• Government to introduce skills forecasting
• Social entrepreneurship
• New tertiary funding rules
• Funding boost for community social service organisations
• www.sorted.org.nz a winner
• Volunteer projects funded
• Tertiary council appointments
• Building a better New Zealand for children and young people

Government to introduce skills forecasting
The Government is introducing a package of skills forecasting initiatives. With unemployment at a 13-year low skill and labour shortages have been emerging in some regions and sectors of the economy. In addition what are often cited as skills shortages are, in reality, recruitment difficulties or skills gaps. Poor information about where skills shortages are likely to emerge means it is difficult for the Government, employers, workers and school-leavers to get sufficient training in time to plug the gaps.

Skills shortages today are a reflection of yesterday's neglect. As a nation New Zealand has failed to properly connect the emerging and future needs of the labour market with decisions taken by learners and by training providers. Good quality information about future skill needs is not currently available to help people making career and training decisions.

Recent work with the forestry and boat-building industries to identify their future skill needs has convinced the Government that there is value in adopting the same approach across the economy.

The Government has now signed up to a skills information action plan. It involves 12 related initiatives. These include:

• the development of a new occupational/skill forecasting model (to assist stakeholders to make more informed decisions about education and training);
• enhancing Work and Income's job talent bank to speed it up and significantly reduce the cost of 'matching' for job seekers and job changers;
• making existing labour market information publicly available and improving regional skill reports produced by several Government agencies;
• requiring Industry Training Organisations to undertake strategic assessments of industry skill needs;
• conducting further industry case studies to gain an understanding of the underlying causes of skill shortages and to encourage better matching; and
• improvements to the KiwiCareers web site.

A number of other related initiatives are under active discussion at the moment and further announcements can be expected over the coming year.

Social Services and Employment Minister Steve Maharey said the plan is not a return to the workforce planning approach of the past. Instead Government agencies will be forecasting future workforce needs and making this information available to industry, education institutions and potential employees so that they can make quality decisions that position them well for tomorrow's labour market.

Social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship mounts a challenge to traditional forms of government and public service, Social Services and Employment Minister Steve told the first New Zealand Social Entrepreneurship conference on Friday. Over 200 social entrepreneurs attended the conference which came in the same week as the Government announced funding the first social entrepreneur under its own scheme.

Social entrepreneurship has made a big contribution overseas turning around disadvantaged communities and the concept has much to offer in New Zealand. Four defining characteristics distinguish social entrepreneurship:

• entrepreneurs are firmly rooted in the local or the community context, with all this suggests for process and for empowerment;
• they are initiatives with a strong focus on outcomes that are real and tangible - it's about fixing things;
• social entrepreneurship is about growing social capital - a social entrepreneur takes the same approach to risk, opportunity and innovation as a business entrepreneur, but in pursuit of social rather than commercial objectives
• it is about partnerships - partnerships with business, and local and central government.

The Government is putting in over $1.8 million this year to fund social entrepreneurs throughout the country working in fields like community employment and development, keeping young people safe in our communities, and building community infrastructure and facilities.

New tertiary funding rules
Interim student loans and tertiary funding rules for 2002 will focus public money on providing students with a quality education. Tighter restrictions are being introduced on the use of the student loan scheme and revised operational requirements for providers who receive funding. Compulsory fees and charges will only be able to contain costs without which students would be unable to complete the mandatory academic requirements of the course. Public or private providers will have to document the costs that students are able to claim through the student loan scheme and may be asked to justify the inclusion of items in their tuition fee or course-related costs. Notice of Terms and Conditions of Funding for PTEs will also reflect a sharper focus on students completing their courses and programmes of study. Providers will also be required to have effective student monitoring and achievement systems. A new funding system will be in place from 2003.

Funding boost for community social service organisations
An additional $3.8m million in funding is being given to community organisations providing social services to at-risk children and families. The funding was earmarked in the Budget this year to give community social service organisations their first significant baseline increase in five years. The initial allocation of this funding sees 680 providers receiving $3.35m, which includes $642,850 for 10 national organisations. A further $450,000 has been reserved for contingencies and for further funding to providers once negotiations have been concluded.

The $3.8m allocation means that all eligible providers will get a six percent increase in annual funding this year. Some will get more to meet specific needs. The extra money is designed to assist community providers to have the financial strength they need to meet upward cost pressures this year. It is also a recognition that providers have had real funding levels eroded over the last five years.

There is a strong network of community-based organisations throughout New Zealand providing support to children and families who need it and this funding backs their essential work. The allocations take into account the individual circumstances of the community providers and the money already allocated to providers in the regions.

www.sorted.org.nz a winner
The Retirement Commission's new financial planning web site, www.sorted.org.nz, has been voted by Netguide magazine readers as the best financial planning web site in New Zealand. The site was launched in September and signals an increased scope for the Retirement Commissioner from a focus on retirement planning to lifetime financial planning. The site has had more than 90,000 user sessions, and email feedback has been very positive.

Volunteer projects funded
The Lottery Grants Board has made a further contribution to the International Year of Volunteers, with grants of more than $200,000 awarded to voluntary groups around the country. Community and Voluntary Sector Minister and Grants Board Chair Steve Maharey said the Board has contributed around $750,000 since November 1999, to assist community groups with their plans to celebrate the International Year of Volunteers. The latest grants are for training of volunteers and the promotion of volunteer opportunities.

Tertiary council appointments
Appointments to 5 tertiary institution councils have been announced by Associate Education (Tertiary Education) Minister Steve Maharey. The institutions are Northland Polytechnic, Auckland College of Education, Te Wananga O Aotearoa, Wellington Institute of Technology and Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.

Tertiary councils are composed of community, industry, staff, student and Ministerial representatives and appointments, and have the responsibility under the Education Act for the governance of their institution and the appointment and monitoring of its chief exceutive. The latest appointments are part of a series being made to tertiary councils across the country to ensure that they have the appropriate blend of skills and expertise they need to govern their institutions effectively.

Building a better New Zealand for children and young people
Steve Maharey launched Save the Children Fund NZ's publication, Children's Rights: A Second Chance, last week and said the Government is well down the track of rebuilding New Zealand as the great place to be a child that it once was. Work includes developing an Agenda for Children, increasing the powers of the Commissioner for Children, and providing significant new funding for Child, Youth and Family.