Minutes of Corporate and Strategic Committee

1. Welcome/Apologies/Notices

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Resolution

C&S31/15 That the apology for lateness from Councillor Wilson be accepted.

Barker/Beaven

CARRIED

The absence of Dr Roger Maaka was noted.

2. Conflict of Interest Declarations

There were no conflict of interest declarations.

3. Confirmation of Minutes of the Corporate and Strategic Committee Meeting Held on 23 September 2015

C&S32/15

Resolution

Minutes of the Corporate and Strategic Committee held on Wednesday, 23 September 2015, a copy having been circulated prior to the meeting, were taken as read and confirmed as a true and correct record.

Scott/Belford

CARRIED

4. Matters Arising from Minutes of the Corporate and Strategic Committee Meeting Held on 23 September 2015

In relation to pg7, item 8, Mrs Lambert advised there has been no update on the Mountain Bike Park proposal in CHB.

There were no further matters arising from the minutes.

Follow-ups from Previous Corporate and Strategic Committee Meetings

Mrs Lambert advised that the date of a tourism famil for councillors is likely to be in the New Year, and updated the status of the other items on the follow-ups list. It was requested that the annual HR report contain statistics related to Merit payments for staff, i.e. how many proposed and how many awarded after Executive assessment.

C&S33/15

Resolution

1. That the Committee receives the report “Follow-ups from Previous Corporate and Strategic Committee Meetings”.

Beaven/Graham

CARRIED

Call for any Minor Items not on the Agenda

C&S34/15

Resolution

That the Corporate and Strategic Committee accepts the following minor items not on the agenda, for discussion as Item 13

1. TANK (Belford)

2. CHB Show (Hewitt)

3. Chillean Needle Grass (Hewitt)

4. HB Tourism (Pipe)

Dick/Graham

CARRIED

11.

Business Hawke’s Bay Update

Susan White introduced: Alan Pollard (Pipfruit NZ), Catherine Rusby, Chris Collins (EIT), Doug Ducker (PanPac), Hamish Whyte (Furnware), Michelle Turfrey (Crowe Horwath), Robert Darroch (FPG), Stu McLauchlan, Chairman (Langley Twigg), and Chris Bain, in attendance for Business Hawke’s Bay.

Mrs White provided an overview of the key projects currently underway, which included an update on the Goat Dairy project by Catherine Rusby.

Mr McLauchlan provided an overview of what’s next for BHB including the Regional Economic Development Strategy, which will be presented to all elected representatives in the region on 30 November.

Discussions traversed funding model for economic development in the region, BHB resourcing, the role of the Business Hub, collaboration between agencies to enhance economic development, opportunities in Wairoa and the breadth of industry representation on the Board. Each of the Board members then provided individual perspectives on the role of the Board and the ways BHB can enhance economic development in the region.

Councillor Wilson arrived at 9.50am

C&S35/15

Resolution

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

Scott/Graham

CARRIED

Report and Recommendations from the Finance Audit & Risk Sub-committee

Mr Paul Drury provided an overview of discussions at the Sub-committee meeting in arriving at the recommendations for the Committee’s consideration today, including presentations on Internal Audit, insurance, and risk assessment and management.

C&S36/15

Resolutions

That the Corporate and Strategic Committee:

1. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted Significance and Engagement Policy.

2. Receives and notes the report from the 9 November 2015 Finance Audit and Risk Sub-committee.

Costings, Scope and Priorities for Internal Audits

3. Agrees that the Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan internal audit be carried out during the current financial year (2015-16) with the following internal audits being carried out as the Sub-committee approves and budgets allow.

3.1. Stakeholder relationship management

3.2. Fraud prevention and detection review (including conflicts of interest).

4. Notes that the cost of the audit to be carried out in 2015-16 will be funded from the financial provisions set aside for such audits in the Annual Plan.

Reports Received

5. Notes that the following reports were provided to the Finance Audit and Risk Sub-committee and feedback provided to staff:

5.1. Council Insurance Programme

5.2. Risk Assessment and Management

5.3. Draft Charter for the Finance Audit & Risk Sub-Committee

Scott/Wilson

CARRIED

November 2015 Public Transport Update and Fare Review

Ms Anne Redgrave provided an overview of the public transport update which reflects a decline in patronage being experienced nationally, as well as work with NCC on formalising Napier bus stops being progressed.

In relation to the bus fare review, Ms Redgrave advised that fares were increased last year and because service costs have fallen the recommendation is to keep fares at the same level.

Ms Redgrave also provided commentary on the SuperGold Card Scheme and changes to the funding scheme proposed by Central Government, which is of concern to all regional councils and being commented on at the Regional Sector Group level.

Discussions traversed the cost of bus service delivery, options for SuperGold fare provision, proportion of student fares represented by EIT students, fare recovery options, service improvements being investigated in accordance with the Regional Public Transport Plan, and the Total Mobility scheme.

C&S37/15

Resolutions

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

2. The Corporate and Strategic Committee recommends that Council

2.1 Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted Significance and Engagement Policy, 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.

2.2 Agrees that bus fares remain at current rates for the remainder of the 2015-16 financial year, and to review fares again in 2016-17.

Barker/Dick

CARRIED

The meeting adjourned at 10.40am and reconvened at 10.50am

12.

Health and Safety Update Report for the Period 1 July 2015 to 30 October 2015

Mr Viv Moule, HR Manager, provided the first of what’s to be a regular report on HBRC Health and Safety.

Discussions traversed staff Medical Check-ups, driver training for Council staff and future enhancements or initiatives to improve Health and Safety, as well as a specific Health and Safety resource for Council.

It was queried whether Mr Moule is confident that policies and processes are in place to mitigate against health and safety risks and meet the requirements of the new legislation – to which his response was confirmation, however noting also that there are imponderables that will always come up in future.

In relation to Governance for the Operations Group, Mr Moule advised that he sits on their Health and Safety Committee, that the staff there are a model of compliance, and that the stats for Ops will be separated from the town office in future reports.

C&S38/15

Resolution

1. That the Corporate and Strategic Committee receives the “Health and Safety Update Report for the Period 1 July 2015 to 30 October 2015”.

Wilson/Pipe

CARRIED

Recording of Councillor Attendance

Mrs Lambert introduced the item, which is to seek agreement on what attendance is to be reported in the Annual Report.

Discussions traversed transparency of attendance for LGOIMA requirements, audit requirements in terms of paying travel claims, educational value of field trips and logistics of recording attendance at meetings not ‘administered’ by Council.

As well, the way information on attendance is reported and perceived in the Annual Report, in that there is no distinction between formal Council meetings, fieldtrips, and workshops as being of more/less importance, was raised.

C&S39/15

Resolutions

1. That the Corporate and Strategic Committee receives the report, and

2. Provides guidance to staff on the range of engagements (including formal meetings) attended by councillors that are to be recorded and then reported in the Council’s Annual Reports, with a draft policy written by staff to be brought to the February 2016 Corporate and Strategic Committee meeting for consideration.

Hewitt/Dick

CARRIED

10.

Objectives for Inter Council Cooperation

Mrs Lambert introduced the paper, which outlines progress on shared services by the HB LASS and seeks feedback on additional initiatives for exploration and priorities for HBRC going forward.

Discussions traversed opportunities in the area of roading (TLAs around maintenance), regional infrastructure and economic development (REDS), legislation allowing for transfer of service delivery functions from TLAs to regional councils, as well as new initiatives around Archives, Rates Collection, Debt Collection and Health & Safety ‘back office’ functions, ‘regional’ Tourism funding and section 17A reviews.

Further areas raised included joint advocacy to Central Government and transparent, accountable mechanisms to enable that to be more effective; regional planning and funding for regional activities/functions; as well as progress on shared Information Technology (hardware, systems integration) providing a ‘back-bone’ to enable further shared ‘service’ opportunities.

There was discussion around the challenges achieving better shared services and collaboration, the success of the ECAN model implemented by the Commissioners and further areas for exploration such as sports facilities.

C&S40/15

Resolution

1. The Corporate and Strategic Committee receives the report and provides guidance to staff on priority matters that may require additional investigation prior to the 30 November meeting of all Hawke’s Bay councillors.

Wilson/Graham

CARRIED

13.

Minor Items Not on the Agenda

Item	Topic	Councillor / Staff
1.	TANK Last meeting the group elected Peter Beaven as interim Chair of the Group	Cr Belford
2.	CHB A&P Show Attended Saturday and felt Council well represented.	Cr Hewitt
3.	Chillean Needle Grass Attended a very interesting field day yesterday and will email link to a video about this plant pest to all councillors	Cr Hewitt
4.	HB Tourism Reporting to Council on 16 December, which will include an update on Maori Representation on the Board	Cr Pipe

Notice re Cape to City launch Friday night and Mangaroa event – RSVP to Mrs Lambert required by the end of today

Councillor Wilson advised changes to his Interests Register and advised that the Register will be brought to the December Council meeting for confirmation.

14.

Independent Member Recommendation from the Finance Audit and Risk Sub-committee

C&S41/15

Resolution

That the Committee excludes the public from this section of the meeting, being Agenda Item 14 Independent Member Recommendation from the Finance Audit and Risk Sub-committee with the general subject of the item to be considered while the public is excluded; the reasons for passing the resolution and the specific grounds under Section 48 (1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution being as follows:

GENERAL SUBJECT OF THE ITEM TO BE CONSIDERED	REASON FOR PASSING THIS RESOLUTION	GROUNDS UNDER SECTION 48(1) FOR THE PASSING OF THE RESOLUTION
Independent Member Recommendation from the Finance Audit and Risk Sub-committee	7(2)(a) That the public conduct of this agenda item would be likely to result in the disclosure of information where the withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons.	The Council is specified, in the First Schedule to this Act, as a body to which the Act applies.

Beaven/Wilson

CARRIED

The meeting went into public excluded session at 12.25pm and out of public excluded session at 12.34pm

Closure:

There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 12.34pm on Wednesday 18 November 2015.

Signed as a true and correct record.

DATE: ................................................ CHAIRMAN: ...............................................