Questions and Answers

What is Heartland Services?

Heartland Services is about improving access to Government services for people in provincial and rural New Zealand. It is also about providing more support to local voluntary groups through access to resources available within the service centres to be established in smaller provincial centres.

Heartland Services consists of two parts:

1. A service centre from where Government services can be delivered whenever Government Departments representatives are in town. These centres will, in the main, be located in the towns that serve as the administration centres of rural local authorities. However some other isolated towns of significant size such as Turangi, Murupara and Ruatoria will also have service centres.

2. An outreach service that will involve a number of agencies synchronising visits to remote communities once or twice a month to provide a face to face service to rural clients.

Why are these services being established?

• To improve access to government services for people in rural areas
• Improve government interagency collaboration
• Support community/voluntary agencies in rural areas.

However the populations of many small towns and rural areas are growing from natural increase and migration. Migration of people on low incomes to rural towns has led to the transfer of some urban social issues to rural areas where there are fewer on the ground support services.

Many people in rural areas see delivery of government services as fragmented and lacking in co-ordination. This can cause direct and indirect financial and other costs for rural people.

This initiative is designed to help improve the delivery of Government services.

What Government services are involved?

Departments currently collaborating on the provision of improved client services are ACC, Housing NZ, Inland Revenue, Maori Land Court and Work & Income. The Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry, Te Puni Kokiri and the Community Employment Group of the Department of Labour may also be interested in using the centres for information dissemination.

A range of other Government services are being proposed by communities and the relevant Departments are being approached to participate.

District Councils may participate in outreach services in some areas.

How will these services be established?

Before a service centre is developed or an outreach service established a number of factors will have to be considered. These are:

• District council and community interest to provide local leadership and support
• The availability of suitable, existing premises (which, in relation particularly to the outreach service, offer a safe and secure environment for staff)
• The capacity of the government departments to participate
• Availability of finance (for service centres).

How will the community or voluntary sector benefit?

Community interest and support for either a service centre or an outreach service is important if their introduction is to be effective and the investment, in terms of time and travel, worthwhile. Local councils can provide leadership and community support for the service improvement.

It is a longer term aim that the service centres would see voluntary or community groups located in the same building as government agencies, so the voluntary sector can gain some tangible support from the government agencies they are working with, through sharing resources like meeting and interview rooms, training facilities and photocopying equipment.

That would provide a one-stop shop for people in the community and improve the linkages between government and community services in communities. However there are a number of issues still to be worked through in this initial stage, such as security of tenure for community organisations.

How much is Heartland Services costing?

Government is making money available in the new financial year for the establishment of service centres in up to 16 locations over the next two years. Where practicable centres will be set up in existing Government owned or leased premises.

The outreach service component of Heartland Services (which involves interagency teams travelling into remote settlements once or twice a month) is not an expensive exercise, so long as suitable premises and telephones are available. The costs of outreach services are being absorbed by participating agencies out of existing budgets.

Where else will Heartland Service Centres be established?

The initial intention is to establish service centres in Dargaville, Pukekohe, Paeroa, Te Kuiti, Taumarunui, Opotiki, Murupara, Turangi, Kawerau, Ruatoria, Taihape, Waipukurau, Dannevirke, Marton, Westport and Kaikoura. However a number of other local authorities are seeking centres in their towns including Taupo, Hawera, Hokitika and Queenstown.

Where will outreach services go?

There are potentially over 40 remote locations to which outreach services could be provided. Their introduction will depend on community interest, the availability of a suitable base and the capacity of the various Government agencies to participate.

Bases being offered to date for the periodic delivery of outreach services include iwi social service offices, medical centres, an area school community library, community resource centre, and district council service centre.

What timeframe has been set for the implementation of this initiative?

The implementation of a Heartland Service initiative in any area is dependent on district council and community support. There are currently 23 steering groups considering the potential for either a service centre or outreach service in their areas.

These groups are working at their own pace and implementation will occur as and when communities are ready for it to happen.

Ministry of Social Policy
May 2001