Notice is given that an ordinary meeting of the Full Council will be held on:
Date:
Time:
Meeting Room:
Venue:
Thursday 10 September 2015 9.30 am
Tasman Council Chamber 189 Queen Street
Richmond
Full Council
LATE ITEMS AGENDA
LATE ITEMS
5 LATE ITEMS
That the late item, 8.13, Chief Executive’s Activity Report, be considered at today's meeting. It was omitted from the agenda due to an administrative oversight and needs to be reported for the information contained to remain current.
That the late item, 8.14, Referral from Committee – Treasury Policy Changes be considered at today's meeting. The item is late as it was discussed at the Corporate Services Committee meeting on 3 September, after the agenda for Full Council was published.
Council approval is needed so we can transact swap cover as soon as possible.
8 REPORTS
8.13 Chief Executive's Activity Report ... 5 8.14 Treasury Risk Managment Policy Amendment ... 11
Item 8. 13 8 REPORTS
8.13 CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S ACTIVITY REPORT
Decision Required Report To: Full Council
Meeting Date: 10 September 2015
Report Author: Lindsay McKenzie, Chief Executive Report Number: RCN15-09-10
1 Summary
1.1 This report covers some of my activities since the Council’s 30 July 2015 meeting. The gap between adopting the Long Term Plan being and finalising and presenting the Annual Report is a busy one. It is also a time to look to the future. Council was asked to begin to engage in that at a workshop on 3 September 2015.
1.2 It has been a busy period with personnel matters. The Collective Employment Agreement has been negotiated and now ratified, negotiations are underway with staff members on individual employment agreements and the policy change from bands to grades, which you have been briefed about, has been made.
1.3 The Leadership Development Programme has finished but we are planning to participate in a high performance workplace initiative funded in part by Callaghan Innovation.
1.4 It is too early in the year to provide meaningful financial information. The team has been focused on the Annual Report, the auditors, activity balances and carry forwards. While the operating surplus is lower than the draft financials it is still an excellent result.
1.5 I had two national commitments during the past six weeks – one to the Regional Council Chief Executives Forum and one to the Central Government/Local Government CEOs Forum that is sponsored by the Department of Internal Affairs and the Society of Local Government Managers.
1.6 The senior managers have signed off the project scope to review the Council’s existing health and safety systems and processes with a view to implementing an improvement plan.
We will continue to brief Council and Committees on this work.
2 Draft Resolution
That the Full Council receives the Chief Executive's Activity Report RCN15-09-10.
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3 Purpose of the Report
3.1 The purpose of this report is to inform Council about my activities since Council’s 30 July 2015 meeting. This report is for noting only.
4 Strategy and Planning – vision, direction, plans and policies, Long Term Plan, implementing
4.1 We’ve previously advised that the Council’s Consultation Document was one of eight judged
‘best’ recently at the Community Planning Conference. We didn’t make it to the very top but are proud of where we got to. Those staff who attended came back enthused about the approaches other councils have used to engage communities and will be promoting their ideas to you.
4.2 Now that the Long Term Plan 2015-2025 has been adopted and we know that the Annual Plan is going to be a positive one it is time to plan ahead. The first workshop to plan the approach to better align councillors’ aspirations for the community and the organisation with what staff leaders need occurred on 3 September 2015. Staff are pleased to have a
mandate to undertake this work.
5 Advice and Reporting – Long Term Plan, annual report, current issues, governance support
5.1 The Annual Report audit process has gone very well with only one minor change proposed to the financials. We are on track to adopt on 24 September 2015.
5.2 The Chairman of the Motueka Community Board has asked for a closer relationship with Council’s executive staff. I’ve met Chairman Hawkes and Board Member Ogilvie to discuss their needs and will follow up with them and the Mayor on the outcome. We do already have an annual programme of briefings for the Board on departmental activities.
5.3 Other work that I have been doing in the governance support area is covered in separate reports on the agenda.
Report on the SOLGM central government/local government Joint Chief Executive’s Forum 5.4 I attended the SOLGM Internal Affairs-sponsored Joint Chief Executive’s Forum in
Wellington on 27 August. The key agenda items were:
Supporting change and transition in local government
5.5 The Minister of Local Government’s speech and messages to the Local Government
conference as well as her subsequent speeches was discussed. While there is no strategic context, she has the view that New Zealand is changing, therefore government needs to change also. She is looking for evidence of change and if it is not there, she will make ‘it’
happen. She is prepared to assist councils to achieve their outcomes by changing the law.
5.6 I got some support for the idea that the Minister’s speech lacked context. It focused on structures and took a relatively adhoc approach, carried significant risks for New Zealand Inc, risks overplaying the role of CCOs in service delivery, and so on. Colin McDonald (Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) Chief Executive) has agreed to commission some work
Item 8. 13
on a context statement or set of principles to sit around the work of the Minister and the Local Government Commission.
Technology
5.7 A publication entitled Fit for the Digital Future was presented. This joint report identifies advances in information technology and talks about their relevance to Local Authorities. The report focuses on ten evolving and emerging technologies and will be valuable to us.
Rules Reduction Taskforce
5.8 We were given a brief overview of the Taskforce report. The final report goes to the Minister on Monday. The overarching theme is customer service – or lack of it. The relatively few
‘loopy rules’ will be fixed via a DIA Omnibus Bill, sometime in the future, no time given.
About half of the problems identified relate to the legislation and the balance to people and systems changes. The Taskforce was surprised at how few rules are loopy; they are mostly myths and service process related problems. It’s likely that the Local Government Act CEO functions and the State Sector Act functions for central government CEOs will be amended to include an obligation on us in relation to customer service.
6 Management of Council Resources – finance, operations, systems and processes 6.1 No financial report is available at this time.
7 Managing People – good employer, performance, health and safety, policies
7.1 The Health and Safety Reform Bill passed into law on 27 August 2015 and is likely to come into effect in April 2016. Many of the new regulations are either in draft or still to be written.
The Government has released a list of industry sectors it regards as high risk. We are obviously not one of these industries but we do engage contractors in a number of the high risk industries to build or work on our assets on our behalf. Sectors listed as ‘high
standardised rates of fatality and severe injury’ are water supply, sewerage and drainage services, and waste treatment, disposal and remediation services. Listed as ‘high risk of asbestos exposure’ is non-residential building construction, and heavy and civil engineering construction.
7.2 A project group I’m leading has recently been formed to carry out a high level review of the Council’s existing health and safety systems and processes with a view to implementing an improvement plan. We will continue to provide briefings and role specific training to staff and to Councillors as it becomes available. I anticipate the plan will include a review of our existing health and safety reporting and I am interested to know if there is specific
information that Councillors would like reported.
7.3 Given my obligations as Chief Executive and an officer of a PCBU my preference is that organisation wide health and safety matters be reported to the Full Council through the Chief Executive’s report. I also recommend that health and safety is a feature on the agenda of my meetings with the Mayor, the Mayor and Chairs meetings and the regular ‘catch-up’
meetings Committee Chairs have with Department Managers.
7.4 Under the new Act, Councillors are officers and have the duty of due diligence but you cannot be prosecuted. Due diligence means taking reasonable steps to ensure that the
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PCBU (Council) complies with its health and safety obligations. This includes staying up to date on health and safety issues, understanding the nature of the operations and the hazards and risks that come with them, and making sure that there are appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise those risks.
7.5 The Bill defines due diligence as including taking reasonable steps to:
a. acquire, and keep up-to-date, knowledge of work health and safety matters b. gain an understanding of the nature of the operations of the business or
undertaking of the PCBU and generally of the hazards and risks associated with those operations
c. ensure that the PCBU has available for use, and uses, appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks to health and safety from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking
d. ensure that the PCBU has appropriate processes for receiving and considering information regarding incidents, hazards, and risks and for responding in a timely way to that information
e. ensure that the PCBU has, and implements, processes for complying with any duty or obligation of the PCBU under this Act; and
f. verify the provision and use of the resources and processes referred to in paragraphs (c) to (e).
7.6 During the past six weeks there have been two minor accidents / incidents involving a staff member and four near misses have been reported.
7.7 Collective employment agreement bargaining has been concluded with the Union ratifying the new agreement in mid August. For most people the increases was 0.6%. A new salary grade structure was negotiated and the new agreement is for a two year term. For most people the increase in year two is 1.2%. The increases for the minority of the staff members who have been ‘under paid’ as a consequence of the banding policy are 2.5% and 2.8%
year on year. The increases are within budget – just.
7.8 The fifth and last in-house Leadership Development Programme workshop was in mid August. As a follow up we have applied to be part of high performance work initiative programme that Callaghan Innovation is offering. Eight organisations will be selected to participate in a programme designed to help us develop specific and practical actions that will lift our performance in the three identified improvement areas we choose.
7.9 We are currently at various stages of recruiting for a:
Building Technical Officer (replacement)
Building Inspector – Richmond (replacement)
Policy Planner – Urban & Rural Development (replacement and readvertised)
Summer student intake (seven in total)
7.10 Since my last report three appointments have been made.
Administration Officer, Resource Consents (0.4 FTE) – commenced 17 August
Administration Officer, Commercial – commenced 17 August
Item 8. 13
Communications Officer (0.6 FTE) commencing 14 September
7.11 A recent review of the Information Services team structure has been completed, The changes have introduced a more service delivery focused model. The three teams within the Section reflect the Council’s information services priorities, and the ‘Able Tasman – Changing for Good’ programme. The new structure also aims to meet future service delivery requirements by being responsive to changes in technology, and increasing the assistance provided to users.
8 Relationship Management – Iwi, customers/ratepayers, media, other councils, CCOs 8.1 The regional council Chief Executives met in Wellington on 18 August 2015. The topics
covered –
Special Interests Group (SIG) Review
8.2 The regional council CEOs and the Mayors and Chairs on the Regional Sector Group are supported in their work by staff groupings called SIGs. The SIGs are the operational groupings that ensure the work of regional and unitary councils is coordinated nationally.
They do a great job. We have two staff as SIG convenors – Phil Doole and Steve Markham.
The review has been completed and one of the outcomes is that executive assistance is to be provided to Michael McCartney in his role as RCEOs convenor and also to support the SIGs to perform in their roles.
Water
8.3 Nick Smith’s speech, highlighting use of NPS and NES as the way forward, was discussed.
8.4 At the Land and Water Forum (LAWF) the NGOs are concerned about our (regional and unitary councils’) lack of collaboration, the national objective framework work and the approach to nutrient management. This is another mid-LAWF relationship melt down.
Expect a delay in delivery of the LAWF work as a result.
8.5 The iwi leaders and the government are working toward a major announcement on water management at Waitangi weekend next year. There appears to be a disconnect between the expectations of the iwi officials and Ministry for the Environment (MfE) officials about delivery timeframes. Iwi are driving hard, MfE are challenged to keep up.
MOU with Queen Elizabeth II National Trust
8.6 At a previous meeting, a MOU with the National Trust was proposed. The draft was
considered at this meeting and a rewrite requested, because it positioned regional councils as funders. The point was made that if the QEII National Trust has a funding problem, and it does, that is needs to go back to the Government first.
Land and Water Aotearoa (LAWA)
8.7 Concerns remain that this website is still not getting the exposure it deserves, nor the exposure that we would benefit from.
Health & Safety
8.8 A short memo and some legal advice from DLA Piper was presented on the Health & Safety Reform Bill Select Committee Amendments. DLA Piper presented at a previous RCEOs meeting. This work focused on LGNZ’s submissions and the response of the Select
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Committee. It is as useful a summary of councillors’ powers and responsibilities as I have seen and is likely to still be relevant notwithstanding the last minutes changes to the Bill.
The memo and legal advice has been circulated to you.
NES on Plantation Forestry
8.9 The NES was roundly criticised for its lack of alignment with the NPS on fresh water management. The meeting resolved not to support the NES because of issues with
biodiversity, wilding pines, inconsistency with the NPS on Freshwater Management, and the lack of flexibility to make more stringent conditions to address particular site needs. The NES is in its third iteration.
Dams
8.10 Cabinet has decided to revoke the Building Dam Safety Regulations 2008 with effect from 30 June 2015. Government officials are preparing advice to ministers on the options for managing dam safety under the RMA. There will be no change to the building control parts of the Building Act. The construction and alteration of large dams, that is a dam that has a height of four metres or more, and holds twenty thousand or more cubic metres of volume of water or other fluid, will still require building consents. Cabinet’s decision reflects a change of approach and the view that dam safety is better suited to being managed under the RMA than the Building Act. The Building Act hasn’t been amended to reflect the revocation of the regulations. Regulations that required owners to advise a regional authority if they believed that a dam was a dangerous dam are now unlikely to take effect.
Local Government Act CCO Provisions
8.11 Apparently the Local Government Amendment Act 2014 introduced some constraints on forming a CCO for a function outside of the Local Government Act. I haven’t researched these provisions. The issue has manifested itself in Canterbury where a Transport CCO is being contemplated. This may be a case where the Minister needs to fulfil her promise and legislate to enable effective service delivery through CCOs. There should be no issue for the Waimea Water Augmentation Project if a CCO is needed but we will check.
8.12 My contacts and other activities over the past 8 weeks have included –
8.12.1 Waimea Project – Project Steering Group meetings and work stream briefings 8.12.2 Senior management performance reviews
8.12.3 NZTA briefings on land transport programme
8.12.4 Contractor health and safety and procurement process complaints 8.12.5 Project De Vine funding
8.12.6 Air New Zealand CEO briefing 8.12.7 Mapua wharf issues
1. Attachments
Nil
Item 8. 14
8.14 TREASURY RISK MANAGMENT POLICY AMENDMENT
Decision Required Report To: Full Council
Meeting Date: 10 September 2015
Report Author: Mike Drummond, Corporate Services Manager Report Number: RCN15-09-12
1 Summary
1.1 Staff seek approval from the Full Council for an amendment to the Council’s Treasury Risk Management Policy to provide for long term interest rate swaps, to cover borrowing for terms longer than ten years.
1.2 Council’s borrowing policy is contained within the “Treasury Risk Management Policy”.
Council has in the past relied on 3-5 year bank facility arrangements. The LGFA Agency has been progressively issuing longer dated debt.
1.3 The Treasury Risk Management Policy interest rate risk control limits requires that “Any interest rate swaps with a maturity beyond 10 years must be approved by the Corporate Services Committee through a specific resolution”. This approach is not practical for managing the interest rate risk over this longer term LGFA borrowing.
1.4 There are two main drivers for this change. The first is a more active and liquid swap market out beyond ten years and secondly, Council’s ability to borrow long term with the
development of the LGFA. These changes reduce the risks around entering into swap transactions out this far.
1.5 The Corporate Services Committee considered the matter and made the following
recommendation to Council at its 3 September 2015 meeting. A copy of the report to that Committee is attached for reference.
Moved Cr Norriss/Cr Ensor FN15-09-1
…that the Treasury Risk Management Policy Section 6.1.2 interest rate risk control limits, be amended to read “Any interest rate swaps with a maturity beyond 12 years must be approved by the Corporate Services Committee through a specific
resolution.
CARRIED
1.6 The Corporate Services Committee does not have delegated authority to amend the Treasury Risk Management Policy.
2 Draft Resolution
Item 8. 14
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That the Full Council
1. receives the report RCN15-09-12; and
2. approves a change to the Treasury Risk Management Policy Section 6.1.2 interest rate risk control limits, to read “Any interest rate swaps with a maturity beyond 12 years must be approved by the Corporate Services Committee through a specific
resolution.
Item 8. 14
3 Attachments
1. Report to Corporate Services Committee September 3 2015 15
Att ac hm ent 1 Item 8. 14
Att ac hm ent 1 Item 8. 14
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Att ac hm ent 1 Item 8. 14
