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Puketāpapa
Local Board
26 May 2016
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Local Board
input into the Empowered Communities Approach Progress Update Report
File No.: CP2016/10258
Purpose
1. To provide an opportunity for
local boards to formally feedback on the progress and implementation of the
Empowered Communities Approach to date.
Executive
summary
2. On 4 June 2015, the Regional
Strategy and Policy Committee approved the implementation of the Empowered
Communities Approach.
3. The Community Empowerment Unit
was established to lead and operationalise the Empowered Communities Approach.
The unit became operational on 1 October 2015.
4. In March 2016, the Regional
Strategy and Policy Committee received its first update on the transition and
implementation of the new structure and approach.
5. Local board views are being
sought to inform the July 2016 progress update report to the Regional Strategy
and Policy Committee.
6. This report provides an
opportunity for the local board to formalise its views on progress made to
date.
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Recommendation/s
That the Puketāpapa Local
Board:
a) formally endorse the feedback
on the progress and implementation of the Empowered Communities Approach to
date.
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Background
7. The Mayor’s
Proposal for the Long Term Plan 2015 – 2025 (LTP) included developing an
Empowered Communities 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 the boards.
8. The Budget
Committee approved the proposal on 7 May 2015. It resolved to:
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
9. On 4 June
2015, the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee resolved to:
a) Endorse the
implementation of the ECA which will result in a new operating model for the
Community Development and Safety unit;
b) Request that
progress against outcomes, implementation of the structure and operation of the
model be reviewed and reported back to the Regional Strategy and Policy
Committee in February and July 2016;
c) Endorse that additional funding to deliver locally driven
initiatives be considered as part of the 2016/2017 Annual Plan.
(Resolution
number: REG/2015/41)
10. The Empowered
Communities Approach provides clear strategic direction for a whole of council
shift to working in ways that are more empowering of communities.
The approach:
· provides a framework to enable council to
deliver services in a more effective and empowering way;
· supports community-led development and
builds on the Thriving Communities’ Action Plan Ngā Hāpori Momohi
(April 2014);
· involves a shift away from direct service
delivery to supporting community-led initiatives, with a view to embedding a
new way of working across the council family;
· encourages flexibility to meet the
varying requirements of communities and local boards, rather than taking a ‘one
size fits all’ approach.
11. The Community
Empowerment Unit was established to lead and operationalise the Empowered
Communities Approach. The unit became operational on 1 October 2015.
Progress
update report
12. In March 2016
the Regional Strategy and Policy Committee received an update on the progress
of the implementation of the new structure, the operational model and outcomes
of the approach to date. Staff will be presenting a further update to the
Committee in July 2016.
13. This report
provides an opportunity for the local board to formalise its views on progress
to date of the implementation of the approach to inform the July 2016 Regional
and Strategy update report.
Three year
evaluation
14. The Empowered
Communities Approach is being evaluated over a three year period. An evaluation
plan is currently being developed.
15. To ensure a good
spread of data and input from a variety of viewpoints and experiences (elected
members, community groups and staff), the local boards’ views captured during
this process will also help inform the baseline and formative phase of the
wider three year evaluation.
Consideration
Local
board views and implications
16. Local board
feedback will help inform the report to the Regional Strategy and Policy
Committee in July 2016 on the progress and implementation of the Empowered
Communities Approach to date.
17. Local boards are
providing feedback on the following questions:
· What do you see working well in the
initial stages of the roll out of the Empowered Communities Approach?
· In the future, how would you know that
the Empowered Communities Approach is working well in your local board area?
· What has been the impact of transitioning
into an Empowered Communities Approach for your local board area?
· What do you see as the key barriers to
the implementation and uptake of the Empowered Communities Approach?
· How can the Community Empowerment Unit
ensure that the approach is embraced by the whole of council for the betterment
of the community?
Māori
impact statement
18. The council’s
Māori Responsiveness Framework has guided and shaped the Empowered
Communities Approach.
19. Te Waka Angamua
(TWA) is involved in the cross-council evaluation reference group.
20. The Community
Empowerment Unit is also developing more enabling and responsive ways of
working with mana whenua, mataawaka, marae and Māori organisations across
the region to nurture community-led development initiatives.
Implementation
21. The Empowered Communities
Approach will continue to be implemented and evaluated with the model being
operational in the 2016 /2017 financial year.
Attachments
There are no attachments for
this report.
Signatories
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Authors
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Madelon de Jongh - Senior Policy
Advisor
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Authorisers
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Anna Bray - Policy & Planning
Manager - Local Boards
Victoria Villaraza - Relationship Manager
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