November 2000

Regional Plan Waikato

CONTENTS:

• Message from the Chief Executive
• Regional Commissioner’s report
• Our region
• Our regional strategies
• Objectives and key tasks
• Achieving our key tasks
• Our community commitment
• Consultation

MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to introduce this Regional Plan to you. It is a summary of what we’ve achieved for this region during the year, but it is also a strategy for how we will be doing even better in future.

I am always very proud to be able to tell people about the Department of Work and Income’s successes,and the hugely significant role our staff play in achieving that. I believe this Plan illustrates just how hard they have been working for the people of this region. While highlighting the positive steps we’ve taken in the local labour market to really make a difference for those living and breathing the special nature of this region, this Plan also looks further ahead, to the goals we’ve set our sights on for the coming months.

We are taking every opportunity we have to meet our commitment to help all New Zealanders achieve independence. We are engaging with communities more than ever before. A strong foundation for our ability to do this is our regional flexibility strategy – local solutions to local needs.

Already we’ve seen good indicators that this focus will move us ahead very quickly in meeting the needs of the individuals who make this region the special place it is. As always,we will be closely focused on the local client base. We’ll be organising our resources to target local needs in the most appropriate way for a particular area, or client group.

‘Closing the Gaps ’is also at the forefront in every case. The Department is in a special position to make a difference here, with our Maori and Pacific clients already a key target area for our specialised programmes to assist people in taking a full part in the economic, community and educational life of their locality. I know this Plan sets the right challenges to meet the needs of this community, and I believe it demonstrates the special local understanding, knowledge and expertise our staff can offer.

Working together, and in local partnership, we can only have success.

CHRISTINE RANKIN

REGIONAL COMMISSIONER’S REPORT

The year July 1999 to June 2000 has now passed. This year of operation involved refining our basic operations and trialing new approaches, which can be built upon in subsequent years.

At an operational level our attention was focused on lifting performance with respect o both the number of opportunities available to people and the quality of he service we provided. This has involved an incredible amount of new learning for our 234 staff.

A great deal of this learning has been to ensure that our people are knowledgeable about the extensive number of programmes and services the organisation has available to it as a consequence of bringing together income support, employment services and community development.

During a year in which our clients, communities and the Government have clearly articulated their expectations of us, I would like to acknowledge the commitment and professionalism shown by our people as they continue to respond positively to the challenge.

Through all this we have delivered a service characterised by improving performance,responding to clients ’different needs and establishing relationships with other organisations,which enabled us to be innovative. These initiatives include the following.

• $724 million has been paid to people as income support. An additional $79 million has been paid in supplementary suppor .
• 7, 329 people have participated in training, work experience and community work.
• 4, 273 people have been placed in work.
• We trialed, in conjunction with Ngati Maru, an intensive case management approach which trained, found employment and provided post- placement support for long-term unemployed Maori in the Hauraki.
• We established specialist services to meet the unique needs of new immigrant clients and people with disabilities who are receiving Invalids Benefit.
• negotiated alliance agreements with the University of Waikato, Workbridge and Skill New Zealand, each of which will provide a platform for innovative projects that will occur in the coming year.
• We developed a rural strategy, which aligns Community Employment and local service delivery to respond to he opportunities and challenges for employment in rural areas and small towns, where over half of our population lives.
• We significantly increased access to training and other developmental opportunities for youth in our region.

In the coming year two things have influenced our priorities. Firstly the Government desires that we address both the income and employment needs in our communities through strong collaborative relationships with other organisations. This is an approach that we began in the Waikato some time ago and is an emphasis which we are determined to expand on. A significant number of our regional strategies are founded on the premise that explicit collaboration is our best chance of meeting our challenges.

Secondly, our experience over the last 18 months has resulted in us taking a strategic approach based upon the lessons we have learned.

• Increased focus upon the quality of our service. The emphasis will be to ensure that the service we provide is of a consistently high standard and is responsive to the unique needs of people who use our service whether it be a client, an employer or another organisation.
• More effective use of our financial resources.
• A focus upon stable employment opportunities through more effective organisation of our work brokerage function and the introduction of in-work support.
• Increased attention to the needs of the long-term unemployed through the roll-out of intensive case management, in particular for Maori.

The foundation we have created over the last 18 months now provides us with an opportunity to consolidate and improve our basic service and to expand on innovative approaches, which will occur in conjunction with other organisations in our communities. I look forward to a year of progress directed at better social and work outcomes for he people of the Waikato region.

As we move forward, three activities deserve mention –Unitrack, intensive case management and Te Rapu Matauranga secondment.

Unitrack is a week-long programme that will run at a departmental Work Track site and at Waikato University. The purpose of the programme will be to prevent students who have graduated with degrees from going onto a benefit.

Intensive case management will also be a key feature of our work in he region. In Hauraki the Department will be supporting rurally isolated long-term unemployed Maori into employment and in Hamilton intensive case management will support urban long-term unemployed Maori into employment.

Our Te Rapu Matauranga Secondment involves seconding a Case Manager to this Maori raining organisation to support Maori receiving training in the Maori training provider network, to maximise opportunities and to refer to other Maori service organisations where there are social and health obstacles to employment.

Our relationships and partnerships will be strengthened in the coming year and by working together we can achieve social and economic participation within our community.

OUR REGION

Labour market
The Waikato region is strategically located, encompassing much of he centre of the North Island. It lies between the two fastest growing regions in New Zealand –Auckland and Tauranga. Hamilton is a major rail hub for the North Island partly because of goods access to the country’s two main ports, Tauranga and Auckland.

The region consists of four sub-regions:Hamilton City, Huntly/Ngaruawahia, Rural and Hauraki. The existence of this economic diversity within the Department of Work and Income Waikato region is significant. It is essential that our employment strategies incorporate and respond to each sub- region ’s requirements. The following is a breakdown of the four sub-regions.

Hamilton City
Hamilton City is the fifth largest city in New Zealand, with a population of 117, 100 as of June 1999. The City contains five Department of Work and Income service centres: Dinsdale, Five Cross Roads, Hamilton East, Central City and Glenview. The City’s retail area is affected strongly by movements in the agricultural sector, with many people from outlying areas coming into he city for basic services difficult to obtain locally. Hamilton continues to provide a base for various regional public sector organisations and a growing number of educational institutions including the University of Waikato, the Waikato Polytechnic and Te Wananga O Aotearoa.

Manufacturing is prevalent in Waikato, but it is concentrated around primary production rather than high-growth sectors such as electrical equipment and electronics.

Hauraki
Hauraki sub-region consists of Thames/Coromandel, Waihi and Paeroa service centres. This area contains over 25, 000 hectares of juvenile to mature forest, and 46 marine farms. While dairy, gold and manufacturing are thought to be in decline, tourism continues to be the backbone of he area ($240 million per annum). The work in this area generally tends to be more seasonal than long-term. There are difficulties with rural isolation as key townships in the Hauraki region are geographically isolated from Auckland, Tauranga and Hamilton.

Rural Waikato
The Rural Waikato sub-region includes Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Matamata and Morrinsville service centres. The rural sector is the backbone of he Waikato economy with agriculture, horticulture, equine industry, dairy factories, and a prison providing opportunities for rural and city businesses. The rural sector has the ability to provide year round seasonal work. However, many of hese sectors are experiencing difficulty recruiting employees due to distance and transport problems. Commuting from main townships to Hamilton, which is within reasonable distance, disadvantages local small business owners who are competing with large retailers and producers in Hamilton.

There are, within this sub-region, pockets of rurally isolated settlements, which have been devastated by structural change. For example, the settlement of Waharoa was hard hit in 1992 when the dairy company closed causing severe job losses. This limited job opportunities in the area, where people were already restricted by being situated in an isolated rural area, with no transpor and lack of ongoing work. The people in rural areas range from farm labourers, fruit pickers and packers, and stable- hand workers, to prosperous horse stud breeders and multi-generational farm owners.

Huntly/Ngaruawahia
This region is the home of the Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and is the heart of Tainui. The sub-region ’s labour market and micro-economy were affected severely in 1998 with widespread redundancies at the Huntly Power Station and again in 1999 with redundancies at Solid Energy. Jobs in the area are predominantly casual and part-time and are in the lower wage bracket. There has been little growth in the labour market. Ngaruawahia is fortunate in that it is in close proximity to Hamilton for job seekers to commute.

Summary of the Waikato labour market
Despite the apparent dominance of farming in he region ’s economy, Waikato has a reasonably broad spread of manufacturing and service businesses. The region produces most of the electricity generated in the North Island and is host to a university and a sophisticated animal research and breeding facility. With an improving regional economy, it is expected that employment in the Waikato region will increase and that the unemployment rate will fall further. Business employment intentions are positive with strong job growth predicted relative to the national average. A rising participation rate is likely to constrain any fall in the unemployment rate during the first half of 2000.

A Waikato Chamber of Commerce business census released in May 2000 states that 63%of employers surveyed reported a level of confidence ranging from good to high. The following highlights key points from the survey.

• Almost 60%of Waikato’s manufacturers will create more new jobs.
• S rong job growth is expected from the professional sector with 55%of he respondents expecting to increase employee numbers.
• 53%of employers in the retail sector indicated a need for more staff.
• With almost 50%of Chamber members responding to he business census, around 300 new jobs will be created by hose companies surveyed.

The Waikato regional economy is more dependent on agriculture and primary processing than many other regions, being the biggest single sector employer in the region and accounting for nearly 20% of all employment. Agriculture and primary processing are expected to be boosted by the low exchange rate and improving world growth. The future for dairying is as bright as for any of he pastoral industries in New Zealand.

The agriculture and primary processing sectors have had below average performances over the past year, but are expected to improve over the next year through several factors, such as exceptional growing conditions, a stable European milk quota and an increased payout to dairy farmers. There are a large number of related industries that have been attracted to the region as a result of the size and success of dairying –milk processing, transport, fertiliser manufacturers, dairy farm equipment suppliers and processing equipment manufacturers. There are also a number of service activities that have grown up around the dairy industry in the Waikato –dairy research and herd improvement organisations and the annual national agricultural field days at Mystery Creek.

The forest industry in the region is based around large-scale forests and a processing plant owned predominantly by Carter Holt Harvey. There are opportunities for smaller businesses to become involved through outsourcing a wide range of activities from Carter Holt Harvey. This could see opportunities for the Department ’s job seekers. The following table shows Waikato industry composition (percentage of workforce)within the Department ’s Waikato region.