Agenda of HB Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee

HB CDEM Group Joint Committee

26 June 2023

Subject: Cyclone Gabrielle HB CDEM Group Response Review Terms of Reference and Framework

Reason for Report

1. This report presents the final Terms of Reference and framework for the review of the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group response to Cyclone Gabrielle for the Joint Committee’s approval.

Officers’ Recommendations

2. Officers recommend that the Joint Committee confirms the Term of Reference and Framework as proposed and endorses the proposed procurement plan to enable the review to proceed.

Background

3. At its meeting on 28 April, the Joint Committee reviewed and provided feedback on a draft Terms of Reference (ToR) for a review of the CDEM Group response to Cyclone Gabrielle. Since then officers have worked with the contractors to further refine the ToR and produce a procurement plan to find and appoint a suitable review team.

4. A key point in the review of the ToR has been feedback from Te Kahui Ohanga o Takitimu (TKO). This has been generously provided and further supports the aims of the overall review. The revised ToR and Framework documents are attached.

5. Due to the time since the deactivation of the Group Emergency Coordination Centre (GECC) and concerns that individuals may not be able to recall important issues, a “hot debrief” survey has been developed based on best practice standards and distributed to some 1600 staff directly involved in the GECC, Regional Distribution Hub and Bridge Pa Aerodrome responses. The survey and the data are being held by Simplexity who will make the data available to the review team once appointed.

6. As part of Phase Two the review panel may decide to undertake its own survey if required.

Key Changes to Review ToR and Framework

7. The following summarises the key changes made:

7.1. The changes throughout both documents reflect the requirement for a priority and focus on community

7.2. An outcome directly related to appropriate capability and capacity to support community resilience, considering the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle on communities, has been included

7.3. Clearer narrative as to why direct engagement with communities is out of scope has been added, as well as suggested mechanisms for community engagement parallel to the review.

Terms of reference changes

8. Review purpose – now includes “a review that supports better emergency management outcomes not for Hawke’s Bay communities.”

9. Scope – now includes:

9.1. “The community voice and how Cyclone Gabrielle impacted communities”

9.2. “Outcome 1: Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group has appropriate capability and capacity to support community resilience, considering the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle on communities.”

10. Out of scope – includes additional context as to why direct engagement with communities is out of scope and suggested mechanisms for community engagement to run parallel to the review.

11. Governance – roles and responsibilities for Review Governance have been revised, including the Review Technical Advisory Group which includes representation from CDEM, Lifelines, mana whenua and the community.

Review Framework changes

12. Review Framework changes include:

12.1. Inclusion of additional and revised wording of constraints

12.2. Outcome 1: Supporting Focus and Criteria added

12.3. Inclusion of additional agencies in Engagement/Key Stakeholders as discussed by the Joint Committee on Friday 28 April 2023

12.4. Appendix 1 added to suggest mechanisms for community engagement to run parallel to the review.

Input from Te Kāhui Ohanga o Takitimu (TKO)

13. Generous feedback into the review ToR was provided by TKO. Substantially, the feedback identified the need for stronger representation of and partnership with mana whenua throughout a response. The key changes include:

13.1. An improved mana whenua perspective across the review documents, as anticipated by providing sufficient time for TKO to review both the ToR and Framework.

13.2. Understanding as to how previous review learnings were not fully implemented through the event and if there are any changes to be made to previous learnings.

13.3. The role of mana whenua in decision-making, including communication with and relationships to each Takiwa (area).

Procurement Plan

14. Concurrent with ToR development, work has progressed on developing a procurement plan. This was supported by the Hawke's Bay Regional Council Procurement Team. They recommend a condensed process that has been approved by the CE HBRC. At the time of writing this paper, the HBRC Procurement team was working on getting the documentation into the Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS).

15. The indicative timeframes for the process are as follows.

Action	Indicative date
Pre-procurement
Procurement plan approved	Complete
Market approach documents developed (Request for Proposal)	Complete – awaiting final ToR
Request for [tender, proposal or quotation] documents approved	26 June 2023
Pre-procurement market engagement (as required)	6-24 June 2023
Tender
Request for Proposal advertised on GETS	26 June 2023
Supplier briefing/s (as required)	26 June 2023
Last date for supplier questions	7 July 2023
Last date for agency to answer questions	7 July 2023
Request for proposal closing date	17 July 2023
Evaluation
Panel confidentiality and conflict of interest declarations signed	17 July 2023
Evaluation panel meets	18July 2023
Interview short listed suppliers – if applicable	18 July 2023
Panel minutes and recommendation	18 July 2023
Recommendation accepted/denied	18 July 2023
Post-evaluation
Advise bidders of outcome	21 July 2023
Debrief unsuccessful suppliers	21 July 2023
Due diligence and contract negotiation	21 July 2023
Contract award notice published on GETS	24 July 2023
Contract start date (dependent on negotiation with selected supplier)	August 2023 (tbc)

16. It is proposed that the panel for reviewing the proposals and deciding the selected supplier to conduct the review will consist of:

16.1. Chair Hinewai Ormsby (Chair, HB CDEM Group JC)

16.2. Mr Leon Symes (Co-chair, Matariki Governance Group)

16.3. Mr Doug Tate (Chair, HB CDEM Coordinating Executives Group).

Review timelines

17. The indicative timelines for the Review, to be confirmed with the successful bidder, are as follows. The intent is for the review team to present its findings to the Joint Committee before the end of 2023.

Phase	Deliverables	Completed by
One	1. Independent review Terms of Reference approved by the Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group Joint Committee. 2. Independent Review Framework. 3. Procurement Process commences.	June 2023
Two	4. Review of Agency Debriefs/ Review. 5. Development of a Hawke's Bay-specific survey for Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group response to Cyclone Gabrielle including tailored lines of enquiry for groups of stakeholders. 6. Execution of a Hawke's Bay-specific survey to defined stakeholders involved in the Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group response to Cyclone Gabrielle. 7. Combined analysis of feedback from the interviews and survey findings to capture early thematic findings.	September 2023
Three	8. Key stakeholder interviews within the Hawke's Bay CDEM Group, tangata whenua, partner agencies, and other agencies and volunteer organisations that supported the Cyclone response in the Hawke's Bay region. 9. Combined analysis of feedback from the interviews and survey findings to capture broad theme areas.	October 2023
Four	10. Development of an Operational Review report.	November 2023
Four	11. Brief CDEM Joint Committee on Operational Review After-Action report findings.	December 2023

18. These review timeframes may seem long, however the likely extent of the review and to ensure the successful quality outcomes result, will require time and in particular the opportunity to draw the best information from participants. The proposed timeframes set the review up for success in the best way possible, including ensuring that there are robust procurement steps in place.

Financial and resource implications

19. The initial body of scoping work has been funded by the Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group and undertaken with support from external contractor Simplexity and the CDEM CEG Chair as the Project Sponsor.

20. Funding for the review has been identified as part of the HBRC 2023-2024 Annual Plan and is estimated to cost up to $200, 000.

Decision Making Process

21. The Joint Committees is required to make every decision in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act). Staff have assessed the requirements in relation to this item and have concluded:

21.1. The decision does not significantly alter the service provision or affect a strategic asset, nor is it inconsistent with an existing policy or plan.

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

21.3. The decision is not significant under the criteria contained in the HBRC adopted Significance and Engagement Policy.

21.4. The persons affected by this decision are all rate payers and ultimately communities.

21.5. 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

That Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee:

1. Receives and considers the Cyclone Gabrielle HB CDEM Group Response Review Terms of Reference and Framework staff report.

2. Approves the Terms of Reference and Framework for the Cyclone Gabrielle HB CDEM Group Response Review as proposed.

3. Endorses the Procurement Plan timeframes and evaluation panel for the Cyclone Gabrielle HB CDEM Group Response Review as proposed.

Authored & Approved by:

Doug Tate

Chair, HB CDEM Coordinating Executive Group

Attachment/s

1 ⇩	19 June 2023 Terms of Reference - HB CDEM Group Cyclone Gabrielle Response Review
2 ⇩	19 June 2023 Review Framework - HB CDEM Group Cyclone Gabrielle response

HB CDEM Group Joint Committee

26 June 2023

Subject: HB CDEM Group Joint Committee mana whenua representation

Reason for Report

1. This item proposes a proactive change to the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee (Joint Committee) and seeks a recommendation from the Joint Committee to each of the Partner Councils to adopt the amended ToR to enable mana whenua representation on the Joint Committee.

Officers’ Recommendations

2. Council officers recommend that the Terms of Reference for the Joint Committee is amended to include mana whenua members on the Joint Committee. This is an interim step for the period leading up to the enactment of the Emergency Management Bill (EMB), which is expected to include provisions for mana whenua membership on CDEM Groups at both the governance (Joint Committee) and operational (Coordinating Executive Group [CEG]) levels.

3. The Bill will also introduce a clause that outlines how the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi will be enacted in emergency management.

Executive Summary

4. As part of the corrective actions from the report “Strengthening CDEM in Hawke's Bay”, it was recognised that the CDEM Group structure, both at the governance and operational levels, did not effectively provide for tangata whenua representation and participation. At the time there was work between Te Puni Kōkiri, iwi, NEMA, and Group Managers to identify changes within the legislation through the Emergency Management Trifecta Reforms. It was hoped these changes would give certainty as to how iwi/mana whenua representation, relationships and partnerships could be provided for within CDEM.

5. The resulting EMB was supposed to be introduced in August last year, however due to a number of significant event responses over the last 12 months this was delayed. The EMB is now progressing through the legislative process and this gap is proposed to be closed by provisions added specifically so that “iwi and Māori participation is recognised, enabled, and valued”.

6. Although the EMB was introduced in Parliament on 7 June 2023, it is not anticipated to be enacted before the end of this year given Select Committee and Committee of the Whole House stages are still to come, as well as a general election on 14 October 2023.

7. For Hawke’s Bay, tangata whenua participation in emergency management is a critical element of the region’s recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle and future responses and cannot wait until the lengthy legislative process concludes.

Options

8. The options available to the Joint Committee are to:

8.1. Wait until the legislative process concludes and the EMB and associated Regulations are enacted to invite tangata whenua to make appointments to the Joint Committee

8.2. Take proactive steps now to enable and invite tangata whenua participation at the governance level, on the HB CDEM Group Joint Committee, as advisory, non-voting members.

9. In addition to changes proposed to membership and the consequential amendments, staff have taken advantage of this opportunity to propose a change in relation to audio or audio-visual attendance at Joint Committee meetings.

Financial and resource implications

10. It is proposed to initially pay appointed tangata whenua representatives $452 per meeting attended, plus associated travel reimbursement, which is the current HBRC rate paid to tangata whenua appointees on the Māori Committee.

11. As more detail becomes available on what the EMB provisions are, it is likely the remuneration of members will be reviewed to ensure that they are being remunerated appropriately.

Decision Making Process

12. Council and its committees are required to make every decision in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act). Staff have assessed the requirements in relation to this item and have concluded:

12.1. The decision does not significantly alter the service provision or affect a strategic asset, nor is it inconsistent with an existing policy or plan.

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

12.3. The decision is not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted Significance and Engagement Policy.

12.4. The persons affected by this decision are everyone in the region, particularly in relation to emergency management.

12.5. 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

That the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee:

1. Receives and considers the HB CDEM Group Joint Committee mana whenua representation staff report.

2. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s adopted Significance and Engagement Policy, and that the Joint Committee can exercise its discretion and make the necessary decisions without conferring directly with the community or persons likely to have an interest in the decision.

3. Recommends to each of the partner councils, the adoption of the amended Terms of Reference as proposed (OR) as amended as agreed by the Joint Committee.

Authored by:

Leeanne Hooper

Team Leader Governance

Approved by:

Ian Macdonald

HB CDEM Group Controller / Manager

Attachment/s

1 ⇩	June 2023 amended CDEM Group Joint Committee Terms of Reference
2 ⇩	Emergency Management Act provisions relating to Joint Committee Terms of Reference proposed amendments

HB CDEM Group Joint Committee

26 June 2023

Subject: Operational capability and preparedness update

Reason for report

1. This report provides an update on work being undertaken by the Group office on the operational capability and preparedness of the Group post Cyclone Gabrielle.

Background

2. The response to Cyclone Gabrielle commenced the week before 14 February 2023 and officially the Group Emergency Coordination Centre deactivated on 30 April2023. As part of the deactivation process a weather escalation plan was developed.

3. The recovery officially commenced on 14 March 2023 when a national transition notice was put into place. As recovery structures were still being developed at the time, the GECC remained activated and undertaking response activities until the end in April 2023.

4. At the end of April 2023 all outstanding response activities (residual welfare deliveries to a few isolated communities/farms) were handed over to the relevant local council.

5. Post event administration continues and is taking up some considerable time with Group office staff either managing or supporting this. HBRC has put considerable financial staff time into verifying and paying invoices, collating claims to NEMA and identifying costs that need to be passed on to other agencies. Group office staff have also had to provide support for this process including identifying the reasons and approvals for costs, and liaising and consulting with NEMA to get the best outcomes from the claims process.

6. There is also equipment that is being identified, secured, refurbished and, where appropriate, disposed of.

7. Some emergency stock has also been identified and stored to allow for the rapid deployment of essential food and other items should there be an escalation of weather impacts over the winter period. This stock is located at Bridge Pa Aerodrome and the Hawke's Bay Showgrounds and will need to be actively managed over the next 6-12 months in terms of expiry dates and security.

Discussion – ongoing response capability

8. Civil Defence is not just the CDEM Group^{^[1]}. Other agencies, the emergency services and the community are an important part of the Civil Defence capability to respond.

9. The overall capability of the Group is based primarily around:

9.1. Incident management teams (people) capability

9.2. Plans and processes

9.3. Community resilience

9.4. Equipment and technical tools (as mentioned above).

People

10. The 12 staff of the Group office were involved in the response between February 2023 and the end of April2023. Half of the Group office staff were also directly impacted by the event. One vacancy has just been filled and one staff member has recently resigned; that position will be advertised shortly.

11. Individual staff had access to wellbeing support from early in the response and were encouraged to talk to an employee assistance critical event professional one-on-one where needed. As part of being prepared for future events, the month of May was identified as a stand-down period to allow staff to take staggered leave to refresh.

12. The wider people capability of the Group comes from other council staff and each council has been working with their staff to ensure their ongoing wellbeing. This is challenging given most staff who responded to the event in February/March, are now involved in recovery work.

13. The response to Cyclone Gabrielle was a challenge to the wellbeing of all staff involved. Through the careful management of teams and individuals, the capability of the Group office to manage and coordinate the response to future events remains intact. The team has also built up a good level of experience through being involved in the response.

14. While the Group office and local government has experienced high attrition since COVID-19, Cyclone Gabrielle has given many of the Group Staff their first major response experience that will build their capability for the next event. In general, the Group office team has started to “bounce back” and overall morale is good.

15. Incident management staffing capability over the near to intermediate future across the system has been raised with NEMA and is key risk for most Groups in the country. Contingencies are being discussed at a national level, and should a significant event occur in Hawke's Bay, surge staff will quickly be requested from NEMA.

16. Despite this, we are able to coordinate the response for small to medium events and since the deactivation of the GECC in late April2023, the Group office have had to deal with earthquakes in Porangahau and two tsunami advisories for earthquakes close to New Caledonia.

17. An important part of the next 12 months will be assuring the community about the preparedness for a variety of events and supporting the ongoing wellbeing of people, given the anxieties around ongoing weather watches and warnings. For this reason, a proactive approach is being taken to communicating with the public beyond what was usual before Cyclone Gabrielle.

18. In June, Coordinated Incident Management System level 3 training was carried out with some council incident management team staff. Where requested, further training for individual councils is being booked for the next few months.

Plans and processes

19. At the time of Cyclone Gabrielle, the Group was part-way through embedding a community centred, locally delivered, regionally coordinated, and collectively led response model (CONOPS), as recommended by the report “Strengthen CDEM in Hawke's Bay” and agreed to by the Joint Committee. Cyclone Gabrielle helped embed and prove the value of many aspects of this agreed future response model. While there is still further work needed to fully embed this, it is felt that the outcomes of the review into the Cyclone Gabrielle response will provide further insights into this change.

20. Upon the deactivation of the GECC, weather escalation plans were developed and approved. A refresh of these plans commenced in May2023, and a planning workshop will be held shortly with the emergency services, councils, Iwi and other regional agencies.

21. Contingency plans taking into consideration the post Cyclone Gabrielle context have been drafted for COVID-19 resurgence and earthquake responses, and work has begun on a tsunami contingency plan. These will also be consulted on with other agencies as appropriate.

22. As part of the post event work, processes developed or refined during the response have, or are being captured. Consolidation and embedding this work is therefore a focus, especially in information systems and common operating platform work.

23. This has placed the Group in a strong position with regard to tested tools and processes for future events.

Community engagement

24. The community led response to an event is intrinsic to any response, as it was in Cyclone Gabrielle. Post Cyclone Gabrielle there has been considerable interest from communities across Hawke's Bay in getting better prepared for disasters.

25. The community engagement team has been working with councils as they have worked with their communities in recovery and developing locality plans.

26. This is being stepped up as Group office staff are transitioning out of the post response work, and a vacancy has recently been filled in this area.

27. After discussions with the emergency services, the Community Engagement team leader will be leading a workshop involving the councils, emergency services and other agencies to take a planned and coordinated approach to working with communities to develop community response planning. This also needs to be better coordinated with the councils’ community recovery work.

28. The intent is to make better use of existing resources across agencies and develop a common and coordinated community engagement work plan focusing on community response.

Group Work Programme

29. The last Group Work Programme was approved by the Committee in July 2022. This can be found at https://www.hbemergency.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Plans-Procedures-and-Strategies/Group-Work-Programme-2022-24.pdf

30. It is intended that this will be reviewed taking into account the post Cyclone Gabrielle context and resulting new/amended priorities, and a revised Programme will be presented at the next Joint Committee meeting.

Summary

31. While the last few months have been challenging, we are, on balance, well placed to respond to a variety of events should they occur. Through the CEG this will need to be continually monitored and adjustments made if necessary.

32. This response capability will continue to grow as staff are able to move out of the immediate administration post event and advantage can be taken of work occurring with communities in the recovery space.

Decision-making process

33. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision-making provisions do not apply.

Recommendation

That the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee receives and notes the Operational capability and preparedness update.

Authored & Approved by:

Ian Macdonald

HB CDEM Group Controller / Manager

Attachment/s

There are no attachments for this report.