation, the following resolutions
were passed:
That the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee:
a)
request staff, under delegation of the chief executive, provide
an urgent report to the October 2015 Finance and Performance Committee
identifying options that councillors could consider to re-allocate budget from
existing council activities to enable the funding ARMS has requested of the
committee today.
b)
request that the Chair of the committee engage with MBIE and ARMS
to understand further the implications of MBIE’s new working model and what
options there may be to address gaps in direct service provision for migrants
and refugees in Auckland, including social impact. (REG/2015/66)
7. ARMS are requesting immediate
funding of $120,000 to cover retaining current staff, retain current hours,
ensure stability through the first six months of 2016 while restructuring and
reprioritising the service and to cover overhead costs.
8. The ARMS trust proposes that
Auckland Council puts in place an annual funding agreement of $250,000 per year
for three years to incorporate outcomes derived from the goals, objectives and
activities of the Auckland Plan and the ARMS Trust.
9. No clear funding option exists
to reallocate funding to ARMS for the current financial year. Department discretionary
funding has been allocated and departments are committed to achieving the
efficiency targets outlined in the 2015-2016 Long Term Plan.
10. The Regional Community Grant
Funding scheme is available for regional organisations to apply to, with an advertised
funding cap of $40,000 for any one organisation.
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Recommendation/s
That the Finance and
Performance Committee:
a) allocate
funding to the Auckland Regional Migrant Services Trust (ARMS) of $40,000
from the Regional Community Grant fund and request staff to work with ARMS to
identify additional sources of private sector funding as additional support.
b) note this will
reduce the contestable funding budget for Regional Community Grant Funding
from $175,000 to $135,000.
c) advise ARMS to
follow the 2016/2017 Annual Plan process to request a multi-year Funding
Agreement with Auckland Council.
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Comments
Auckland Plan Priorities
11. ARMS
contributes to the Auckland Plan Strategic Direction 1: ‘Create a Strong,
inclusive an equitable society that ensures opportunity for all Aucklanders’:
i) Put
children and young persons first
· ARMS delivers three Safari Multicultural
Playgroups for refugee and migrant families
ii) Improve
education, health and safety of Aucklanders, with a focus on those most in need
· ARMS delivers the Women Inspired Strong
Empowered and Enterprising (WISE) Collective Project – facilitating
empowerment, education, enterprise and employment for refugee background women
and their families.
iii) Strengthen
communities
· ARMS provides information to new
migrants and has participated in the Migrant and Refugee component of the
integrated Family Violence Prevention Strategy and Implementation Plan
ARMS Trust delivery
12. The ARMS Trust
delivers services directly to migrants and migrant service providers, as well
as ‘community development’ provision.
13. Services
directly provided to migrants include:
· Pronunciation
courses
· Professional
speaking for migrants courses
· Intercultural
awareness courses
· Treaty
of Waitangi courses
· Migrant
employment assistance (MSD funding)
14. Services
to migrant providers, funded by MBIE, include:
· Regional
settlement network meetings
· Local
settlement networks (four across the Auckland region) meetings
· Regional
Settlement steering group meetings
· Workshops
for services providers – topics of general relevance, including interpreting
services, volunteering etc.
15. Community
Development provision:
· ARMS
partners with the Auckland Regional Refugee Coalition to deliver:
o Three
multi-cultural play groups (Todd Foundation funded)
o WISE
programme (JR McKenzie funded)
o Digital
literacy
MBIE Contract Review
16. ARMS have been
funded for the past 13 years since its inception by Immigration New Zealand. In
this time the provision of settlement services funded by Immigration New
Zealand has changed significantly and ARMS’ annual allocation of $0.471 million
in 2010/11 moved to $0.385 million in 2011/12 and to the current amount of
$0.250 million in 2012/13 (all GST exclusive). The current contract is to
provide regional settlement facilitation and information services.
17. Immigration
New Zealand (INZ), now within MBIE, recently carried out a review of six
Settlement Programmes that it funds. This Review is the last in a series of
reviews of its service delivery – Settlement Support New Zealand in 2012/13 and
Regional Settlement Strategies in 2013/14.
18. The
purpose of the Review of Settlement Programmes (the Review) was to:
· assess the alignment of programme delivery to the direction and key
objectives of Immigration NZ’s Settlement Unit and
· identify the changes that might be required to support the direction
of and programmes’ contribution to the New Zealand Settlement and Integration
Strategy.
19. The review
recommended that a service providing infrastructural support to settlement
service providers in Auckland should no longer be purchased from the ARMS
Trust. The rationale behind this assessment was that the settlement
service providers that the Trust receives funding to organise meetings for are
not a priority target group for receipt of Settlement Unit purchased services,
and many of the leadership and coordination functions carried out under this
contract are to be absorbed within the Settlement Unit’s new operating model.
Attachment B provides detail on MBIE’s assessment of ARMS services.
20. MBIE advice is
that the change does not represent a reduction in settlement support for
Auckland but it brings into effect a change in the service delivery model for
Auckland, now that an Immigration NZ is team based here. ARMS’ contract with
MBIE/ Immigration NZ will cease on 31 December 2015. MBIE will take on the
settlement coordination role that ARMS has delivered under this contract.
Auckland Council/ARMS
relationship
21. While ARMS was
established as a result of four legacy councils, Auckland Council does not fund
ARMS significantly.
22. In the past
two financial years, Auckland Council has funded ARMS $109,360 through several
funding schemes (Attachment C). This has been mainly via local board
contestable funding pools for ARMS projects such as a migrant playgroup,
English advisory services and the Newcomer Support Programme, but also a grant
through the Interim Regional Community Grants funding to assist with covering
accommodation costs.
23. In most cases,
ARMS received funding because their work with Auckland’s migrant communities
was seen to align with either local board plans or Auckland Plan priorities
around creating an equitable society which embraces Auckland’s increasing
diversity.
Options
24. There are
options for short term funding of ARMS
Council could either:
a) continue with
current state where local boards have delegation to fund ARMS through
discretionary funding mechanisms, or
b) make a regional
funding contribution to ARMS of up to $120,000 as the amount required by ARMS
to ensure operation and current level of service remains until 30 June 2016.
25. If councillors
consider option b) above then this level of funding would be unbudgeted
expenditure and require the re-allocation of budget from other council
activity, which will require a trade off against other outcomes or
deliverables.
26. Staff have
explored options for reallocating funding within internal budgets. There is no
capacity to absorb this funding request, as all money has been allocated for
the current financial year and departments are working to achieve agreed
efficiency savings.
27. At a regional
level budget exists under the Regional Community Grants Fund which sits under
the Community Grants Policy. However, the total money available for all
regional Auckland organisations in the 2015/16 financial year is $175,000. The
criteria for this fund has been approved by the Community Development and
Safety Committee and has an advertised funding cap of $40,000 per organisation.
28. There will be
funding requests from other regional organisations to the Regional Community
Grants Fund or more broadly for council support. Any decision about the re-allocation
of all or part of the Regional Community Grants Fund to support ARMs would need
to take into account the financial impact on those organisations.
29. Decisions for
funding individual organisations through the Regional Community Grants Fund will
be presented by staff to the Community Development and Safety Committee on 2
December.
Opportunities through
Empowered Communities
30. The Community
Empowerment unit will work alongside ARMS as the first council department to
model an ‘empowered communities approach’. Under a partnering approach,
council would look to organisations such as ARMS as a key partner to deliver
community development services as council moves away from direct provision
under the Empowered Communities provision.
31. Under a partnering
approach with an organisation such as ARMS council would expect to see refugee
and migrant communities be more involved in and influence council decision
making, become active participants in their local communities and over time
develop their own linkages and partnership with council.
Consideration
Local
Board views and implications
32. A number of
local boards have published priorities which relate to migrants and/or refugees
in their local board plans.
33. Local boards
fund ARMS through local community development funding budgets, although this is
at a low level and varies across local boards.
Māori
impact statement
34. Any organisation
that council enters into a contract or partnering agreement with needs to
demonstrate their obligations to working under the Treaty of Waitangi.
35. The community
empowerment approach will assist in promoting opportunities for refugees and
migrants to understand Maori aspirations and the role and authority of mana
wenua and mataawaka in Auckland.
Implementation
36. If the
recommendations of this report are accepted, a funding agreement will be
prepared for $40,000 for ARMS with deliverables negotiated between Auckland
Council Community Empowerment staff and ARMS.
Attachments
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No.
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Title
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Page
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aView
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ARMS TRUST OBJECTIVES
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11
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bView
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MBIE Review 2015 - Settlement Programmes
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13
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cView
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ARMS Financial Breakdown
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143
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Signatories
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Author
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Lou Lennane – Principal Advisor
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Authorisers
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Dean Kimpton - Chief Operating Officer
Sue Tindal - Chief Financial Officer
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