Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party

27 November 2020

Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party Minutes

Meeting held in the Council Chamber

36 Water Street, Whangārei

on Friday 27 November 2020, commencing at 10.30am

Present:

Chairperson, Councillor Justin Blaikie

NRC Councillor Colin Kitchen (Remote)

KDC Councillor Anna Curnow

KDC Councillor Peter Wethey

FNDC Councillor David Clendon

In Attendance:

Full Meeting

Ben Lee, NRC

Darryl Jones, NRC

Jason Marris, KDC

Bill Lee, FNDC

The Chair declared the meeting open at 10.30 am.

Housekeeping (Item 1.0)

Chairperson, Councillor Justin Blaikie, went through the housekeeping rules and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies (Ngā whakapahā) (Item 2.0)

FNDC Councillor John Vujcich.

Declarations of Conflicts of Interest (Item 3.0)

It was advised that declarations would be taken as the meeting progressed.

Northland Inc. Limited: Statement of Intent 2021-2024 (Item 4.1)

Presented by: Darryl Jones, Economist, Northland Regional Council

· Darryl Jones outlined the process for developing the 2021-24 SOI for Northland Inc. (NINC).

· SOI is a legislative requirement for a CCO.

· Developed every year with financials covering a three-year period.  NRC has developed a practice of making more substantive changes in an LTP year to align documents and the subsequent two years minor changes are able to be made.

· As a result of the joint ownership proposal council is seeking input from the district councils into the development of the SOI.

· The delivery responsibility is for NINC to develop.

· Key dates:

o 8 December 2020 quarterly workshop with NINC followed by meeting of REDSD WP to look at a draft letter of expectations.  Letter of expectations to be sent end of December.

o On or before 1 March 2021 draft SOI received from NINC.

o 5 March 2021 REDSD WP meets to discuss draft.

o 23 March 2021 quarterly NINC workshop followed by REDSD WP meeting to provide recommendations back to NRC.

o On or before 1 May 2021 comments back from NRC to NINC.

o On or before 30 June 2021 final SOI from NINC.

· A list of issues has been prepared by NRC to include in the draft letter of expectations.

· All councillors from KDC and FNDC acknowledged that until they go through their LTP process they are not shareholders of NIC  There needs to be a lot of goodwill from all parties at this stage.

· NRC supports a joint CCO concept which would give Northland one voice when dealing with central government.

· The councillors discussed the initial list of issues to be covered in the letter of expectations.  Following the discussion Darryl Jones confirmed he had good direction for drafting the letter.

· Key areas that NINC needs to look at:

o Regional dispersal of activities and key performance measures.

o Emphasis needed for sustainable environmental focus.

o Need to refer to ‘shareholders’ rather than Northland Regional Council where relevant.

o Māori economic development.

o Add ‘Aquaculture’ as an additional strategic sector.

o Separation of Output and Outcome key performance indicators.

o Outcome indicators should be the things we want to transform.  Identifying these might be a longer-term aspect developed through a more strategic document.

o In the meantime, the post COVID-19 world is different and the SOI needs to reflect this.

Agreed action points:

· Darryl Jones to draft letter of expectations for REDSD WP meeting on 8 December 2020.

Northland Inc. Limited: Appointment of directors (Item 4.2)

Presented by: Darryl Jones, Economist, Northland Regional Council

· REDSD WP given responsibility to look after the upcoming appointment of directors for NINC.

· Currently six directors, council direction is to reduce number down to five.  Two current directors will be continuing, so looking to appoint three.

· All the REDSD WP involved with shortlisting.  Smaller group of REDSD WP members to be on the interview panel:  three members, one from each council.  An independent person was also appointed to help the selection process in 2018.

· Focussed on skills and experience rather than any geographic spread.

· Use skills matrix to guide selection.

· Leave tikanga Māori and add Māori economic development.

· Risk management (including health and safety) needs to be added to the list of skills.

· Look at considering weighting for the matrix instead of everything equal.

· Take into account the skills of the two directors still remaining.

· Key dates:

o 8 December – REDSD WP to meet to discuss draft advertisement.

o February – advertise.

o 5 March – REDSD WP to meet to shortlist.

o Mid-March – Interview.

o 23 March – REDSD WP to meet to discuss recommendations

o May – council appoints directors.

o 1 July – new directors begin.

· The members of the REDSD WP confirmed they were comfortable with the process.

Agreed action points:

· Small group of three REDSD WP (one from each council) and possible independent person to be on the interview panel.

· Darryl Jones to follow up about weighted attributes for the skills and experience matrix.

· There needs to be mention in the advert of the potential of a different shareholder structure for NINC.

Schedule of meetings for the Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party (Item 4.3)

Presented by: Darryl Jones, Economist, Northland Regional Council

· 8 December 2020:

o Quarterly workshop between NRC and NINC.

o Comments on draft letter of expectations.

o Sign off director appointment process.

· 5 March 2021:

o Comments on draft SOI received from NINC.

o Shortlisting of director candidates to interview.

· 23 March 2021:

o Quarterly workshop between NRC and NINC.

o Comments on draft letter to NINC containing comments on the draft SOI.

o Agree on persons to recommend as directors of NINC.

· The TOR for the WP to make specific mention of making recommendations on the SOI process and appointment of directors.  Other work is to be done by direction from council.  One area of work could be to provide comments on documentation being prepared from the transition to joint ownership.  Documents to be worked on include:

o Joint shareholder agreement between councils;

o Changes to NINC constitution; and

o Joint council committee agreement.

· It is anticipated that first drafts of these would be ready for the WP meeting on 5 March 2021.

· Having a Māori rep on the committee is something to think about in the long term.

· WDC having a workshop on 3 December and will be revisiting their decision with the intention of putting a revised proposal to their December council meeting.

Agreed action points:

· Darryl Jones to seek council’s interest in the WP providing recommendations on documents associated with joint ownership.

Conclusion

The meeting concluded at 12.29 pm.