Agenda of Corporate and Strategic Committee

	Agenda Item	Follow-up / Request	Person Responsible	Status Comment
1	Follow-ups from previous meetings	Follow-up re HPUDs Implementation Committee re-activation	L Lambert/ H Codlin
2	Big 6 Feedback	Re-print full copies of comments received and summary and distribute to Councillors	L Hooper	Distributed November 2014

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Corporate and Strategic Committee

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Subject: Establishment of an Audit and Risk Committee

Reason for Report

1. The purpose of this report is to bring to Council options for consideration around the Committee structure for the remainder of this term of Council, based on previous discussions covering the establishment of an Audit and Risk Committee (and how this would impact on the terms of references for existing committees).

Audit and Risk Committee

2. The Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) requires a local authority to manage its revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities, investments, and general financial dealings prudently and in a manner that promotes the current and future interests of its community.

3. The role of elected members is to set direction and context within which the administration can operate, to exercise stewardship of the community’s assets for today and in to the future, and to manage risk, promote transparency and strengthen accountability.

4. In all actions undertaken by local government to achieve its outcomes there are risks, either financial or non-financial, or both. These risks must be identified, mitigated and then managed. This is the role of Council’s management and occurs through a range of processes developed over the years.

5. The role of Council’s governance is to gain an assurance that there is a robust process to manage risks appropriately. There is currently no comprehensive mechanism in place at HBRC for governance to achieve that assurance. While financial and non-financial reports are presented regularly to Council, and statutory financial planning documents are verified by Audit New Zealand, improvements can be made to processes to assure councillors that risks have been identified and where possible have been mitigated.

6. It is recommended that an audit and risk committee is the ideal structure to achieve this.

Areas of focus for an audit and risk committee

7. A local authority Audit and Risk Committee has four key areas of focus.

7.1. Financial reporting, including:

7.1.1. Appropriateness of accounting policies;

7.1.2. Annual report.

7.2. Risk management and the system of internal controls such as:

7.2.1. Managing within the Council’s identified approach to risk

7.2.2. Understanding the key risk areas including likelihood and consequences

7.2.3. Effectiveness of internal controls

7.2.4. Fraud risk and procurement risk.

7.3. External Audit, including:

7.3.1. Relationship with auditor

7.3.2. Understanding scope and engagement

7.3.3. Review significant audit findings/recommendations

7.3.4. Monitor progress on recommendations.

7.4. Internal audit, including:

7.4.1. Appointment and relationship with internal auditor

7.4.2. Scope of work

7.4.3. Responses to internal audit recommendations.

Roles and responsibilities of an Audit and Risk Committee

8. Matters that could be considered as part of the terms of reference for an Audit and Risk Committee include:

8.1. Satisfying itself about the existence and quality of cost-effective internal control and risk management systems, and the proper application of processes

8.2. Monitoring the Council’s external and internal audit process

8.3. Engaging with the Council’s external auditors regarding the external audit work programme and agreeing the terms and arrangements of the external audit

8.4. Monitoring management responses to audit reports and the extent to which external audit recommendations concerning internal audit controls and other matters are implemented

8.5. Reviewing the effectiveness of the risk assessment/management policies and processes

8.6. Monitoring the delivery of the internal audit work programme

8.7. Review components of the Long Term Plan that relate to risk (e.g. financial assumptions, key financial policies).

Committee membership

9. The Audit and Risk Committee is advisory-oriented, with particular emphasis to be placed on performance management and associated risk management disciplines.

10. In many examples of Audit and Risk committees throughout New Zealand external appointees are included on the committees as they bring an independent view, together with other experiences that may not be available from elected members. Such experiences could, for example, include financial reporting knowledge, familiarity with risk management disciplines, or the ability to explain technical matters in their field to other committee members.

Formal establishment of an Audit and Risk Committee

11. If Council agrees that an Audit and Risk Committee is a prudent next step to providing a formal mechanism for ensuring effective financial and risk management controls are in place, then a terms of Reference for the committee is required to be adopted.

12. Matters for consideration in the Terms of Reference include:

12.1. Specific responsibilities

12.2. Membership of the committee (including potential for external appointees).

13. A draft Terms of Reference is attached to this item for discussion. (Attachment 1). Consequential amendments to the Terms of Reference for the Corporate and Strategic Committee are also attached. (Attachment 2).

Decision Making Process

14. Council is required to make a decision in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act). Staff have assessed the requirements contained in Part 6 Sub Part 1 of the Act in relation to this item and have concluded the following:

14.1. The decision does not significantly alter the service provision or affect a strategic asset.

14.2. The use of the special consultative procedure is not prescribed by legislation.

14.3. The decision does not fall within the definition of Council’s policy on significance.

14.4. The persons affected by this decision are the ratepayers for the region and the wider tangata whenua community.

14.5. Options that have been considered include retaining the existing committee structure, however it is considered that greater efficiencies and improved governance will occur as a result of the recommended changes to the committee structure.

14.6. The decision is not inconsistent with an existing policy or plan.

14.7. Given the nature and significance of the issue to be considered and decided, and also the persons likely to be affected by, or have an interest in the decisions made, Council can exercise its discretion and make a decision without consulting directly with the community or others having an interest in the decision.

Recommendations

The Corporate and Strategic Committee recommends that Council:

1. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted policy on significance and that Council can exercise its discretion under Sections 79(1)(a) and 82(3) of the Local Government Act 2002 and make decisions on this issue without conferring directly with the community and persons likely to be affected by or to have an interest in the decision due to the nature and significance of the issue to be considered and decided.

2. Makes the following changes to its committee structure:

2.1. Establishes an Audit and Risk Committee, and adopts the Terms of Reference as amended at the Corporate and Strategic Committee, with the appointees to be determined at the March Council meeting.

2.2. Amends the Terms of Reference for the Corporate and Strategic Committee to delete the functions that will be carried out by the new Audit and Risk Committee.

Liz Lambert

Chief Executive

Attachment/s

1	Draft Terms of Reference Audit and Risk Committee
2	Proposed Amendments to Corporate and Strategic Committee Terms of Reference

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Corporate and Strategic Committee

Wednesday 11 February 2015

SUBJECT: February 2015 Public Transport Update

Reason for Report

1. This agenda item provides the Committee with an update on Council’s public transport operations.

General Information

2. There were 3.5% fewer passenger trips in the first half of the 2014-15 year than the same period last year, with the most marked drop being 5770 trips in August, a 7% decline on the same month the previous year. While especially wet weather probably contributed to the August decline, falling petrol prices are thought to have been a contributing factor since then, with a litre of 91 octane currently costing around $1.69 a litre, a fall of around 50 cents since October 2014.

Passenger Trips

3. The graph below shows total passenger trips during the first six months of 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Diagram 1 – Passenger Trips – July to December – 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15

4. For the first time since 2009-10, the average monthly patronage has decreased slightly, as shown in the table below.

Diagram 2 Annual Passenger Trips since 2009-10

Year	Total Annual Trips	Monthly Average
2009-10	480,244	40,020
2010-11	554,647	46,220
2011-12	681,566	56,797
2012-13	761,392	63,449
2013-14	799,845	66,653
2014-15	381,173 (YTD)	63,528

SuperGold Card Trips

5. SuperGold Card trips are also slightly down for the year to date, as seen in the graph below, which shows the number of SuperGold cardholder trips made during the first six months of 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Diagram 3 – SuperGold Card Trips – July to December – 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15

Bus Stops

6. There has been no progress to date with regard to a programme for formalising Napier bus stops.

Realtime Passenger Information

7. Investigations are currently underway for the introduction of ‘TrackABus’. This is a NZ designed and supported low-cost, internet based, real-time system, accessed through smartphone and desktop applications, which has in other areas resulted in increased patronage of approx 5-10%.

8. The system works through the GPS facilities contained in modern cellphones. It provides passengers with real time information about how far away their next bus is, as well as having many benefits for operators and regional councils. The system is much cheaper to install than conventional real time systems which have displays at bus stops.

9. The service is in operation in Dunedin, Queenstown, Rotorua and Gisborne. We are discussing the details of its application to the Hawke’s Bay bus service with the company. Subject to a favourable outcome, we will seek approval of the council to implement it here. The cost can be met from within our existing bus contract budget.

Bikes on Buses

10. There have been 1610 bikes carried on buses during the first six months of the financial year, compared to 1615 during the same period last year.

Bus Service Costs

11. The following table shows the net cost (after fares and excluding GST) of operating the goBay bus service during the first six months of 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15. The costs include base contract costs plus two quarters’ cost indexation, which accounts for the significant price fluctuations between months.

Diagram 4 – Net Cost of Bus Service – July to December – 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15

Year	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2012-13	$224,406	$206,395	$217,298	$229,967	$218,084	$246,304	$1,342,454
2013-14	$186,170	$278,969	$182,220	$187,613	$302,615	$207,605	$1,345,192
2014-15	$168,720	$157,262	$264,227	$174,153	$141,819	$255,621	$1,161,802

(50% of this cost is met by the New Zealand Transport Agency).

Total Mobility

12. The Total Mobility Scheme, which is funded by regional council, local councils and the NZTA, provides subsidised taxi transport for people who have a permanent illness or disability which prevents them from using public transport.

13. The following tables show the number of Total Mobility trips made during the first six months of 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 and the corresponding cost (excl GST).

Diagram 5 – Total Mobility Trips – July to December – 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15

Year	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2012-13	6,753	6,839	6,471	7,256	6,925	6,447	40,691
2013-14	7,401	6,804	6,611	7,658	7,365	7,185	43,024
2014-15	8,320	7,950	7,677	8,267	7,701	7,948	47,863

Diagram 6 – Total Mobility cost (excl GST) – July to December – 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15

Year	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2012-13	$44,451	$44,877	$43,241	$46,216	$45,382	$39,880	$264,049
2013-14	$49,274	$46,153	$43,965	$50,189	$47,744	$46,968	$284,293
2014-15	$55,780	$53,489	$51,222	$54,492	$53,590	$49,973	$318,548

(60% of this cost is met by the New Zealand Transport Agency).

Regional Public Transport Plan

14. Submissions on the Draft Regional Public Transport Plan 2015-25 closed on Friday 23 January, with 27 submissions received. Submissions will be heard on 13 February and a revised draft Plan will be considered by the Regional Transport Committee on 6 March before the Plan goes to Council.

Decision Making Process

15. Council is required to make a decision in accordance with Part 6 Sub-Part 1, of the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act). Staff have assessed the requirements contained within this section of the Act in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only and no decision is to be made, the decision making provisions of the Local Government Act 2002 do not apply.

Recommendation

1. That the Corporate and Strategic Committee receives the February 2015 Public Transport Update report.

Megan Welsby

Sustainable Transport Coordinator

Anne Redgrave

Transport Manager

Attachment/s

There are no attachments for this report.

HB Tourism 2014-15 Quarter 2 Report

Attachment 1

Hawke’s Bay Tourism Ltd – Quarter 2, 2014

Prepared by Annie Dundas, GM Hawke’s Bay Tourism

Overall

Hawke’s Bay Tourism Limited was officially formed in July 2011 and began a three year strategy for implementing visitor growth to the region supported by a three-year funding commitment from the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. This agreement has been extended until the end of June 2015. The KPI’s developed in 2011 continue to the form the basis of Hawke’s Bay Tourism activity. This report will focus on the October - December 2014 period.

1. Visitor Statistics

In an effort to take a broader industry view of what is happening within Hawke’s Bay we will use the following measures to record visitor arrivals and economic impact.

· Regional Tourism Estimates – reflecting visitor spend. The RTEs provide regional stakeholders with absolute dollar estimates of tourism expenditure at a detailed regional level (i.e. by regional council, territorial authority, visitors’ country of origin and industry). Dollars spent is measured by dollars spent in accommodation, food and beverage services, retail sales, retail sales fuel, other tourism products and other passenger transport.

· International Visitor Survey – international visitor arrivals

· Commercial Accommodation Monitor – hotels, motels, holiday parks and backpackers

· Private Household Monitor – a measure of friends and family staying in Hawke’s Bay

The Regional Tourism Estimates have just been released for year end March 2014. International visitor spend in Hawke’s Bay has increased by $20m over the previous year and domestic spend has slightly decreased by $30m. The following table shows how Hawke’s Bay is performing against other regions in terms of visitor spend.

Regional Tourism Summary - Visitor Expenditure for Year end March 2014
	Domestic Spend	International Spend	Total Visitor Spend
Wellington	1,030,000,000	430,000,000	1,460,000,000
Queenstown	1,010,000,000	360,000,000	1,370,000,000
Waikato	800,000,000	210,000,000	1,010,000,000
Hawke's Bay	450,000,000	100,000,000	550,000,000
Bay of Plenty	390,000,000	110,000,000	500,000,000
Nelson	330,000,000	160,000,000	490,000,000
Rotorua	220,000,000	250,000,000	470,000,000
Dunedin	280,000,000	140,000,000	420,000,000
Lake Taupo	260,000,000	130,000,000	390,000,000
Coromandel	250,000,000	60,000,000	310,000,000
West Coast	120,000,000	190,000,000	310,000,000
Wanaka	130,000,000	120,000,000	250,000,000
Taranaki	180,000,000	60,000,000	240,000,000
Gisborne	80,000,000	20,000,000	100,000,000

Visitor arrival results for Hawke’s Bay for the month of November 2014 combining Commercial Accommodation and Private Household figures show an increase in nights of 13,310 guest nights in November 2014 compared to November 2013. Year- end figures indicate that the region saw an increase in guest nights of 79,811 across the year. (graph below).

Commercial Accommodation Hawke’s Bay

Commercial Accommodation Monitor for November 2014 shows Hawke’s Bay guest nights rose 7.3% compared to the same period in November 2013. This equates to approximately 5,595 more nights spent in commercial accommodation in the region in November. A number of major events ran in November – Iron Maori, Summer F.A.W.C! and the Air New Zealand Wine Awards.

Private Household Monitor

The Private Household Survey revealed that an estimated 50,270 visitors to the Hawke's Bay Region stayed 175,408 nights in private accommodation during November 2014. Note this excludes those who stayed in holiday homes and baches, but includes children aged 15 or under. The major reason for visiting Hawke's Bay were visiting friends or family (82.2% of total nights stayed) and general holiday or leisure (12.3% of total nights stayed). Visitors to the region stayed an average of 3.5 nights in private accommodation. International visitors stayed on average 1.5 times as long as domestic visitors (4.8 nights compared to 3.2 nights respectively).

International Arrivals into New Zealand

Overall, international visitor arrivals into New Zealand saw an increase of +7.7% in November. China saw the largest increase over the month and the USA was also strong in November.

International Visitors to NZ	November 2014		Year end November 2014
Total	270,408	+7.7%	2,836,774	+5.1% (137,012)
Australia	102,688	+2.4%	1,246,320	+2.9% (35,696)
UK	18,480	+0.1%	194,256	+1.8% (3,440)
USA	24,464	+14.5%	218,848	+11.2% (21,968)
China	27,184	+47.9%	257,584	+11.5% (26,464)

Commercial Accommodation	November 2014		Year end November 2014
Hawke’s Bay
Total visitors
Total guest nights	82,547	+7.3%	951,885	-0.8%
International guest nights	27,606	+11.2%	237,702	-6.2%
Domestic guest nights	54,940	+5.4%	714,183	+1.2%
Average length of stay	2.03		2.12
Overall occupancy rate	38.8%		33.2%
Occupancy excl Holiday Parks	56%		46.2%
Commercial Accommodation	November 2014		Year end November 2014
Hawke’s Bay cont’d
Hotels	12,204	-12.2%	139738	-10.1%
Motels/Apartments	41,379	+9.2%	506,312	+3.9%
Backpackers	15,563	+16.7%	120,354	+4.4%
Holiday Parks	13,400	+13.3%	185,481	-7.7%
Private Household Monitor	November 2014		Year end November 2014
Total Visitors	50,270	+2.8%	691,040	+7.7%
Total Visitor nights	175,408	+4.6%	2,795,007	+3.2%

Key Performance Indicators for Hawke’s Bay Tourism

The organisation continues to work towards the goals and objectives set out in the Strategic Plan signed off by HBRC in May 2011.

In the second quarter of the 2014 2015 financial year the following KPI’s have been met;

1. Hawke’s Bay Tourism - the Regional Tourism Organisation is well established and has now completed three and half years of operation.

2. Brand – The “Hawke’s Bay” brand continues to be widely used and is well established and used consistently in all marketing activity. Many Hawke’s Bay entities such as Business Hawke’s Bay, Food Hawke’s Bay, Central Hawke’s Bay, Havelock North Business Association, and Education Hawke’s Bay have adopted the brand for their own representation. Regional collateral also carries this brand which covers the Hawke’s Bay Visitor Guide, The Art Guide, The Food Trail Map, The Hawke’s Bay Trails Map, The Wine Trail Map and the Hawke’s Bay Summer Guide. In addition Hawke’s Bay Tourism has created and owns the F.A.W.C! brand as well as The Big Easy brand. Adaptions to the brand now include adding the towns and cities within Hawke’s Bay to the logo.

3. Consumer Marketing -

· Advertising - “Get me to Hawke’s Bay”

Campaign activity has run through the second quarter online and in print. “Get me to Hawke’s Bay” is the tagline used in all campaign activity. Campaign activity continued to run in October and November online and in print. Much of the advertising schedule through this period was dedicated to promoting Art Deco Weekend 2015, Family Activity for the summer holidays and Summer F.A.W.C! This includes double page spreads in both Cuisine and Dish Magazine. Video/digital footage continues to be seeded online and within Facebook and other online channels such as stuff.co.nz, nzherald.co.nz and eventfinda.

The 2015 Visitor Guide was finished in October ready for December distribution.

The Summer Guide was developed and distributed to 65,000 homes in the North Island in December.

Search engine marketing also continues.

Public relations

Hawke’s Bay Tourism has hosted the following media in region between October - December

· Matthew Philp from Kia Ora Magazine

· Michael Hooper editor of Destinations Magazine.

FAWC! Media included the following;

· The New Zealand Herald

· Dish Magazine

· Decanter Magazine

· Australian Gourmet Traveller

· Wine + Wine & Spirits (US)

· Qantas Magazine,

· The Australian Way

· Travel Insider

· Food and Travel - Mexico

· Fohla de Sp Newspaper Brazil

· The Daily Mail & Photographer

· Toronto Sun

· Wine & Dine Singapore

· GQ China

· Travel & Leisure Magazine China

· Femina Hearst China

· Imoshan China - top food magazine in China (www.imoshan.com)

In addition HBT ran the media programme for the Air New Zealand Wine Awards

Media results include

· Annabel Langbein – Free Range Cook – Through the Seasons has featured Hawke’s Bay in four episodes. Viewership is approximately 500,000 per episode. Hawke’s Bay Tourism and Hastings District Council supported her visit and filming in November 2013.

· Mail Today from India - “Napier Way of Life” – estimated ad value of $30k per page

· Calgary Sun - Ian Robertson http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/12/12/sip-savour-celebrate-new-zealand Unique Views Per Month: 447,508
Estimated Advertising Value $10k

· An additional result which Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers worked on and should be mentioned is from Wine Enthusiast which voted Hawke’s Bay one of 10 wine destinations to watch in 2015. Hawke’s bay made the cover of this title which as a readership of over 750,000 in the USA. http://www.winemag.com/Web-2014/10-Best-Wine-Travel-Destinations-2015/index.php/cparticle/4

Digital Strategy

· www.hawkesbaynz.com is performing well with unique visitation up over 14%. Over 22,500 people visit the site each month. 270,854 visited the site year end December 2014.

· In addition Hawke’s Bay Tourism also owns www.fawc.co.nz and www.thebigeasy.co.nz . Both of these sites are generating strong traffic.

· The region’s official Facebook page has over 35,000 followers.

4. Trade Marketing

In the second quarter we have taken part in the following activity;

· TRENZ (Tourism Rendezvous) - extensive planning is underway, NCC, Odyssey, Hawke’s Bay Tourism, The Crown, Art Deco Trust confirmed to attend TRENZ in May 2015 – this is the largest international travel show for New Zealand and Hawke’s Bay is a joint host in 2015.

· Kiwi Link China – HBT attended as part of their involvement in the marketing alliance Explore Central North Island. Over 80 agents were trained and introduced to Hawke’s Bay product.

· HBT produced a new China Trade Manual

· HBT attended a Tourism New Zealand organized training of 250 Flight Centre Agents in Auckland

Trade Familiarisations - Hawke’s Bay Tourism hosted the following agents -

· Flight Centre Australia – 14 agents

· Flight Centre Canada - 11 agents

· Down Under Answers USA – 12 agents

Workshops/Events

The December industry update was held on 17 December with over 80 operators in attendance. HBT presented the Strategic Plan for Tourism. The response was exceptionally positive.

Monthly industry meetings continue involving a range of tourism sectors and Council staff.

5. Events

Regional Events Strategy

· A renewed focus to the events strategy has been undertaken due to the priority given to events by both Napier City Council and Hastings District Council having employed key event staff. Hawke’s Bay Tourism is coordinating the regions effort with close collaboration with both Councils and Sport Hawke’s Bay. The key objective is to increase visitor nights in the region, particularly in the off-season. A revised events strategy was presented to a number of event managers in Hawke’s Bay early October.

Event Activity

· ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 –

Funding of $75,000 has been received from New Zealand Cricket for the creation of the Legends of Cricket Art Deco Match, team welcomes for Afghanistan and UAE and match day activations. Hawke’s Bay Tourism will lead the Community Engagement Strategy alongside Councils, Cricket Associations and promotions groups. There is an enormous amount of activity planned from late February – mid March when the Napier matches are to be held. We have three matches in Hawke's Bay and tickets are on sale now. Visiting teams include our very own Black Caps, the West Indies, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Game day activations are planned for the Napier CBD and theming for the event will be evident from late January.

The Legends of Cricket Art Deco Match on 25 February is progressing well. Tickets are now on sale for the match – General admission for $10 or free with an official ICC CWC 2015 ticket purchased and corporate tickets are also available. www.artdecocricketmatch.co.nz is now live. Sir Ian Botham has signed to be part of the action and NZ players include Ian Smith, Mark Greatbatch, Jeremy Coney, Shane Thompson, Dion Nash, Chris Harris, Evan Gray and Erv McSweeney. Marc Ellis and Shane Cortese have also been signed to play.

· Summer F.A.W.C! - the third event kicked off 31 October – 9 November.

· 62 events in 10 days. (68 events in 2013)

· 19 events in Napier, 25 in Hastings, 1 in Clive & 17 in Havelock North.

· 5652 tickets available Total 4942 tickets sold – 87%
(4397 available in 2013 with 3530 sold - 80%)

· 4702 tickets available through Eventfinda, 3218 sold – 68%
(3897 available through Eventfinda in 2013 with 2286 sold - 58%)

· 35 sold out events. (36 events sold out in 2013)

· Ticket prices were set slightly lower than in 2013 with 30% under $50 (29% in 2013) and 69% events priced under $100 (66% in 2013).

· Approximately 30-40% of FAWCers were from outside Hawke’s Bay.

· Of a total ticketing spend of $178,475 gross (Eventfinda ticket sales only).

· 31% bought tickets for visiting family and friends, particularly large group bookings.

· 47% spent between $100-300 on tickets.

· 74% of F.A.W.C!ers indicated they would return to Summer F.A.W.C! 2015 and 58% for Winter F.A.W.C! 2015.

· 90% will recommend F.A.W.C! to their family and friends

· 45 to 54 year olds bought 30% of tickets, followed by 55 to 64 year olds at 26% and 35 to 44 year olds at 21%

· 38% of visitors stayed with friends or family, 23% in Self Contained, 23% in Motels and 15% in Hotels

· 42% of visitors stayed for two nights, 30% stayed for four, 15% for one night and 11% for three nights.

· Air NZ Wine Awards November 22, 2014

· 600 attended the event and HBT hosted 13 media over the weekend of the event.

Hawke’s Bay Tourism – Financial Statement

Hawke’s Bay Tourism Ltd is tracking well within the second quarter of this financial year. There is an under spend in salaries due to a part time contract position being used to cover the events position. This position will be filled within the next quarter. Additional money will be diverted towards advertising of Hawke’s Bay.

And finally

With the recent demolition of our current building we have decided to leave the builders to it and relocate for a few months. So our physical address will be 91 Bridge Street (the old Bonnie's Cupcakes premises just across the road from the Crown Hotel).

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Corporate and Strategic Committee

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Subject: Business Hawke's Bay Six Monthly Update

Reason for Report

1. Business Hawke’s Bay (BHB) receives $100,000 annually from HBRC under a three year funding agreement dated 18 September 2013. This agreement provides:

1.1. Council will receive, as requested but no less than 6 monthly, a formal briefing on activity delivered and to be delivered in association with the Council’s Economic Development Manager, and

1.2. Council will receive, annually in July, a short written report outlining progress against KPIs, changes to KPIs and changes in Business Hawke’s Bay strategy.

2. BHB will brief the Council in respect of 1.1 above. It is noted that BHB also receives funding from HDC, NCC and the private sector.

Background

3. BHB aims to facilitate collaborative planning and activity to foster business development and business growth, seeking to retain, grow and attract businesses in and into our region.

4. The 2011 Regional Economic Development Strategy (REDS) identifies the following 4 themes.

Collaboration

4.1. Definition - Agree a regional model involving contributors to economic development that provides direction and then delivers against regional economic development strategy

4.2. Lead – BHB

4.3. Key Milestones– Establishment and management of Advisory Group. Origination and establishment of the Business Hub, completion of annual monitoring and report on REDS

Resilient Primary Sector Growth

4.4. Definition – Water security, sustainable land use, value added products and processes, improved knowledge

4.5. Lead – HBRC

4.6. Key Milestones – Plan Change 6, RWSS, non-bovine milk project (in conjunction with BHB) with an estimated 50% of funding via Callaghan Research contract funding Food and Hort industries

Visitor Growth

4.7. Definition – Establish Hawke’s Bay Tourism, develop tourism product and increase visitor nights and expenditure

4.8. Lead – Hawke’s Bay Tourism

4.9. Key Milestones – Noted that HBT regularly reports directly to Council

Business, Investment, Skills and Migrant Attraction

4.10. Definition – Develop and implement an integrated, identified campaign to build on our centres of excellence and target new innovative industries to diversify our economic base

4.11. Lead – BHB

4.12. Key Milestones – to be reported at this meeting.

5. Accordingly, Council’s attention is primarily focused on BHB’s performance in the following areas (with the Economic Development Manager’s comments included).

Collaboration

5.1. BHB has continued to coordinate and lead the monthly Advisory Group meeting made up of the region’s key economic development stakeholders.

5.2. BHB initiated the concept of the Business Hub, applied a significant amount of time and energy to develop, promote and consult on the proposal and, ultimately, has been successful in establishing a commercial model for the Hub (due to open in Q1 2015). HBRC, NCC and HDC have financially supported directly (as tenants) and indirectly (via a limited lease underwrite). It follows that Council will be relying on BHB to ensure delivery of the Hub’s commercial model.

5.3. BHB has recently concluded a region-wide consultation as part of its requirement to monitor and report on REDS. BHB has provided the Intersectoral Forum with a recommendation and proposal for a wide-ranging review of the current REDS. As the proposal required significant resourcing from HBRC, NCC and HDC the Forum has referred this proposal back to those organisations for review. This process is currently underway.

Resilient Primary Sector Growth

5.4. BHB has appointed a Program Manager – Food and Beverage, who is (among other things) leading the non-bovine milk project. BHB will provide an update on this project at the meeting.

Business, Investment, Skills and Migrant Attraction

5.5. BHB will provide an update on this at the meeting.

Decision Making Process

6. Council is required to make a decision in accordance with Part 6 Sub-Part 1, of the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act). Staff have assessed the requirements contained within this section of the Act in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only and no decision is to be made, the decision making provisions of the Local Government Act 2002 do not apply.

Recommendation

1. That the Corporate and Strategic Committee receives the “Business Hawke’s Bay Six Monthly Update” report.

Tom Skerman

Economic Development Manager

Helen Codlin

Group Manager
Strategic Development

Attachment/s

There are no attachments for this report.

1	HB Tourism 2014-15 Quarter 2 Report
2	HB Tourism Quarter 2 Financials

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