Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party Friday 5 March 2021 at 10.30am

 

5 March 2021

Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party Agenda

 

 

Recommendations contained in the agenda are NOT decisions of the meeting. Please refer to minutes for resolutions.

 

MEMBERSHIP OF THE Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party

Chairperson, Councillor Justin Blaikie

NRC Councillor Colin Kitchen	KDC Councillor Anna Curnow	KDC Councillor Peter Wethey
FNDC Councillor John Vujcich	FNDC Councillor David Clendon

 

 

Item                                                                                                                                                                                   Page

1.0       Housekeeping

2.0       apologies   

3.0       declarations of conflicts of interest

4.0       Reports

4.1       Northland Inc. Limited: Statement of Intent 2021–2024 - Draft received from Northland Inc.       3

4.2       Schedule of meetings for the Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party  26

4.3       Northland Inc. Limited - Extending Regional Reach                                                                      32  

5.0       Business with the Public Excluded                                                                                                      87

5.1       Northland Inc. Limited: Appointment of Directors - Selection of applicants to interview

5.2       Ngāwhā Innovation and Education Centre - Support for Northland Inc. involvement  

 

   

5 March 2021

 

TITLE:	Northland Inc. Limited: Statement of Intent 2021–2024 - Draft received from Northland Inc.
ID:	A1417081
From:	Emmanouela Galanou, Economic Policy Advisor and Darryl Jones, Economist
Authorised by Group Manager:	Ben Lee, GM - Strategy, Governance and Engagement, on 02 March 2021

 

The purpose of this report is to provide the Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party (Working Party) with Northland Inc. Limited’s draft Statement of Intent (SOI) 2021–2024 received on 1 March 2021 (Attachment 1) so that at its meeting on Friday 5 March, members of the Working Party can have an initial discussion on the content of the draft SOI.  Along with the draft SOI, Northland Inc. provided a cover letter highlighting several key points in the draft (Attachment 2). 

 

A letter of expectations in relation to this SOI, prepared with input from the Working Party, was sent from council to Northland Inc. on 15 December 2020 (Attachment 3).  At the meeting of the Working Party on Friday 5 March, staff will provide an assessment as to how the issues raised in the letter of expectations have been addressed by Northland Inc. in the draft received. 

 

Working Party members will have the opportunity to ask questions or seek clarification from Northland Inc. on the draft SOI at the council/Northland Inc. quarterly workshop to be held on Tuesday 23 March. 

 

At the meeting of the Working Party that directly follows the quarterly workshop on 23 March, members will finalise the recommendations to put forward to council on the draft SOI. 

 

An initial assessment of the draft SOI indicates that all the necessary statutory requirements as per Schedule 8(9)(1) of the Local Government Act 2002 have been met including the time requirement (on or before 1 March).  Council has until 30 April 2021 to provide a response back to Northland Inc. on the draft SOI. 

 

That the report ‘Northland Inc. Limited: Statement of Intent 2021–2024 - Draft received from Northland Inc.’ by Emmanouela Galanou, Economic Policy Advisor and Darryl Jones, Economist and dated 26 February 2021, be received.

 

Not relevant.

 

Attachment 1: Northland Inc Draft SOI 2021-2024 ⇩

Attachment 2: Northland Inc Draft SOI 2021-2024 - Cover letter ⇩

Attachment 3: Letter of expectations to Northland Inc for SOI 2021-2024 ⇩   

5 March 2021Attachment 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 March 2021Attachment 2

 

5 March 2021Attachment 3

 

 

 

5 March 2021

 

TITLE:	Schedule of meetings for the Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party
ID:	A1417375
From:	Darryl Jones, Economist and Emmanouela Galanou, Economic Policy Advisor
Authorised by Group Manager:	Ben Lee, GM - Strategy, Governance and Engagement, on 02 March 2021

 

At its inaugural meeting of the Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party (Working Party) on 27 November 2020, a proposed schedule of four meetings (including the inaugural) was agreed.  These four meetings were established to fulfil the two specific objectives of the Working Party, i.e. input into the Statement of Intent and appointment of directors.

 

At its meeting on 23 February 2021, Northland Regional Council added a third specific objective to the terms of reference of the Working Party (Attachment 1), i.e. to provide recommendations to council on documentation and other matters relating to the establishment of Northland Inc. as a joint CCO.  To establish Northland Inc. as a joint CCO, several documents need to be agreed to by councils.  The following table lists these and indicates whether they are new documents or revisions to existing ones. 

 

Document	New or revision to existing
Shareholders agreement	New
Constitution of Northland Inc.	Revision
Joint Committee agreement	New
Criteria and procedures for the allocation of funding from the Investment and Growth Reserve	Revision

 

In order to make a smooth transition to joint ownership, should the district councils agree to do so as part of their Long Term Plan 2021–2023 consultation process, it is preferable to have all these documents ready for agreement by the end of June 2021.  Consequently, two additional meetings of the Working Party are proposed for agreement at this meeting, one in April and one in May.  

 

Meeting date	Purpose
Friday 5 March 2021	Comments on draft SOI received from Northland Inc. Shortlisting of director candidates to interview
Tuesday 23 March 2021	Quarterly workshop between NRC/Northland Inc. Comments on draft letter to Northland Inc. containing comments on the draft SOI. Agree on persons to recommend as directors of Northland Inc.
Friday 9 April 2021	Review initial drafts of the documents necessary for the establishment of Northland Inc. as a joint CCO.
Friday 7 May 2021	Review revised drafts of the documents necessary for the establishment of Northland Inc. as a joint CCO.

 

 

1.    That the report ‘Schedule of meetings for the Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party’ by Darryl Jones, Economist and Emmanouela Galanou, Economic Policy Advisor and dated 28 February 2021, be received.

 

2.    That the schedule of meetings for the Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party be agreed.

 

Not relevant.

 

Attachment 1: Terms of Reference of the Regional Economic Development Service Delivery Working Party ⇩   

5 March 2021Attachment 1

 

 

 

5 March 2021

 

TITLE:	Northland Inc. Limited - Extending Regional Reach
ID:	A1417374
From:	Darryl Jones, Economist and Emmanouela Galanou, Economic Policy Advisor
Authorised by Group Manager:	Ben Lee, GM - Strategy, Governance and Engagement, on 02 March 2021

 

One of the important issues concerning Northland Inc. is how to improve the regional reach of the economic development services it provides across Te Taitokerau Northland.  This issue was highlighted in the Local Government Act 2002 section 17A review of regional economic development services in Northland undertaken in 2017. 

 

In response to the s17A review, Northland Inc. commissioned MartinJenkins, a private consultancy firm with considerable experience in local government economic development, to prepare a report on the issue of regional reach which was completed in June 2020 (Attachment 1).  As this issue has been raised during discussion at the previous two meetings of the Working Party, and as the Working Party considers the draft Northland Inc. Limited Statement of Intent 2021-2024, staff consider that a discussion on this latest report prepared by MartinJenkins would be timely. 

 

Vaughan Cooper from Northland Inc. will attend the Working Party meeting to discuss the report, and the actions that have been taken by Northland Inc. since the report was completed to extend their regional reach. 

 

That the report ‘Northland Inc. Limited - Extending Regional Reach’ by Darryl Jones, Economist and Emmanouela Galanou, Economic Policy Advisor and dated 28 February 2021, be received.

 

Not relevant.

 

Attachment 1: Northland Inc. - Extending Regional Reach (final report prepared by MartinJenkins, June 2020) ⇩   

5 March 2021Attachment 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

5 March 2021

 

TITLE:

Business with the Public Excluded

 

The purpose of this report is to recommend that the public be excluded from the proceedings of this meeting to consider the confidential matters detailed below for the reasons given.

1.              That the public be excluded from the proceedings of this meeting to consider confidential matters.

2.              That the general subject of the matters to be considered whilst the public is excluded, the reasons for passing this resolution in relation to this matter, and the specific grounds under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution, are as follows:

Item No.	Item Issue	Reasons/Grounds
5.1	Northland Inc. Limited: Appointment of Directors - Selection of applicants to interview	The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, the withholding of which is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons s7(2)(a).
5.2	Ngāwhā Innovation and Education Centre - Support for Northland Inc. involvement	The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, the withholding of which is necessary to enable council to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities s7(2)(h) and the withholding of which is necessary to enable council to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations) s7(2)(i).

3.              That the Independent Financial Advisors be permitted to stay during business with the public excluded.

1.    Options

Not applicable. This is an administrative procedure.

2.    Significance and Engagement

This is a procedural matter required by law. Hence when assessed against council policy is deemed to be of low significance.

3.    Policy and Legislative Compliance

The report complies with the provisions to exclude the public from the whole or any part of the proceedings of any meeting as detailed in sections 47 and 48 of the Local Government Official Information Act 1987.

4.    Other Considerations

Being a purely administrative matter; Community Views, Māori Impact Statement, Financial Implications, and Implementation Issues are not applicable.