Citizenship Ceremonies File No.: CP2011/02353 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to present options for Local Boards consideration for delivering citizenship ceremonies across the Auckland region. Citizenship ceremonies connect our new citizens with local government and provide an important opportunity to reinforce Auckland as an inclusive city that celebrates diversity. Item 23 Prior to the establishment of the Auckland Council, citizenship ceremonies were the responsibility of the seven Auckland local authorities, with variances in the manner in which ceremonies were managed and associated costs. This report proposes alternative approaches to citizenship ceremonies across the region, where Local Boards have a lead role in welcoming new citizens to their communities. In addition to the recent changes in the local government context, there is an expected increase in citizenship candidates between 2011-2013 due to the five-year condition to achieve citizenship, introduced via legislation in 2005, reaching maturity. Therefore, a new approach also needs to account for increasing demand for ceremonies across Auckland. The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is a key stakeholder in the delivery of citizenship ceremonies. DIA staff are required to attend each ceremony and since 2006, the DIA has contributed funding of $10 per candidate. The DIA establishes the parameters for the delivery of citizenship ceremonies nationally. The DIA has been consulted in the development of this report and has provided feedback on the options presented. They will however need to approve final proposed changes to citizenship ceremonies in Auckland and require a minimum of four weeks to implement any changes. This report outlines five options for consideration by the Local Boards. Options four and five were developed post the presentation of an initial discussion document to the March 2011 Local Board Chairs Forum. The proposed options take into account the legal requirements of the Department of Internal Affairs, the role of Local Boards and projected demands of the number of future candidates. It should be noted, however, that staffing implications for all options are still being assessed. The recommendations of this report outline the proposed decision making process. While the new delivery model is being determined, interim ceremonies will be held in May/June 2011 to meet the demands of existing candidates. The dates and locations for these ceremonies are as follows: Area Date Address South 5 May Telstra Clear Stadium, Manukau Central 30 May Auckland Town Hall, CBD West 31 May Waitakere Council Chamber, Henderson North 8 June Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna Further interim ceremonies may be required depending on the time that it takes for the final regional option to be agreed and implemented in partnership with the DIA. Citizenship Ceremonies Page 101
Item 23 Recommendation/s a) That the report be received. b) That Local Board Chairs workshop the options outlined in this report in May with their board and also with neighbouring boards if desired. c) That each Local Board resolves its preferred option at its business meeting during May/June 2011. d) That officers discuss the preferred option, based on a majority of Local Board responses, with the Department of Internal Affairs. e) That officers assess and recommend back to the Local Boards the final approach. Background Prior to transition to the Auckland Council, citizenship ceremonies were the responsibility of the seven Auckland local authorities. There were variances in the manner in which the ceremonies were managed and associated costs. For example, some ceremonies involved professional performances and gifts being presented to candidates, which affected overall event costs. Immediately post the establishment of the Auckland Council, four citizenship ceremonies were held across Auckland. These ceremonies were presided over by either the Mayor or Deputy Mayor, and Local Board Chairs for the second South ceremony, and ensured that the Council responded to candidates awaiting confirmation of citizenship before the end of 2010. Local Board members were invited to participate in each event. The Auckland Transition Agency (ATA) made an initial allocation of non-regulatory activities to Local Boards, in accordance with the principles set out in the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009. These activities include civic duties, engagements and functions in the local area, including citizenship ceremonies and recognition of volunteers. Post feedback and discussions with the Local Board services team and the Local Boards at the end of 2010, it was agreed that any review of future Auckland Council citizenship ceremonies would reflect the role and expectations of Local Boards and communities, whilst ensuring that the legislative requirements of the DIA are met. There is an expected increase in citizenship candidates between 2011-2013 due to the five-year condition to achieve citizenship, introduced via legislation in 2005, reaching maturity. Therefore, a new approach will also need to account for increasing demand for ceremonies across the region. These issues will need to be further negotiated with DIA. The DIA have asked that Council first determine the preferred future delivery model and then they will work with Council officers to establish how to enable it. Decision Making This report identifies five options for consideration. While there are a number of options that could be considered* (see note below for discounted options) the options in this report have been developed based on: Role and expectations of Local Boards Projected demand (numbers) Geographic demand (location) i.e. which Local Board areas are most likely to be impacted Required frequency based on projected demand Citizenship Ceremonies Page 102
Feedback from Local Board Chairs, i.e. options four and five have been developed following an initial report being presented to the Local Board Chairs Forum at the end of March 2011. Criteria: In assessing options, the following criteria have been used to assess the proposed options: Responsive and inclusive of Local Board and community expectations Flexible enough to respond to varying demand Meets legislative requirements and is acceptable to DIA Cost effective. Item 23 Assumptions: The following key assumptions have been considered in the development of the proposed options: Presiding of ceremonies: The assumption for the five options is that one or more Local Board Chair/s will preside over all or part of each citizenship ceremony. Where ceremonies encompass more than one Local Board area the relevant chairpersons may decide to rotate the hosting of the event or co-host and preside over those residents from their local board area within any given ceremony. There will need to be discussion amongst the relevant Chairpersons as to their specific role in each ceremony. That the DIA subsidy will remain at $10 per candidate. Budget projections are based on 14,232 participants annually, as the indication from DIA is that projected numbers will increase and the 2008 candidate numbers provide an agreed baseline for the next 12-18months. *Note: Two additional options were investigated and discounted as follows: a) As per the discussion document presented to the March 2011 Local Board Chairs Forum an option of monthly ceremonies, with at least one ceremony per year in every local board area (excluding Great Barrier), was explored and discounted by Events, Local Board services and the DIA as unsustainable. The reasons being: Scale and number of ceremonies that would be required (i.e. a minimum of 126 ceremonies per annum) Staffing resource and system capability is insufficient for all three parties to deliver at least 1 x ceremony per week (February - December) Availability of venues Workload on elected members The DIA could not resource the option therefore did not support it. b) At the March 2011 Local Board Chairs Forum, it was requested that officers explore a further option which would provide the flexibility for candidates to attend any ceremony across the Auckland region. Based on discussions with the DIA, this option is not possible, as DIA does not have the capacity to meet that level of responsiveness. Candidates are invited as per their home address to attend a ceremony in the area in which they reside. DIA have two staff who administer ceremonies across New Zealand. Sixty per cent of all citizenship applicants are from Auckland. This is approximately 250 candidates per week. DIA does not have the staff resource to respond to 250 individual requests per week. A) Summary of Options: A summary of the five options is presented in the table below. Citizenship Ceremonies Page 103
Item 23 Citizenship Ceremonies Page 104
B) Detailed outline of options Option One: Bi-monthly citizenship ceremonies located and hosted in local board areas, across two local board areas and in sub-regional clusters Single board hosting and presiding: Citizenship ceremonies held every two months in local service centres in the following Local Board areas Rodney, Franklin, Waiheke, and Papakura. Citizenship ceremonies held every two months in the Torbay Community Hall in the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board area. Citizenship ceremonies held every two months in the Howick and Manurewa Local Boards areas (venue to be decided). Item 23 Cluster of two Local Boards hosting and presiding: Citizenship ceremonies held every two months at the East Tamaki Community Hall and shared across two Local Board areas - Otara-Papatoetoe and Mangere-Otahuhu. Cluster of three Local Boards hosting and presiding: Citizenship ceremonies held every two months at the Bruce Mason Centre and shared across three Local Board areas Devonport-Takapuna, Upper Harbour and Kaipatiki. Citizenship ceremonies held bi-monthly in the Waitakere Trusts Stadium and shared across the West sub-regional cluster of Waitakere-Ranges, Whau and Henderson- Massey. Cluster of six Local Boards (with the exception of Waiheke) hosting and presiding: Citizenship ceremonies held every two months in the Auckland Town Hall and shared across the following Local Board areas - Albert-Eden, Great Barrier, Waitemata, Maungakiekie-Tamaki, Orakei, Puketapapa Rationale for Option One: Geographically based. Partly responsive to Local Boards that have expressed interest in hosting ceremonies within their local board area with capacity to cater for larger numbers in large venues versus those who co-host larger ceremonies involving a number of boards and communities. The experience will be intimate for those new citizens in smaller local board areas while bigger centres offer the opportunity for new citizens to experience a larger civic event. All Local Board Chairs will have the opportunity to host more than one ceremony per year. Candidate numbers, based on the DIA statistics for the past three years (see Appendix 1.a and 1.b), are manageable. Candidates can receive their citizen certificate within two months of their approval. DIA support the frequency of this option. Risks and Issues: This option is the most costly per candidate. Existing civic events staff would not be able to service all ceremonies per annum, with the Local Boards Services team needing to facilitate at least the single Local Board hosted ceremonies. The Local Board Services team may not have the capacity to do this. Ensuring there is a consistent level of delivery for each ceremony. The proposed changes to citizenship ceremonies within this option will create a number of issues for the DIA. Citizenship Ceremonies Page 105
Item 23 Option Two: Bi-monthly citizenship ceremonies located and hosted in one, or across two or three Local Board areas in North (Rodney, Hibiscus and Bays) and South; quarterly citizenship ceremonies in fixed locations and co-hosted by all Local Boards in Central and West and a cluster of three Local Boards in North (Devonport-Takapuna, Upper Harbour and Kaipatiki). Single board hosting and presiding: Citizenship ceremonies held every two months in local service centres in the following Local Board areas Rodney, Franklin, Waiheke, and Papakura. Citizenship ceremonies held every two months in the Torbay Community Hall in the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board area. Citizenship ceremonies held every two months in the Howick and Manurewa Local Boards areas (venue to be decided). Cluster of two Local Boards hosting and presiding: Citizenship ceremonies held every two months at the East Tamaki Community Hall and shared across two Local Board areas - Otara-Papatoetoe and Mangere-Otahuhu. Cluster of three Local Boards hosting and presiding Citizenship ceremonies held every three months and shared across three Local Board areas - Devonport-Takapuna, Upper Harbour and Kaipatiki. The venue is the Bruce Mason Centre. Citizenship ceremonies held every three months in Central and West sub-regional area Hosting and presiding will be shared by all Local Boards within the West and Central areas and thus potentially involve 3-6 boards per ceremony. The venues will be the Auckland Town Hall and Waitakere Trust Stadium. Rationale for Option Two: This option has many similar benefits to Option One, with the extra benefit of efficiencies in staff resources given a reduction in the number of ceremonies delivered. Larger ceremonies at larger venues in Central create economy of scale given the costs associated with the Town Hall. Risks and Issues: Ensuring there is a consistent level of delivery for each ceremony. Candidates in South, some areas of North and Waiheke will only have to wait two months post their approval for a ceremony whilst candidates in Central, West and some areas of North will have to wait three months. DIA are seeking a shorter time wait time for candidates, this option addresses half of the participants only. Howick has a large number of candidates and a suitable venue has yet to be identified. Option Three: Quarterly citizenship ceremonies, in fixed locations and hosted by Local Boards as per the four sub-regional areas Citizenship ceremonies held every three months in each sub-regional area i.e. North, West, Central and South. Hosting and presiding will be shared by all Local Boards within the North, West, Central and South areas and thus potentially involve 3-8 boards per ceremony. Venues will remain the same throughout the year in each sub-regional area. Citizenship Ceremonies Page 106
Rationale for Option Three: Larger ceremonies create efficiencies in staff resources. Larger ceremonies at larger venues create cost efficiencies. Four dates to schedule into Local Board members calendars each year. Consistent level of delivery for each ceremony. Local Board Chairs will have the opportunity to preside over the ceremonies as in Option One and Option Two but all ceremonies will be co-hosted. Item 23 Risks and Issues While this option is the most cost effective, it does not meet a number of criteria. Not meeting the Local Board expectations of local ceremonies. Perception of lack of change in delivery model from legacy councils. DIA are seeking a shorter wait time for candidates. This option is as per current practice and candidates will receive their citizen certificate within three-four months of their approval. The DIA would work with this option but it is on the boundary of the time they would accept between ceremonies. Candidates may have to travel further to one specific area within their cluster. Option Four: Bi-monthly citizenship ceremonies, in fixed locations and hosted by Local Boards as per the four sub-regional areas (developed post March 2011 Local Board Chairs Forum) Option Four follows the same model and approach as Option Three, the only variation being frequency with the proposed sub-regional ceremonies being held every two months rather than every quarter. Rationale for Option Four (as per Option three): Larger ceremonies create efficiencies in staff resources. Larger ceremonies at larger venues create cost efficiencies. Four dates to schedule into Local Board members calendars each year. Consistent level of delivery for each ceremony. Local Board Chairs will have the opportunity to preside over the ceremonies as in Option One and Option Two but all ceremonies will be co-hosted. In addition the rationale outlined above this option is more responsive than Option Three in terms of frequency i.e. bi-monthly versus quarterly ceremonies and thus also in meeting DIA requirements. Risks and Issues As per option three: Not meeting the Local Board expectations of local ceremonies. Perception of lack of change in delivery model from legacy councils. Candidates may have to travel further to one specific area within their cluster. Option Five: A further variation developed in response to Local Board Chairs Feedback (developed post March 2011 Local Board Chairs Forum) Option Five takes into account the following suggestions from the Local Board Chairs Forum: a) Waiheke Island candidates are included in the Central sub-regional cluster b) Ceremonies for Puketapapa and Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board areas have been added c) Ceremonies for Henderson-Massey Local Board have been added. Citizenship Ceremonies Page 107
Item 23 Rationale for Option 5 Geographically based. Responsive to Local Boards that have expressed interest in hosting ceremonies within their local board area with capacity to cater for larger numbers in large venues, versus those who co-host larger ceremonies involving a number of boards and communities. The experience will be intimate for those new citizens in smaller local board areas while bigger centres offer the opportunity for new citizens to experience a larger civic event. Risks and issues Ensuring there is a consistent level of delivery for each ceremony. Capacity to deliver is yet to be determined. Significance of Decision This report does not trigger the Significance Policy. Consultation Discussions have taken place with the Department of Internal Affairs, Auckland Council Local Board Services Team and the Local Board Chairs Forum. The report reflects the expectations and requirements of each of these discussions. Further consultation is now required with Local Boards. Financial and Resourcing Implications See Appendix 2 and Appendix 3 for detailed scheduling and initial budget projections for each of the five proposed options. The combined budget for citizenship ceremonies from legacy councils is approximately $165,000 per annum. It should be noted that: a) Staffing implications for all options are still being assessed. b) The costs of hospitality such as catering and gifts have not been included in the attached budget information, as the Auckland Council policy for this in relation to citizenship ceremonies is yet to be determined. The cost of including light refreshments for each participant and guests is $4 per head. As the calculations have been based on 14,232 participants with two guests each, the projected total cost to include light refreshments is $170,784 per annum. At their March 2011 Forum, Local Board Chairs raised that the hospitality of the events needs to be recognised. Once the final option is determined, staff will rework budgets with Local Board Chairs to include hospitality. Legal and Legislative Implications The five options for the staging of Citizenship Ceremonies meet the parameters for the delivery of the Ceremonies for of the Department of Internal Affairs and the Citizenship Act 1977 No 61 (as 29 November 2010). Implementation Issues All options outlined in this report will require delivery by Civic Events with support from Local Board services officers. As noted previously staffing implications for the Civic Events team are still being assessed. Sourcing suitable and available venues within the region for all options will also be an ongoing challenge. Citizenship Ceremonies Page 108
In addition, consideration needs to be given to DIA staff resources, as they require staff to attend each ceremony. DIA have two members of staff who manage the candidate waiting lists and prepare ceremony packages for Local Authorities in New Zealand. Staff attend ceremonies to deliver and hand out citizen certificates. Changes to the processes or an increase in the number of packages that they prepare will place pressure on existing resources as they are currently working to capacity. Item 23 As noted earlier in the report the DIA require a minimum of 4 weeks to review and implement any changes to citizenship ceremonies. DIA will also need to make changes to their systems in order to deliver the new model. The DIA Citizenship Operating System (COS) allocates an applicant into a ceremony at the time the application is processed. This system is currently set up with the seven previous local authority city fields. DIA are signalling that any change to this system is a major exercise with significant costs. The DIA handbook requests Local Authorities hold worthwhile ceremonies for the candidates, which include a number of elements, including a cultural component. Working with the DIA on preserving the integrity of the Oath taking (the most important aspect of the ceremonies) and security of the Certificates of Citizenship (each certificate can be used to obtain a Passport) is also a priority. Transporting Certificates of Citizenship to various venues needs to be considered and the ceremonies will need to be streamlined over the region. While the new delivery model is determined, interim ceremonies will be held in May/June to meet demands of existing candidates. The dates for those ceremonies are as follows: Area Date Address South 5 May Telstra Clear Stadium, Manukau Central 30 May Auckland Town Hall, CBD West 31 May Waitakere Council Chamber, Henderson North 8 June Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna Further interim ceremonies may be required depending on the time that it takes for the final option to be identified and able to be implemented in partnership with the DIA. Appendix 1.a: Summary of Candidate Numbers to Date Appendix 1.b: DIA Candidate figures 2007-2009(as per Local Board area) Appendix Two: Proposed Scheduling for Options 1-2 Option 1: Bi-monthly local board ceremonies Option 2: Bi-monthly and quarterly local board ceremonies Option 3: Quarterly sub-regional ceremonies Option 4: Bi-monthly sub-regional ceremonies Option 5: Developed in response to feedback from local board chairs Appendix Three: Detailed Budget Costs for Options 1-5 Option 1: Bi-monthly local board ceremonies Option 2: Bi-monthly and quarterly local board ceremonies Option 3: Quarterly sub-regional ceremonies Option 4: Bi-monthly sub-regional ceremonies Option 5: Developed in response to feedback from local board chairs Citizenship Ceremonies Page 109
Item 23 Attachments No. Title Page A Summary of candidate numbers 2005-2009 111 B Proposed scheduling for options 1 to 5 112 C Detailed budget costs for options 1 to 5 116 Signatories Authors Gail Richards, Manager Arts, Culture and Events Authorisers Louise Mason, Manager Community Development, Arts and Culture Citizenship Ceremonies Page 110
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Building and Land Use Consents File No.: CP2011/02387 Executive Summary This report provides a summary of the subdivision and land use resource consents issued for the area of the previous North Shore City Council, between 1 November 2010 and 31 March 2011. Item 24 Recommendation/s That the list of building and land use consents for the period of 1 November 2010 to 31 March 2011 be received. Attachments No. Title Page A Subdivision consent application 1 Nov 2010-31 Mar 2011 130 B Land Use consent 1 Nov 2010-31 Mar 2011 132 Signatories Authors Soo Jean Kok - Committee Secretary Authorisers Christine Watson, Relationship Manager Building and Land Use Consents Page 129
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Members Reports File No.: CP2011/02305 Executive Summary Members have the opportunity to give a verbal or provide a written update on their activities on behalf of the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board. [Note: At the close of the agenda, there was no written update received.] Item 25 Recommendation/s That the Members Reports be received. Attachments There are no attachments for this report. Signatories Authors Authorisers Soo Jean Kok - Committee Secretary Christine Watson, Relationship Manager Members Reports Page 151