|
Chief
Executive Officer Review Committee
01 June 2016
|
|
Summary of
Performance for Half Year 2015/16
File No.: CP2016/09391
Purpose
1. To update the committee on
highlights of the council’s performance for the period since
1 January 2016.
Executive
Summary
2. The committee has agreed a set
of performance targets for the chief executive. The performance targets will be
measured using indicators from the newly approved Organisational Strategy. The
accompanying committee paper provides an update on progress with the
Organisational Strategy. The performance indicators will be in place to assist
committee members in their assessment of the chief executive’s performance at
the end of the current calendar year and at the conclusion of the 2016/17
financial year.
3. In the interim, this paper
provides a summary of some highlights of the council’s organisational
performance for the period since 1 January 2016. This information augments the
more comprehensive Auckland Council Performance Report for the period
1 July 2015 to 31 March 2016 which was presented to the Finance and Performance
Committee on 19 May 2016 (CP2016/08120 refers).
4. This report provides committee
members with an indication of the diversity and breadth of activities underway
since the committee last formally reviewed the chief executive’s performance in
December 2015.
|
Recommendation
That the Chief Executive
Officer Review Committee:
a) note the contents of this
report.
|
Comments
5. This paper provides committee
members with a summary of some highlights of the council’s organisational
performance for the period since 1 January 2016. This paper augments the more
comprehensive quarterly reports to the Finance and Performance Committee.
Context
6. A major focus for the chief
executive is getting the organisation fit for purpose to meet the challenges
ahead. We have implemented an Organisational Strategy that focuses on our key
priorities and organisational leaders are clear about the need to deliver
results.
7. We are operating in a
constrained funding environment. We are relentlessly pursuing cost savings to
reduce the burden on rates and non-rates revenue. In the first quarter of this
year we reported on the IS Roadmap which aims to save $37 million plus an
on-going saving of $1 million annually. In addition, we aim to deliver $70
million in cost savings by the end of this financial year through improved
procurement practices and we will bank significant debt servicing cost savings
for the next several years by refinancing our EMU loan.
8. Modernisation is driving new
ways of doing business with our citizens and customers. We are modernising our
services to make them more relevant and easier to use. This report highlights
our movement towards more online services which meets the changing expectations
of our customers for self service and a digital experience.
9. We are increasing our capability
and capacity to respond to Auckland’s growth opportunities. Continued
population and economic growth is driving a sustained increase in demand for
council services. Our biggest pressures relate to housing supply, responding to
the market for the timely release of land, putting in place supporting
infrastructure and processing resource and building consents.
10. In response, we are on schedule
to receive the Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel recommendations and the
organisation is in a good position to support the Governing Body as it makes
its Unitary Plan decisions. We have had productive conversations with central
government to progress major infrastructure projects. This includes discussions
with Treasury on how additonal infrastructure costs could be funded. And our
regulatory teams are consistently increasing volumes while delivering within
the statutory timeframes. More recently, councillors were advised that Building
Control were using the services of other councils as a temporary measure to
keep on top of volumes and this has been a cost effective way of maintaining
high throughput. We have also raised public awareness of shoddy building
practices and substandard building products as a means of reducing the number
of wasteful building inspections.
11. Looking ahead, elected members
will receive advice from the ATAP project, the Port Future Study and City Rail
Link funding negotiations in the coming months. These are big issues for
Aucklanders and teams from across the council group are working hard to ensure
elected members receive sound advice.
12. Finally, elected members will be
aware that the organisation is preparing for the October elections and any
uncertainty the election period may bring.
Auckland
development
13. The Auckland Unitary Plan:
To support the council’s position regarding the Unitary Plan, council staff
attended all Independent Hearings Panel (IHP) hearings up to April 2016. The
Unitary Plan process reached a major milestone on 13 May 2016 when hearings before
the IHP came to an end. The Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan received 9,443
submissions during an extensive five-month consultation period, followed by
3,951 further submissions. Hearings before the IHP began in September 2014.
Since then it has held 242 days of hearings and IHP members have read through
more than 10,000 pieces of evidence from submitters from right across the
region. The IHP is working towards July’s deadline to present its
recommendations back to Auckland Council.
14. Once received on 22 July 2016,
Auckland Council has 20 working days to consider the IHP’s recommendations. The
Governing Body is expected to make its final decisions on the plan in late
August 2016.
15. Auckland Transport Alignment
Project: The chief executive co-chairs the ATAP Governance Group. The
council and Auckland Transport (AT) are providing strong analytical support to
the project alongside the Treasury, Ministry of Transport, NZ Transport Agency
and the State Services Commission. The chief executive is working with all
stakeholders to ensure the project delivers its outputs on time and to the
correct quality. The ATAP foundation report was publicly released on 19
February 2016 as the first major deliverable. The foundation report outlines
Auckland’s current and future transport challenges, and how the transport
system needs to develop to meet the region’s needs. It also sets out how
possible transport projects, services and policies will be evaluated in the
next stages of the project.
16. The second deliverable containing
preliminary findings and initial conclusions will be provided to the
participants by the end of the month. It provides initial advice ahead of the
final report which will be completed by the end of August 2016.
17. City Rail Link: The chief
executive, together with the AT chief executive and in consultation with the
Mayor’s Office, is working with officials from the Treasury and the Ministry of
Transport to negotiate a funding proposal with the Crown. The work includes
identifying ownership responsibilities and risks. A successful outcome of this
work will allow the main CRL works to begin in 2018. The draft funding and
ownership proposal will be presented to elected members for consideration when
available.
18. Port Future Study: The
chief executive provides project support to the project’s Independent Chair and
his support staff. This entails assisting meetings of the Consensus Working
Group and Reference Group as well as providing interim updates to the Auckland
Development Committee. The Port Future Study is an independent collaborative
stakeholder and Māori study that is on track to present its
recommendations for a strategy to accommodate Auckland’s trade to the Auckland
Development Committee in July this year.
19. Special Housing Areas:
Forty-eight new Special Housing Areas (SHAs) within Tranches 9 and 10 have been
approved by the council's Governing Body. This brings the total number of SHAs
to 154, with a potential yield of 55,757 sites and dwellings.
20. Funding and infrastructure
development prioritisation to support new housing: Auckland Council staff,
together with support from Auckland Transport and Watercare, assisted the
Treasury to assess our prioritisation and funding mechanisms to support new
housing development. The Treasury presented their analysis to the Minister of
Finance which was considered as part of a Cabinet strategy discussion on
Auckland. The Treasury report was shared with councillors on 4 April 2016. The
Treasury analysis broadly accepts the financial constraints the council faces
and acknowledged that alternative funding tools should be considered.
21. Tamaki Transformation “Stage
2”: Full capitalisation of the joint structure has concluded and a new
shareholders agreement to commence actual redevelopment of Tamaki has been
agreed.
22. Tupuna Maunga Authority’s
draft Integrated Management Plan: The draft plan for the tūpuna maunga
has been notified for public submission. The plan will supersede the existing
reserve management plans and provide future direction for how the tupuna maunga
will be managed.
23. Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize
2016: Auckland received a Special Mention in the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew
World City Prize 2016. The advisory letter noted Auckland’s success in
“overcoming its planning challenges faced over the past 20 years, notably
through a highly integrated and innovative governance model”.
24. Tripartite Economic Alliance:
The council hosted the second annual summit of the Tripartite Economic Alliance
between Los Angeles, Guangzhou and Auckland. Council staff assisted ATEED and
the Mayor’s Office in the planning and hosting of the event.
25. Auckland Council was awarded the
Best Business Project at the 2016 Sister Cities New Zealand Awards, held in
Nelson in April. The award is sponsored by Air New Zealand. It recognises the
value of the mission of 43 Auckland business delegates to Los Angeles in 2015
as part of the inaugural tripartite summit between Los Angeles, Guangzhou and
Auckland.
Regulatory functions
26. Resource consents: The
number of resource consents received continues to rise and is currently 8.3 per
cent higher compared to the same ten month period in the prior year (July 2015
– Apr 2015 = 12,860 compared to July 2015 – April 2016 = 13,931).
27. Wynyard Quarter consents:
There have been a relatively large number of consents processed for the Wynyard
Quarter area including the new ASB Waterfront Theatre, construction of the $200
million Park Hyatt and Panuku Development Auckland's upgrades to Madden Street
and Pakenham Street. Up to 1,000 construction workers are on sites, focused on
$1 billion of work in Wynyard Central.
28. City Rail Link consenting:
CRL consenting is progressing and monitoring underway with significant
collaboration across the council organisation.
29. Building Control demand:
Demand remains strong for building control services as growth accelerates.
Inspections are up 10.3 per cent year to date compared to 2014/15 and the last
quarter was up 7 per cent compared to the same period last year. Lodged
consents are up 15 per cent year to date compared to 2014/15 and the last
quarter was up 6 per cent compared to the same period last year.
30. Building Control award:
Building Control won the award for Innovation in Organisation and People
Development at the SOLGM Local Government Excellence Awards 2016 for its
Regulation 18 training programme. It was considered the best people development
programme across all councils in the face of some heavy competition and record
numbers of entries.
31. Shoddy buildings media
campaign awareness: Council has been raising awareness with Aucklanders
about our concerns with some of the poor building practices that we have come
across in building inspections and the use of substandard building materials.
The shoddy building practices issues was a lead item on the OurAuckland
website, the story and videos showing shoddy work were picked up by the Herald
and Fairfax media, and the videos have recorded more than 41,000 views. The
substandard building products awareness was the lead front page NZ Herald item
on 24 May 2016.
32. Animal management: Council
was recently Highly Commended in the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand
(PRINZ) annual awards. The award went to the enormously successful “Walkies”
event, which introduced shelter dogs to people at Victoria Park, and generating
excellent publicity for council. Animal management is a highly emotive subject
and attracts a great deal of comment in social and local media. This event saw
widespread media coverage including the Mike Hosking show, Breakfast, Stuff,
over 500 people attended, 320 people signed up to walk a dog and all dogs at
the event were homed afterwards. Social media results were outstanding with our
strongest ever LinkedIn Post earning over 20,000 impressions, over 3,000 social
interactions, almost 50,000 total organic impressions and 504 unique page
views.
33. Adoptable dogs rehomed:
This year 100 per cent of adoptable dogs have been re-homed from council animal
shelters.
34. Menacing dogs: In April,
Auckland Council launched an initiative aimed at reducing the harm done by
menacing dogs in vulnerable communities. An amnesty for owners of unregistered
menacing dogs saw those who qualified receiving free registration for 2016/17
and discounted de-sexing and micro-chipping. Over three hundred dog owners had
come forward within the first month of the campaign. From 1 July 2016, Auckland
Council’s Animal Management team will conduct a widespread enforcement
campaign. Any unregistered menacing dogs will automatically be seized and the
owners fined.
35. Food safety: The standard
of food served around the city got a boost in March as Auckland Council
launched a new food grading system, EatSafe. The new grading system, with the
tagline ‘turning up the heat on food safety’, comes as the Ministry for Primary
Industries (MPI) brings into force the 2014 Food Act. The new law helps
modernise and strengthen food safety and the new grading scheme reflects this.
36. Alcohol licensing: An
investigation, carried out in February by council’s alcohol licensing
inspectors and accompanied by the Police, has resulted in an application to
have an alcohol license cancelled. This is the first such application In New
Zealand under the new Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 and comes after the
outlet sold alcohol to a minor for the third time in just over two years.
37. Licensing and request for
service volumes: The volume of food premises licensed has increased by 2
per cent to 8,935 in the year to 31 March 2016. These are projected to increase
by an additional 25 per cent over the next three years as food operators
transition to the Food Act 2014 and new premises come into scope. Responses to
complaints received regarding alleged bylaw breaches increased by 7 per cent to
9,287 in the year to 31 March 2016. The number of noise complaints received
increased by 11 per cent to 51,588 in the year to 31 March 2016. The council’s
animal management team have responded to 21 per cent more calls for assistance
since 1 April 2014.
Environmental
management
38. Inorganic collections: The
new inorganic collections service started in February 2016 and has been rolled
out across the region. Currently, the number of households booking an inorganic
collection is 15 per cent of all eligible households.
39. Te Auaunga Awa (Oakley Creek)
stormwater project: The $20 million Te Auaunga Awa (Oakley Creek)
stormwater project has received resource consents and the procurement plan was
approved by the Tenders and Procurement Committee. The project will deliver
flood mitigation, amenity and ecosystem, and other community services outcomes,
and is on track to commence this calendar year.
Parks,
community and lifestyle
40. Sport and Recreation Sector
Forum: On 19 February 2016 the Sport and Recreation unit in conjunction
with Aktive and Sport New Zealand hosted the Sport and Recreation Sector Forum.
It was attended by the Minister for Sport and Recreation and Mayor Brown and
more than 100 experts or sport leaders.
41. Three reports presented at the
event: Sport and Active Recreation in the Lives of Auckland Adults; The
Economic Value of Sport and Recreation to the Auckland Region; and Auckland
Sport and Recreation Strategic Action Plan – Annual Report 2015. The research
shows that sport and recreation make a significant contribution to the Auckland
economy accounting for $1.7 billion per annum, or 2.2 per cent of regional GDP.
42. Connected Auckland through
active transport: The Parks Recreation and Sport Committee adopted an
approach to implement greenways on parks and open space that contributes to
achieving a connected Auckland through active transport. This approach includes
criteria to guide allocation of the greenway component of the parks development
(growth) programme, on parks and open space. An integrated approach was adopted
to consider active transport provision and delivery in a more joined up way
across council parks and open space and Auckland Transport to achieve the
objective of a connected Auckland through active transport.
43. Healthy Auckland Together:
Healthy Auckland Together is a coalition of 21 agencies committed to making
Auckland the world’s most liveable city - where all of its people can live a
full and healthy life. By working collaboratively, the coalition aims to make
it easier for everyone to be active, eat better and stay a healthy weight. The
chief executive and the Clinical Director of the Auckland Regional Public
Health Service (ARPHS) co-signed the agreement “Intention to Collaborate”.
44. Agencies have co-delivered a
joint action plan including priority actions and key indicators. This uses a
collective impact approach which delivers better metrics, monitoring and
evaluation to council at no further cost. By working across the agencies we are
better able to understand information to target services.
45. Enterprise online booking
system: There are many council places and services available for our
ratepayers, communities and customers. We need to make it easy for our
customers to find out what is on offer, and to gain access to it. Going Places
Online is a phased initiative that aims to provide a single digital channel and
consistent online experience for customers wanting to use council places and
services. This supports council becoming a ‘digital council’ and meeting
customers’ expectation for online options.
46. The first phase of the rollout
commenced earlier this year, with customers being able to hire a community
venue online. Work is also underway to enable customers to process an online
application for permitting events. Over time, other council places and services
will migrate to the new booking system, aiming to deliver a more streamlined
digital experience from council.
47. Otamariki Street ball court:
The first commercial partnership from the Strategic Partnerships Programme is
fully underway. This initiative is a partnership between council, the community
and Spark. The asset is fully funded by Spark including the first two years of
maintenance.
48. The initiative used a community
development approach working alongside the local community to develop a three
way partnership with Spark, a local group of volunteers and council. The court
opened in late 2015 and is showing signs of being a great success. One
community member said “this court has restored the mana to our community and
our park. Before we had an old run down court, we thought council didn’t care
about us. Now we can be proud, we have got something for Otara that is as good
as they have in the CBD and we deserve to have good things too. Thanks Council
and thanks Spark.” A further three street ball courts will be delivered in
2016/17 through Spark funding.
49. Summer events season: A
hugely successful summer events season was delivered that has included over
80,000 Aucklanders attending fifty-two Music and Movies in Parks events. This
was partly enabled through leveraging commercial sponsorship which has reduced
the financial burden on ratepayers. Compared to 2015, attendance was up 30 per
cent for music and 70 per cent for movies.
50. Sculpture in the Gardens:
The event, held at the Auckland Botanic Gardens, attracted 338,000 visitors
over three months, with 93.8 per cent of all visitors satisfied with their
experience. A total of 39,600 international visitors attended the exhibition.
At the opening it was announced that the Friends of the Auckland Botanic
Gardens had purchased two artworks for permanent display at the Botanic
Gardens. A third artwork has also been donated to the Botanic Gardens.
51. Going Places Online: The
online customer-focused online booking platform for community halls and venues
for hire was initiated. The programme will be rolled out to other facilities
soon.
52. Community Development savings:
The Arts, Community and Engagement team are in transition to a new model of
community development that focuses on local priorities and empowerment of
communities, which will deliver $2 million per year in operating savings from
2016/17.
Financial performance
53. Procurement savings: The
Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO) initiated a programme to leverage the
purchasing power of the council group. The GCFO considered the council group
could use its combined purchasing power to drive better prices from suppliers.
The initiative, referred to as the harihari project, has
delivered $55 million as at 17 May 2016, and is on target to increase those
savings to $70 million by 31 June 2016.
54. Prestigious National
Procurement Award: On 19 May 2016, Sara Hay, the council’s General Manager
Procurement won the EY Procurement Leader of the Year Award at
the inaugural EY New Zealand Procurement Excellence Awards. The award
demonstrates the great people talent council now attracts and the quality of
work underway.
55. Domestic bond issue: In
March 2016 the GCFO concluded a $250 million domestic bond issue at a record
low coupon rate of 3.04 per cent for a four year term. This was a hard won
negotiated rate and represents continued strong appetite for Auckland paper.
56. Asian bond roadshow:
Between 9 and 13 May 2016 the GCFO participated in an Asian roadshow with the
NZ Debt Management Office (DMO), the Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA) and
Fonterra in Tokyo and Taipei to meet with prospective holders of council bonds.
The council also held separate meetings in Hong Kong. This is the first time
the council has participated in a roadshow with the group and represents a
landmark first for a “NZ Inc.” roadshow. About 70 potential investors attended
the meeting bilaterals with the majority showing a keen interest in council
bonds.
57. EMU loan refinancing: The
finance team are in discussions with the Crown with the aim of taking advantage
of lower interest rates. The Governing Body was advised of the quantum of
savings that could be achieved through a debt restructuring agreement which
would amount to several million dollars per year for the next several years.
Corporate initiatives
58. Organisational strategy:
The council’s three year organisational strategy has been developed and
approved. The strategy outlines outcomes, initiatives and the performance
framework. A new and improved reporting framework has been implemented to
assist the organisation to better understand performance against key metrics.
The supporting structures include the creation of a high level Investment Group
and ELT sub-groups who will provide organisational strategy oversight. SLT has
been briefed on their contribution and responsibilities for achieving the
organisational strategy outcomes.
59. The chief executive’s performance
objectives have been aligned to the organisational strategy, as have
departmental business plans, team plans and individual goals.
60. IT Roadmap implementation:
The GCFO advised the Finance & Performance Committee that significant
on-going savings could be achieved by reviewing the council’s IT functions.
Affected staff have been informed and a new Director IT is being recruited to
lead the implementation of the review.
61. Collective employment
agreement: On 22 March 2016, Auckland Council's largest collective
employment agreement with the PSA was ratified for a further three years. This
was the culmination of five months of extensive, but constructive negotiations
with the PSA. The outcome was a significant improvement in this agreement,
which directly covers 2,000 PSA members, and indirectly affects a further 3,000
non-members.
62. Leadership discussions with
senior leaders: “Leadership Expectations and Management Essentials” were
introduced in early 2016 to outline the expectations of an Auckland Council
Leader. They are supported by Leadership Compass, which guides leaders through
a self-assessment and series of feedback conversations to identify their
individual leadership strengths and areas for development.
63. Graduate employment:
Auckland Council was voted by tertiary students as the 3rd Most Desired
Graduate Employer in New Zealand and 1st Most Desired Graduate Employer for the
government sector. In 2016, we have had 152 participants on graduate, intern
and cadet programmes, achieving diversity targets with 65 per cent of
participants women, 13 per cent Maori and 13 per cent Pasifika.
64. Health and safety: Over
the first half of this year, there has been a heightened focus on health and
safety to ensure staff, leaders and elected members are aware of their
obligations under the relevant legislation. A strategic plan for health, safety
and wellbeing has been developed and integrated into the organisational
strategy as a key priority. A new team has been established with a business
partner focus that supports a proactive approach to health and safety with a
proactive engagement with all parts of the council.
65. Auckland Council has transitioned
into the new legislative context with numerous activities across the
organisation in support of this including elected member and executive
leadership due diligence briefings; revised contract terms of engagement; an
improved employee participation programme with rep roadshows planned for May
and June; and staff training to support the transition across the region.
66. Te Toa Takitini (the
Māori responsiveness work programme): The chief executive chairs the
executive leadership group of Te Toa Takitini, which includes council’s
executive leadership team and the chief executives of the CCOs and the
Independent Māori Statutory Board. This group drives delivery on
Māori transformational shift priorities, including our response to IMSB’s
Treaty Audit. The current focus is on agreeing work programme priorities for FY
2016/2017.
67. Highlights from the first half of
this year include: the inaugural Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival; progress on
developing Marae investment proposals and Papakainga initiatives; the Mana
whenua kaitiaki summer rangers programme leading to employment for 6 of 8
interns; progress on developing Māori responsiveness plans for departments
and CCOs; learning and development activities to build capacity to respond
effectively to Māori; and ongoing engagement with the Office of Treaty
Settlements and iwi in settlement negotiations. The current focus is on
agreeing Māori transformational shift work programme priorities for FY
2016/2017.
68. Media and cut through of
OurAuckland: One in three Aucklanders have seen or heard something about
Auckland Council recently, with almost half (45 per cent) attributing their
awareness to council’s OurAuckland publication (hard copy or online). National
newspapers are also sitting at 45 per cent, so this tells us that Aucklanders
who have heard about Auckland Council are equally likely to hear about us from
OurAuckland as from the national newspapers.
69. Elected member survey: The
elected members 2016 survey was undertaken earlier this year. Initial results
show that overall satisfaction with the advice and support provided by council
employees has fallen to 51 per cent, from 63 per cent in 2014. Key areas
identified for improvement are; the quality and timeliness of advice from staff
to elected members; better understanding of local boards governance role; the
relationship between Auckland Transport and local boards; improved
communication and collaboration across the organisation; and clarity about how
council’s functions are organised following organisational restructuring. The
survey is a very important tool that gauges elected member satisfaction and
helps guide improvements in the services we deliver.
70. Governance centre of
excellence: Council’s complex governance model creates both opportunities
and challenges. Council’s governance division has commenced a programme of work
designed to optimise support for our governance model and improve organisational
understanding and practice around democratic and corporate (arms lengths
entities) governance. One project in this work programme is looking at the
local board and governing body relationship and considering matters such as:
the decision-making framework; funding mechanisms; organisational
processes/policy parameters; processes for making decisions on regional policy;
and the responsiveness of the organisation to best balance regional and local
decision-making; and the ability of the governing body and local boards to
influence CCOs in their delivery of council activities.
Consideration
Local
Board views and implications
71. Local board views have not been
sought for this committee report.
Māori
impact statement
72. Māori outcomes are
influenced through the successful delivery of the organisation’s policy and
services.
Attachments
There are no attachments for
this report.
Signatories
|
Author
|
Michael Quinn - Executive Officer
|
|
Authorisers
|
Stephen Town - Chief Executive
Christine Etherington - People & Capability
Director
|
