Supplementary Agenda of Council Meeting

Council Meeting item: 6.3A

17 November 2020

TITLE:	Request for approval of unbudgeted expenditure to be funded from the COVID-19 Reinstatement Reserve
ID:	A1380445
From:	Carol Cottam, Information Services and Technology Manager and Kathryn Lister, Biosecurity Officer - Marine
Authorised by Group Manager:	Bruce Howse, Group Manager - Corporate Excellence, on date 11 November 2020

Executive summary/Whakarāpopototanga

The Enterprise System project is requesting to advance $55,000 from the COVID–19 Reinstatement Reserve to recruit a fixed term Business Improvement Lead position from February 2021 for the remainder of the 2020/21 financial year.

· The Enterprise System project is a priority work area for council and dedicated staff will be allocated once funding is approved. At present the work programme is predominantly managed by the Information Services and Technology Manager.

· The project is a priority LTP new initiative and includes budget for a Business Improvement Lead role from July 2021. This request brings forward the position by approximately six months.

· The role will enable council to advance a work programme for the Enterprise System to commence business improvement opportunities ahead of the pending implementation project. The role will also alleviate pressure on the Information Services and Technology Manager.

· This role has been identified by ELT as a priority and is in addition to the list of projects council has identified for the Covid-19 Reinstatement Reserve.

The marine biosecurity programme is requesting to advance $98,000 from the COVID–19 Reinstatement Reserve for the remainder of the 2020/21 financial year in order to match Biosecurity New Zealand’s approval funding in a 50/50 cost share approach for the continued eradication attempt of Mediterranean fanworm (Sabella spallanzanii) from Ōpua.

· Following the latest dive survey, after a significant flooding event, staff recommended to a full council workshop on 4 November 2020 that the most appropriate action was to continue eradication efforts using divers to detect and remove any individuals that remain. Council endorsed this approach and ELT approved the project as a priority in addition to the list of projects council has identified for the COVID-19 Reinstatement Reserve.

· Ongoing funding of the project has been sought through the Long Term Plan, and co-funding has been agreed in-principle by Biosecurity New Zealand for future efforts. Clearly defined stop/go criteria for the response still apply, and the re-emergence of large numbers of Sabella would result in a stop decision within the 5-year horizon.

Funding for both requests will be allocated from the Covid-19 Reinstatement Reserve. At the time of writing this report the reserve balance remaining for allocation was $337k. If council approves funding of the Business Improvement Lead position ($55,000) and the continued incursion response for Sabella in Ōpua ($98,000) then the reserve balance will be $184k.

Recommendation(s)

1. That the report ‘Request for approval of unbudgeted expenditure to be funded from the COVID-19 Reinstatement Reserve ’ by Carol Cottam, Information Services and Technology Manager and Kathryn Lister, Biosecurity Officer - Marine and dated 28 October 2020, be received.

2. That the $55,000 of unbudgeted expenditure from the Covid-19 Reinstatement Reserve be allocated to support the hiring of a fixed term Business Improvement Lead position.

3. That the $98,000 of unbudgeted expenditure from the COVID-19 Reinstatement Reserve be allocated to support the continued Sabella eradication efforts at Ōpua.

Options

No.

Option

Advantages

Disadvantages

Fund a fixed term Business Improvement Lead position ($55,000)

Enables the early identification and commencement of business improvement opportunities ahead of the pending implementation project.

This will also help with planning communications for staff and future training requirements.

Less funding available for other projects.

Do not fund the position

More funding available for other projects.

The work will have to wait until the project funding is available, which could reduce the opportunity for identification and commencement of business improvements ahead of the proposed implementation.

The staff’s recommended option is Option 1 - ‘Fund a fixed term Business Improvement Lead position’.

No.

Option

Advantages

Disadvantages

Fund the continued incursion response efforts for Sabella in Ōpua ($98,000)

Gives eradication a chance of success.

Leverages approved Biosecurity New Zealand funding.

Less funding available for other projects.

Do not fund the Sabella incursion response

More funding available for other projects.

No chance of eradication of Sabella from Ōpua and a certainty of spread to the wider Bay of Islands.

The staff’s recommended option is Option 1 - ‘Fund the continued incursion response efforts for Sabella in Ōpua ($98,000).

Considerations

1. Environmental Impact

There are no impacts in regard to the Business Improvement Lead position.

Successfully eradicating Sabella from the Opua area will have a positive long-term environmental impact for coastal ecosystems within the Bay of Islands.

2. Community views

There was support for the computer systems upgrade in the 2020 annual plan consultation.

There is strong community support for continuing a Sabella incursion response from the Bay of Islands. Without additional effort in this area, there is a risk of losing wider stakeholder and community support for the marine biosecurity programme.

3. Māori impact statement

There is unlikely to be significant Māori views in regard to the Business Improvement lead position.

The potential establishment of Sabella in the Bay of Islands is likely to have significant impacts on Māori values. As such, there is positive support for this local eradication attempt.

4. Financial implications

Funding for the request will be allocated from the Covid-19 Reinstatement Reserve. At the

time of writing this report the reserve balance remaining for allocation was $337k. If council

approves funding of the continued incursion response for Sabella in Ōpua ($98,000) and the Business Improvement Lead position ($55k) then the reserve balance will be $184k.

5. Implementation issues

There are no anticipated implementation issues of significance.

6. Significance and engagement

In relation to section 79 of the Local Government Act 2002, this decision is considered to be of low significance when assessed against council’s significance and engagement policy and is part of council’s day to day activities. This does not mean that this matter is not of significance to tangata whenua and/or individual communities, but that council is able to make these decisions without undertaking further consultation or engagement.

7. Policy, risk management and legislative compliance

Sabella is a named pest in the Northland Regional Pest and Marine Pathway Management Plan 2017-2027. As such, specific rules apply for the transport and distribution of this pest. Sabella is under a ‘sustained control’ programme. There are currently no allocated funds for ‘incursion responses’ within our sustained control programmes, and therefore this unbudgeted expenditure will need to be allocated to the response.

Background/Tuhinga

Enterprise System Project

The detailed business case was approved in July 2020 by the Executive Leadership team (ELT) to proceed to the Detailed Procurement phase through the issuing of a Request for Proposal (RFP). It encompassed all the work done to date on the project and followed the approval of an indicative business case in June 2019, which included a mini procurement process undertaken through a Request for Information (RFI) process to provide more reliable cost estimates.

A fundamental principle of the project is to adopt the processes available by moving to a modern enterprise system. However, adopting a new system with new processes means there will be more for our people to learn with greater variation or difference from what they do now.

Included in the project budget is funding for additional project resources to help lead and deliver the change this project will bring to the organisation, however, it would be beneficial to start this work in advance of the implementation starting in July 2021 (subject to funding approval in the 2021/31 LTP).

It would be advantageous to understand where the biggest opportunity for business improvements are going to be, commence these improvements and to prepare a high-level training plan that will help grow organisational capability in key competencies prior to the Enterprise System implementation.

This will also require working with the communications team to create the necessary marketing and engagement materials needed to help our people understand how the enterprise system will change what they do. An additional step will include beginning to review all relevant current processes that relate to Enterprise System functional areas and ensuring that these reflect good practise and are fit for purpose going forward with improvements made throughout where identified as necessary. These improved processes will be documented in Promapp prior to Enterprise System implementation.

Sabella Response

Significant range extension of Sabella detected at Ōpua early 2018, previously only established in Whangārei Harbour, currently under surveillance in Tutukaka but no further detections since an initial incursion and eradication in 2015.

Several different efforts to eradicate the Ōpua population have been conducted to date costing ~$355,000 (50% of these costs have been met by MPI). These efforts, however, have been conducted in a step-wise fashion resulting in large gaps in time between each effort where the population was able to recover. Continuity of funding is required to be more successful.

Three significant flood events occurred in Ōpua in June/July 2020. A subsequent dive survey confirmed that these flooding events had a large effect on the Sabella population, with the majority of the population surveyed now dead. Twenty live individuals were found following 12 days of diving covering sub-sets of all suitable habitat in the area, and all were on or near the seafloor.

Attachments/Ngā tapirihanga

Nil

TITLE:	Receipt of Supplementary Report: Request for approval of unbudgeted expenditure to be funded from the COVID-19 Reinstatement Reserve
ID:	A1385475
From:	Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager
Authorised by Group Manager:	Ben Lee, GM – Strategy, Governance and Engagement, on 13 November 2020