Agenda of Risk & Assurance Committee - Wednesday, 27 November 2024

Risk & Assurance Committee MEETING

27 November 2024

Order of Business

2. Apologies

Pursuant to Sections 46A(7) and 46A(7A) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, to receive the Chairperson’s explanation that specified item(s), which do not appear on the Agenda of this meeting and/or the meeting to be held with the public excluded, will be discussed.

Any additions in accordance with Section 46A(7) must be approved by resolution with an explanation as to why they cannot be delayed until a future meeting.

Any additions in accordance with Section 46A(7A) may be received or referred to a subsequent meeting for further discussion. No resolution, decision or recommendation can be made in respect of a minor item.

4. Declarations of Interest (if any)

Members are reminded of their duty to give a general notice of any interest of items to be considered on this agenda and the need to declare these interests.

5. Public Comment

To receive comments from members of the public on matters specified on this Agenda or, if time permits, on other Committee matters.

6. Confirmation of Minutes Page 7

That the minutes of the Risk & Assurance Committee meeting of 11 September 2024 Part I Public be confirmed as a true and correct record.

7. Confirmation of Minutes Page 11

That the minutes of the Risk & Assurance Committee meeting of 23 October 2024 Part I Public be confirmed as a true and correct record.

8. Health and Safety Report, 1 July to 30 September 2024 (Quarter 1) Page 15

Memorandum, presented by Selwyn Ponga-Davis, Health and Safety Manager.

9. Wellbeing Report, 1 July to 30 September 2024 (Quarter 1) Page 31

Memorandum, presented by Connie Roos, Manager Employee Experience and Wayne Wilson, Manager People Operations.

10. Business Assurance Accountability Report Page 41

Memorandum, presented by Yui-Teng Chan, Internal Auditor and Desiree Viggars, Manager Legal Risk & Assurance/Legal Counsel.

11. Strategic Risk Management Reporting July to September 2024 (Quarter 1) Page 65

Memorandum, presented by Stephen Minton, Risk Management Advisor and Desiree Viggars, Manager Legal Risk & Assurance/Legal Counsel.

12. Committee Work Schedule Page 91

13. Karakia Whakamutunga

14. Exclusion of Public

To be moved:

“That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting listed in the table below.

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under Section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

General subject of each matter to be considered

Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter

Ground(s) under Section 48(1) for passing this resolution

15.

Confirmation of the minutes of the Risk & Assurance Committee meeting of 11 September 2024 Part II Confidential

For the reasons set out in the Risk & Assurance Committee of 11 September 2024, held in public present.

Health and Safety Report, 1 July to 30 September 2024 (Quarter 1)

Confidential Attachment 2

PREJUDICE THE SUPPLY OF SIMILAR INFORMATION:

Releasing this information could negatively effect similar confidential information or discourage people from sharing such information; and

ENDANGER THE SAFETY OF A PERSON:

Sharing this information could put someone’s health and safety at risk

s7(2)(c)(i) and s6(d)

This resolution is made in reliance on Section 48(1)(a) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the particular interest or interests protected by Section 6 or Section 7 of that Act which would be prejudiced by the holding of the whole or the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting in public as stated in the above table.

Also that the persons listed below be permitted to remain after the public has been excluded for the reasons stated.

Palmerston North City Council

Minutes of the Risk & Assurance Committee Meeting Part I Public, held in the Council Chamber, First Floor, Civic Administration Building, 32 The Square, Palmerston North on 11 September 2024, commencing at 9.02am

Members

Present:

Stephen Armstrong (in the Chair), The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Vaughan Dennison, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood and Kaydee Zabelin.

Non Members:

Councillors Lew Findlay, Patrick Handcock and Billy Meehan.

	Karakia Timatanga
	Councillor Kaydee Zabelin opened the meeting with karakia.

23-24

Confirmation of Minutes

Moved Stephen Armstrong, seconded Karen Naylor.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Risk & Assurance Committee meeting of 22 May 2024 Part I Public and Part II Confidential be confirmed as a true and correct record.

Clause 23-24 above was carried 12 votes to 0, with 2 abstentions, the voting being as follows:

For:

Stephen Armstrong and Councillors Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Vaughan Dennison, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin, Lew Findlay and Patrick Handcock.

Abstained:

The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillor Billy Meehan.

24-24

Health and Safety Report, 1 April to 30 June 2024 (Quarter 4)

Memorandum, presented by Selwyn Ponga-Davis, Health and Safety Manager.

Elected Members requested an external consultant undertake an independent Health and Safety audit, to provide an external perspective and ensure Council is meeting its obligations in this space.

Moved Stephen Armstrong, seconded Karen Naylor.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Committee receive the memorandum titled ‘Health and Safety Report, 1 April to 30 June 2024 (Quarter 4)’ presented to the Risk & Assurance Committee on 11 September 2024.

2. That the Chief Executive release Attachment 2 as is practicable.

3. That the Chief Executive appoint an external consultant to undertake an independent Health and Safety audit in 2024, agreeing the scope and timeframe in consultation with the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Risk & Assurance Committee.

Clause 24-24 above was carried 14 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

Stephen Armstrong, The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Vaughan Dennison, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Orphée Mickalad, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin, Lew Findlay, Patrick Handcock and Billy Meehan.

25-24

Wellbeing Report, April to June 2024 (Quarter 4)

Memorandum, presented by Connie Roos, Manager Employee Experience and Wayne Wilson, Manager People Operations.

Moved Stephen Armstrong, seconded Karen Naylor.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Committee receive the memorandum titled ‘Wellbeing Report, April to June 2024 (Quarter 4)’ presented to the Risk & Assurance Committee on 11 September 2024.

Clause 25-24 above was carried 14 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

26-24

Strategic Risk Management Reporting April to June 2024 (Quarter 4)

Memorandum, presented by Stephen Minton, Risk Management Advisor and Desiree Viggars, Manager Legal, Risk & Assurance/Legal Counsel.

Moved Stephen Armstrong, seconded Karen Naylor.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting listed in the table below.

General subject of each matter to be considered

Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter

Ground(s) under Section 48(1) for passing this resolution

Strategic Risk Management Reporting April to June 2024 (Quarter 4)

Confidential Attachment 2

PREVENT DAMAGE TO THE PUBLIC INTEREST:

Withholding the information is in the public's best interest

s7(2)(c)(ii)

Clause 26.1-24 above was carried 14 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

The public part of the meeting (Part I) adjourned at 10.29am.

The public part of the meeting (Part I) resumed at 11.13am.

Moved Stephen Armstrong, seconded Karen Naylor.

2. That the Committee receive the following strategic risk assessments:

· Strategic Risk 2: Failure to deliver on key projects and programmes

· Strategic Risk 3: Failure to manage and protect Council information (Confidential)

· Strategic Risk 4: Climate change effects and adaptation

· Strategic Risk 7: Failure to attract and retain staff

and the Strategic Risk Dashboard (section 7.2).

Clause 26.2-24 above was carried 14 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

27-24

Committee Work Schedule

Moved Stephen Armstrong, seconded Karen Naylor.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Risk & Assurance Committee receive its Work Schedule dated September 2024, as amended.

Clause 27-24 above was carried 14 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

	Karakia Whakamutunga
	Councillor Kaydee Zabelin closed the meeting with karakia.

The meeting finished at 11.18am.

Confirmed 27 November 2024

Chair

Palmerston North City Council

Minutes of the Risk & Assurance Committee Meeting Part I Public, held in the Council Chamber, First Floor, Civic Administration Building, 32 The Square, Palmerston North on 23 October 2024, commencing at 1.03pm

Members

Present:

Stephen Armstrong (in the Chair) and Councillors Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Vaughan Dennison, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, William Wood and Kaydee Zabelin.

Non Members:

Councillors Patrick Handcock and Billy Meehan.

Apologies:

Councillor Orphée Mickalad (absent on Council business) and The Mayor (Grant Smith).

	Karakia Timatanga
	Councillor Kaydee Zabelin opened the meeting with karakia.

28-24

Apologies

Moved Stephen Armstrong, seconded Karen Naylor.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Committee receive the apologies.

Clause 28-24 above was carried 11 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

Stephen Armstrong and Councillors Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Vaughan Dennison, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin, Patrick Handcock and Billy Meehan.

29-24	Adoption of Annual Report 2023/24 Memorandum, presented by Scott Mancer, Manager - Finance and Debbie Perera, Audit Director. Elected Members requested several changes to the key achievements, and asked that Members be included in the process of identification of these for the Annual Report going forward.
	Moved Stephen Armstrong, seconded Vaughan Dennison. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1. That the Committee note the 2023/24 financial reporting and draft auditor’s opinion of Council’s 2023/24 Annual Report. The COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS 3 . That Council note that, assuming Audit clearance is given, the final Auditor’s ‘opinion’ from Audit New Zealand will be received following expected adoption by Council on 30 October 2024 and Council signing of the reports.
	Clauses 29.1-24 and 29.2-24 above were carried 11 votes to 0, the voting being as follows: For: Stephen Armstrong and Councillors Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Vaughan Dennison, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin, Patrick Handcock and Billy Meehan.
	Moved Stephen Armstrong, seconded Vaughan Dennison. 2. That Council adopt the Annual Report 2023/24 and Summary Annual Report 2023/24.
	Clause 29.3-24 above was carried 10 votes to 1, the voting being as follows: For: Stephen Armstrong and Councillors Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Vaughan Dennison, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin, Patrick Handcock and Billy Meehan. Against: Councillor Karen Naylor.
	Moved Brent Barrett, seconded William Wood. 4. That the Chief Executive engage Elected Members in the process of identifying Key Achievements for inclusion in Annual Reports 2025 onwards.
	Clause 29.4-24 above was carried 11 votes to 0, the voting being as follows: For: Stephen Armstrong and Councillors Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Vaughan Dennison, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin, Patrick Handcock and Billy Meehan.
	Moved William Wood, seconded Leonie Hapeta. 5. That key achievements in the 2024 Annual Report be amended to: (a) Key achievements for Goal 1 (page 8) – remove reference to Featherston Street.
	*Amended by Council on 30 October 2024* *Clause 183-24*
	Clause 29.5-24 above was carried 6 votes to 4, with 1 abstention, the voting being as follows: For: Councillors Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Leonie Hapeta, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin and Billy Meehan. Against: Councillors Brent Barrett, Vaughan Dennison, Lorna Johnson and Patrick Handcock. Abstained: Stephen Armstrong.
	Moved William Wood, seconded Leonie Hapeta. 5. That key achievements in the 2024 Annual Report be amended to: (b) Key achievements for Goal 2 (page 12) – substitute bus launch with highlighting CCO visitor numbers. (c) Key achievements for Goal 3 (page 15) – substitute environmental health contract with completion of Papaioea Place.
	Clause 29.6-24 above was carried 10 votes to 1, the voting being as follows: For: Stephen Armstrong and Councillors Karen Naylor, Mark Arnott, Brent Barrett, Vaughan Dennison, Leonie Hapeta, William Wood, Kaydee Zabelin, Patrick Handcock and Billy Meehan. Against: Councillor Lorna Johnson.

	Karakia Whakamutunga
	Councillor Kaydee Zabelin closed the meeting with karakia.

The meeting finished at 2.41pm.

Confirmed 27 November 2024

Chair

Memorandum

TO: Risk & Assurance Committee

MEETING DATE: 27 November 2024

TITLE: Health and Safety Report, 1 July to 30 September 2024 (Quarter 1)

Presented By: Selwyn Ponga-Davis, Health and Safety Manager

APPROVED BY: Danelle Whakatihi, General Manager Customer & Community

RECOMMENDATIONS TO RISK & ASSURANCE cOMMITTEE

1. That the Committee receive the memorandum titled ‘Health and Safety Report, 1 July to 30 September 2024 (Quarter 1)’ presented to the Risk & Assurance Committee on 27 November 2024.

2. That the Chief Executive release Attachment 2 as is practicable.

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 Focusing on Health and Safety through proactive reporting is a strong approach to cultivating a safer work environment. By continuing to encourage kaimahi to report potential hazards or incidents early, the organisation can address problems before they escalate. This strategy not only prevents accidents but also nurtures an open and supportive culture where staff feel empowered to speak up without fear of negative consequences.

Building trust is key and aligns with our Health and Safety Pou (Pillars). When kaimahi see that their concerns are taken seriously and addressed promptly, it reinforces the idea that the organisation genuinely cares about their wellbeing. Regularly communicating the value of these reports and demonstrating how they lead to improvements can help sustain the momentum, leading to better overall safety outcomes and a further decrease in incidents.

1.2 The new Safety Framework has been reviewed by Poutāhū and is currently with the Health and Safety committees for discussion. A further review of the revamped Drug and Alcohol Policy (and Standards) will be presented to union delegates for consultation.

1.3 As previously reported, the close out actions tied to the SafePlus report recommendations are still being addressed with expected progression to occur between January and March 2025.

1.4 Notable highlights over the 1 July to 30 September 2024 quarter are below.

· During the period the Senior Leadership Team carried out site visits to:

o The City Central Library. It was noted that building design dual effectiveness was creating issues with exits/entrances, whilst the open plan allowed more functionality. Impacts to staffing level requirements during open hours were also noted. Strategically, a lot of thought would be required during any refurbishment/ earthquake strengthening work.

o Materials Recycling Facility and Composting site at the Awapuni Recycling Centre. Discussed the history of what the facility does, possible future plans, safety improvements and processes, sustainability, and other possibilities.

1.5 Looking ahead:

· As reported to the Committee in September, the exploration around other Health and Safety reporting systems continues with Manawatū-Whanganui Local Area Shared Services (MWLASS) partners. Collaborations during September led to the identification of two potential reporting platforms.

· Re-aligning the current Health and Safety reporting tool – PeopleSafe – to reflect the organisation-wide structure changes continues. The adoption of the changes will be completed during October/November 2024.

1.6 Updates on topics reported previously:

· Update and refresh on the Health and Safety Management Plans for Turitea Water Treatment Plant, and WasteWater Treatment Plant remains ongoing (progression of the Manual and Safe Operating Procedures for review by Health and Safety).

· As noted under section 1.3 above, the implementation of the SafePlus report recommendations (which encompasses the competency framework and training plans for kaimahi) is still pending completion.

· Awaiting further guidance from the Legal, Risk and Assurance team around the future health and safety audit following the Committee meeting in September.

2. HEALTH AND SAFETY REPORT

2.1 This report covers the period 1 July through to 30 September 2024. The information included in Table 1 below is discussed at the Officers and Operations Health and Safety Committee meetings.

A. Hazards, Incidents and Near Misses Reported

Table 1: Hazards, Incidents and Near Misses

Quarter	Jun-23		Sep-23		Dec-23		Mar-24		Jun-24		Sep-24
Quarter	PNCC	CON	PNCC	CON	PNCC	CON	PNCC	CON	PNCC	CON	PNCC	CON
Hazards	19	4	55	5	28	11	83	4	56	4	57	0
Incidents	99	16	115	11	108	11	80	7	80	19	78	9
Near Misses	10	5	9	1	14	1	7	0	13	7	16	2

Key: PNCC = Staff/Kaimahi; CON = Contractor

2.2 Comments:

· Hazards and Incidents. During the quarter the following risks were identified and addressed.

o Incidents involving frontline workers in The Square vicinity have led to additional internal re-training, focusing on key areas such as de-escalation techniques and situational awareness. To further support staff, trespass and lone worker safety protocols, access to EAP services, and the empowerment to disengage from potentially dangerous situations are also being emphasised.

o Reminder to exit machinery in reverse when using scissor lift at Awapuni Recycling Centre (roof) – using the three points of contact (one hand two feet or two hands and one foot) to avoid a potential slip and/or sustained head injury.

o Pest control (large numbers of rats) in/around the Material Recycling Facility (MRF) – extra attention to keep the numbers down with additional pest control visits and consideration of a safety railing on pre-sort (i.e. safety netting or similar).

o Disposal of old oil containers around the Depot oil collection area – area cleaned, thus hazard eliminated.

o Extra precautions during elevated environmental conditions (high winds), resulting in setting up safety cones and monitoring traffic.

B. Critical Risks

2.3 Table 2 below has been included to provide clarity on the number of Critical Risk (CR) incidents and the Story Type category each incident relates to. For more information on the individual events please refer to the confidential Critical Risks Report schedule (Attachment 2).

Table 2: Critical Risks

No.	Critical Risk	Near Miss	Incident
1	Frontline Working	7	20
2	Work Environment	1	7
3	Working at Height
4	Breaking Ground
5	Confined Space
6	Working with Mobile Plant	2
7	Driving	3
8	Lone Worker
9	Working Around Water
10	Hazardous Substances
11	Use of Power Handtools / Plant	2
12	Asset Failure

2.4 As mentioned within section 1.5, more work is being invested towards CR1 and we have been approached by other councils about our front-facing kaimahi package.

· The number of CR1 incidents during July had dramatically decreased, indicating improved handling of situations and resulting in a positive shift reflective in lower trending.

o Infrastructure recorded nil CR1 incidents for five consecutive months (April to August inclusive). This is a reminder to ensure the actual needs of our frontline kaimahi are being met or that we identify whether any preventive measures or upgrades are necessary.

· During August there was a spike in CR1 incidents compared to July, attributable to a broader range of incidents recorded for both Customer & Community (Library) and Development & Regulatory (Parking).

· CR1 incidents for September were down by one from August. Trespass processes were progressed for incidents within the main library; training needs were increased to support our Parking kaimahi (due to pending infringement penalty increases).

· Near Miss Incidents of Interest to note:

o Awareness and training on emergency release equipment (Customer & Community - Library) as well as informing the public to take care and not misuse equipment/facilities; consideration on the use of a generic title on correspondence (Development & Regulatory – Parking) to be used when reviewing infringements.

o Two Near Misses occurred at the MRF and the resulting close-out action included practical, hands-on re-training.

· Over the quarter, Nice Job incidents of note: Demonstrated proactive staff engagement to prevent potential medical events; providing support that required medical and/or Police intervention; applying steps to manage fatigue during work duties; and remaining vigilant and reporting incidents early.

· Police support to Council continues. During Quarter 1, eight notifications relating to CRs were made to Police (noticeably up on Quarter 4 – six).

· Three Trespass Notices have been actioned during Quarter 1 (up on Quarter 4 – two).

· The graphs below identify CRs involving Verbal Altercation (VA) and/or Physical Danger (PD) when kaimahi are Frontline Working.

o Customer & Community has recorded nine VA incidents (down on Quarter 4 – 17) and two PD incidents (up on Quarter 4 – 0) for Quarter 1;

o Development & Regulatory has recorded six VA incidents and one PD incident for Quarter 1;

o Infrastructure has recorded two VA incidents and nil PD incidents for Quarter 1;

o The details of the occurrences in the graphs are highlighted within the confidential Critical Risks Report schedule (Attachment 2).

Table 3: CR1 – Frontline Working

C. Manual Handling (Musculoskeletal Harm)

2.5 A number of proactive manual handling measures continue to be applied across Council to reduce associated risks.

· Incorporated manual handling education into the onboarding process ensures kaimahi understand the importance of injury prevention from the outset. Covering areas like stretching, warm-up/cool-down routines, workstation set-up, and early reporting of discomfort/pain during Health and Safety inductions sets a solid foundation for promoting a safe working environment.

· Move at Work/Manual Handling training occurs annually with refresher training every three years (next occurrence is August 2025). There is also an online self-booking manual handling course available via The Sauce.

· Monitoring manual handling incidents and initiating additional training or supervision as needed proactively reinforces workplace safety. This ongoing evaluation helps ensure that potential risks are continuously addressed and that kaimahi receive the support they need.

· A refresh on Manual Handling training options used over recent years (onsite via an external provider, internally, and virtually) is being considered.

D. Investigations

2.6 WorkSafe investigation information remains on the report for 12 months or until actions are completed.

Table 4: Investigations

Investigations occurred this quarter	0
Previous Investigations (last 12 months)
Number of remedial actions required	0
Number of remedial actions completed	0

2.7 Comments:

· During the 1 July to 30 September (Q1) 2024 period PN City Council classified nil incidents as ‘notifiable’.

E. Training

2.8 Summary information on Health and Safety training undertaken in the last 12 months is shown below as reported in PeopleSafe and delivered internally by Health and Safety – there may be some miniscule lag due to information being filtered through our systems on time. For more expansive information on training for Quarter 1, please refer to the Training Update schedule (Attachment 3).

Table 5: Training

Date	Dec-23	Mar-24	Jun-24	Sep-24
Number of events	35	15	16	16
Staff/Kaimahi attending	210	204	104	133

2.9 Comments:

· Situational Awareness and De-escalation training (renamed Frontline Awareness and Safety Training – FAST) remains crucial and we continue to gather feedback from our kaimahi on what they found helpful and what could be improved. Training increased with four programmes being delivered during the quarter, as well as October. The internal training – coordinated and facilitated by both our Wellbeing team (Employee Experience) and Health and Safety unit – was re-released to our Parking kaimahi.

· A Health and Safety management training module was rolled out to people leaders at the Depot during the early part of August 2024. The purpose of the workshop provides people leaders with an understanding of health and safety responsibilities, as well as reporting and managing incidents and how to lead a safety culture.

3. Compliance and administration

Does the Committee have delegated authority to decide?		Yes
Are the decisions significant?		No
If they are significant, do they affect land or a body of water?		No
Can this decision only be made through a 10 Year Plan?		Yes
Does this decision require consultation through the Special Consultative procedure?		No
Is there funding in the current Annual Plan for these objectives?		No
Are the recommendations inconsistent with any of Council’s policies or plans?		No
The recommendations contribute to: Whāinga 3: He hapori tūhonohono, he hapori haumaru Goal 3: A connected and safe community
The recommendations contribute to the achievement of objective/objectives in: 9. Mahere haumaru hapori, hauora hapori 9. Community Safety and Health Plan The objective is: Co-ordinate and support community safety and harm reduction.
Contribution to strategic direction and to social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing.	Providing information to Council about the ongoing progress towards the good performance of the organisation regarding health and safety.

Attachments

1.	Health & Safety Dashboard report, Q1 2024 ⇩
2.	Health & Safety Critical Risks report, Q1 2024 - Confidential
3.	Training Update for Q1 2024 ⇩

Memorandum

TO: Risk & Assurance Committee

MEETING DATE: 27 November 2024

TITLE: Wellbeing Report, 1 July to 30 September 2024 (Quarter 1)

Presented By: Connie Roos, Manager Employee Experience and Wayne Wilson, Manager People Operations

APPROVED BY: Danelle Whakatihi, General Manager Customer & Community

RECOMMENDATION(S) TO Risk & Assurance Committee

1. That the Committee receive the memorandum titled ‘Wellbeing Report, 1 July to 30 September 2024 (Quarter 1)’ presented to the Risk & Assurance Committee on 27 November 2024.

1. ISSUE

1.1 Wellbeing continues to be a focus area for leadership at all levels of Council and is core to our Employee Experience.

1.2 As a result of feedback from the Risk & Assurance Committee, this report has been adjusted to align with our wellbeing framework. These three components, Prevent Harm, Provide Support and Enhance Wellbeing are a holistic approach to wellbeing. Support relating to each of these components will be found under each section. When applicable, comparative data is included for context.

1.3 Employee initiated turnover and lost time is included in this report.

1.4 23-29 September was Mental Health Awareness Week. The focus of the week this year for the organisation internally was to highlight our wellbeing resources and provide managers with support and understanding of what we have available and how to access them. Stories were shared and tools provided to managers.

Prevent Harm

1.5 We are in the process of compiling a paper to Senior Leadership Team to outline an approach to psychosocial risk management in PN City Council. We have consulted with Poutāhū, our internal reference group, about both this approach and our existing wellbeing framework to obtain feedback and insights on existing offerings.

Quarter 1 Wellbeing Report – Prevent Harm	Q1 2024	YTD	Average Quarter for 2023/24 FY
Wellness space usage	1811	1811	1536	The comparative data shows that wellness space usage has improved compared to the previous average. The inclusion of Piringa Āio – Peaceful Haven has changed this metric to wellness space usage rather than gym usage.
Biennial health / eye check	11	11	26	Biennial Health and Eye Check information is sent directly to staff members on their even birthdays, e.g. age 38. This year the approach has changed so that all staff who are turning an even birth number will be eligible for that whole year to be more flexible.

Provide Support

1.6 During Mental Health Week ‘how to re-balance after a stressful event’ cards were developed and distributed at some of our sites such as the Contact Centre. These re-balance cards include wellbeing resources, wellbeing supports, breathing exercises and methods to rebalance after a stressful event.

1.7 The Employee Experience team (with support from the Health and Safety team) have also provided critical incident support to teams after adverse situations.

Quarter 1 Wellbeing Report - Provide Support	Q1 2024	YTD	Average Quarter for 2023/24 FY
Vitae – On-site services	240	240	224	On-site services involve Vitae Officers visiting sites to conduct informal wellbeing check-ins.
Reflect and Learn sessions	10	10	11	Sessions are designed to assist staff to deal constructively with high conflict incidents in front facing customer roles. Some of our spaces that have both on-site support and Reflect and Learn have chosen to opt-out of Reflect and Learn as they feel that they didn’t require both services. This will impact session numbers going forward.

Enhance Wellbeing

Quarter 1 2024	Year to date Number of attendees	Target to be completed by end of FY 24/25
Creating Cultures of Respect (attendees)	0	45	In the previous year this training was known as Creating Respectful Workplaces. It has received a revamp by the provider with an increased focus on creating positive and respectful organisational culture. This training encourages positive workplace relationships by addressing unacceptable behaviours such as bullying and harassment that could create internal and unhealthy conflict. The first offering of this training will debut in Quarter 2.
Challenging Conversations & Resilience (attendees)	12	30	This workshop is designed to provide employees with practical information and frameworks to deal successfully with situations evoking strong emotional responses.
Tools for Change (attendees)	0	30	This training helps employees to identify thinking styles, recognise thinking traps and manage responses to change. Both Tools for Change and Leading Through Change are internal courses run by Principal Advisor Change Management. Due to the significant number of kaimahi that have attended this training, both the occurrence of this training and the target will decrease compared to previous FY. The first offering of this training will debut in Quarter 3.
Manager Completion of Leading Through Change (Manager attendees)	0	15	One way to support employees’ wellbeing is to provide managers with a toolset to lead their team through changing environments. Due to the significant number of kaimahi that have attended this training, both the occurrence of this training and the target will decrease compared to previous FY. The first offering of this training will debut in Quarter 2.
Situational Awareness and De-escalation training	23	50	Situational Awareness and De-escalation training is a new offering developed by the Health and Safety team. This training package aims to provide our people with all the key information and skills when working on the frontline to keep them safe.
Wellbeing Presentation (attendees)	28/29 (97% of new starters)	90% of new starters	This presentation helps to orient new starters to the wellbeing support available here at Council. This presentation was first created in February 2023 and is presented to all staff who attend Orientation Day.

1.8 Unmind is a tool that takes a proactive, preventative approach to mental health. This includes wellbeing and mood trackers, courses and short videos focused on wellbeing. Unmind has a total uptake of 38%. The benchmark compared to similarly sized organisations is 30-36%. Top completed Unmind Shorts in July to September are: (a) Hip Opener (a yoga tool), (b) Winter Lake (a sleep tool) and (c) Evening Stretch (a sleep tool). Unmind now has specific manager tools and trainings that are now available to our People Leaders to utilise.

Offboarding Data

1.9 The offboarding data represents the number of people that have completed the survey, not the number of people who have left.

1.10 The Offboarding Survey Results graph presents the reasons that people choose to leave Council. People may choose more than one reason for leaving in the survey and these reasons are included in the first graph above. For example, while there is a total of 12 reasons recorded in the above graph over the quarter there has only been 7 completed offboarding surveys (as detailed in the Offboarding Survey Response Rate graph below). For the last financial year, the most common reason for someone to leave Council was Career Development Opportunity. This financial year so far, the most common reason for someone to leave Council is Manager/Supervisor, followed by Career Development Opportunity. This will develop further as the financial year continues. Please note that the number of responses is low.

1.11 The Offboarding Survey Response rate above presents the quarterly response rate, as well as the total number of responses received each quarter. This graph also includes both the New Zealand Local Government (LGO) response rate for exit surveys and our Council goal response rate. The graph above indicates that over the last quarter there was a response rate of 39% in the offboarding survey. This is a decrease from the previous quarter. The low response rate was investigated as it is below the New Zealand Local Governance average response rate of 47%. Most staff that did not complete the survey during this period are those in operational roles with limited email access. Employee Experience will explore alternative options for operational staff to access the exit survey.

Turnover

Year	18/19	19/20	20/21	21/22	22/23	23/24	24/25 SEP 1/4
Employee Initiated	67	85	120	123	114	95	20
%	12.0%	14.1%	20.9%	19.8%	18.8%	14.6%	12.2%
Other				13	8	14	2
%				2.1%	1.3%	2.1%	1.2%

In 23/24 in the Other category there were 4 redundancies, 4 health related, 3 deceased and 1 each dismissal and contract frustration. This year to date there have been 2 others; 1 health related and 1 deceased.

Month	Employee Initiated Turnover for Month	Turnover Previous 12 Months	Percentage (annual)
Jan 23	14	127	20.0%
Feb 23	9	130	20.6%
Mar 23	9	128	20.3%
Apr 23	11	126	19.9%
May 23	7	119	18.8%
Jun 23	8	114	18.0%
Jul 23	10	112	17.7%
Aug 23	8	112	17.7%
Sep 23	5	105	16.6%
Oct 23	8	105	16.9%
Nov 23	7	104	16.7%
Dec 23	9	105	16.4%
Jan 24	8	99	15.7%
Feb 24	10	100	15.9%
Mar 24	4	95	15.2%
Apr 24	11	95	14.7%
May 24	7	95	14.5%
Jun 24	8	95	14.6%
Jul 24	6	91	14.2%
Aug 24	9	92	14.2%
Sep 24	5	92	14.1%

Turnover by Unit (12 months to September 2024)

Corporate Services	5	10.4%
Customer & Community	25	13.4%
Development & Regulatory	13	15.1%
Infrastructure	42	16.5%
People & Capability	5	10.2%
Strategy & Planning	2	7.7%
Headquarters	0	0

1.12 Turnover has continued to decrease since February 2023.

1.13 Our trends show that the highest turnover occurs in the first 12 months of employment. This is standard globally and we are not unique in this instance.

ACC Lost Time (Days)

Period	2020 Ave/Qtr	2021 Ave/Qtr	2022 Ave/Qtr	2023 Ave/Qtr	Mar-24	Jun 24	Sep 24
Work				145.4	83.9	149.3	181.1
Non-Work				116.1	173.8	255.9	307.2
Total	233.6	379.6	325.8	261.5	257.7	405.2	488.3

1.14 The number of days lost due to work accidents is 181.1 or 37.1% of all lost time due to accidents.

1.15 There were only 2 work related accidents in the quarter resulting in 18.2 lost days. 90% of lost time due to work accidents are historical (i.e. did not occur in the quarter).

1.16 The 12 non-work accidents resulted in 307.2 lost days. This is high for the quarter.

2. BACKGROUND

2.1 Wellbeing is interconnected with a variety of individual and systemic factors which makes it a difficult area to report on. The above metrics have been recorded with that in mind.

2.2 The Employee Experience team continue to review the provision of Mental Health/Resilience training to identify opportunities and improvements to capture our workforce and equip our people with skills and tools.

3. NEXT STEPS

3.1 Explore opportunities in the wellbeing space to prevent harm, provide support and enhance wellbeing.

3.2 The Employee Experience team will explore the development of ‘Thriving at Work’ guidelines, aligned with the Wellbeing Framework.

3.3 A review of appropriate wellbeing spaces at different Council sites was overtaken in this quarter. A memo will be provided to General Manager Customer and Community in Quarter 2 with an overview of the different sites and facilities.

4. Compliance and administration

Does the Committee have delegated authority to decide?		Yes
Are the decisions significant?		No
If they are significant do they affect land or a body of water?		No
Can this decision only be made through a 10 Year Plan?		No
Does this decision require consultation through the Special Consultative procedure?		No
Is there funding in the current Annual Plan for these objectives?		No
Are the recommendations inconsistent with any of Council’s policies or plans?		No
The recommendations contribute to the achievement of objective/objectives in: 14. Mahere mana urungi, kirirarautanga hihiri 14. Governance and Active Citizenship Plan The objective is: N/A
Contribution to strategic direction and to social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing	Providing information to Council about the ongoing progress towards the good performance of the organisation regarding wellbeing. The wellbeing of our kaimahi (staff) directly relates to how the strategic direction is implemented.

Attachments

Nil

Memorandum

TO: Risk & Assurance Committee

MEETING DATE: 27 November 2024

TITLE: Strategic Risk Management Reporting July to September 2024 (Quarter 1)

Presented By: Stephen Minton, Risk Management Advisor and Desiree Viggars, Manager Legal Risk & Assurance/Legal Counsel

APPROVED BY: Cameron McKay, General Manager Corporate Services

RECOMMENDATION TO Risk & Assurance Committee

1. That the Committee receive the following strategic risk assessments:

· Strategic Risk 5: Ineffective Relationship and Stakeholder Engagement

· Strategic Risk 8: Failure to Meet Legal Obligations

· Strategic Risk 9: Significant Disruption to Council’s Continuity and/or Lifeline Utility Disruption

· Strategic Risk 10: Failure to Manage Critical/Strategic Assets

· Strategic Risk 11: Loss of Public Trust

and the Strategic Risk Dashboard (section 8.2).

1. ISSUE

1.1 Council agreed the eleven strategic risk statements presented to the Risk & Assurance Committee on 6 March 2024. The assessments of the first two strategic risks were presented to the Committee on 22 May 2024. This memorandum presents the final five as prepared by Officers.

2. BACKGROUND

2.1 Officers have prepared assessments of the strategic risks on the basis laid down in the Risk Management Framework. This includes an assessment of the risk rating against the approved risk tolerance along with determination of control effectiveness and reliance (as defined in the attachment and Risk Management Framework).

2.2 Officers have articulated principal controls for the strategic risks. Where Officers deem the need for changes, improvements or realignment to controls/mitigation, summary actions are described.

2.3 Individual members of Senior Leadership Team, as the risk owner, have agreed individual strategic risk assessments and Senior Leadership Team have collectively agreed to the strategic risk assessments.

3. Strategic Risk 5: ineffective relationship and stakeholder engagement

3.1 The assessment of this strategic risk is attached as Attachment 1.

4. Strategic Risk 8: Failure to Meet Legal Obligations

4.1 The assessment of this strategic risk is attached as Attachment 2.

5. Strategic Risk 9: Significant disruption to Council’s continuity and/or lifeline utility disruption

5.1 The assessment of this strategic risk is attached as Attachment 3.

5.2 Considering the Very High residual risk rating, management have provided additional comment on actions to bring the risk down to more acceptable levels:

“Management are cognisant of the need for some serious remediation of the Council’s capability for action in either a civil defence emergency event or business disruption. Recognising this, a remediation plan for emergency management has recently been agreed with the Senior Leadership Team with the following key attributes and timelines through a three phased approach across four years:

· Phase One: Minimum* operational level of trained staff by 30 June 2025.

· Phase Two: Moderate* operational level of trained staff by 31 December 2026.

· Phase Three: Optimal* operational level of trained staff by 30 June 2028.

· All new staff to be trained to Integrated Training Framework (‘ITF’) foundation level within six months of starting effective 1 January 2025.

· All new people leaders to be trained to ITF intermediate level within 24 months of starting.

· All existing staff to be trained to ITF foundation level by 30 June 2027.

· All existing people leaders to be trained to ITF intermediate level by 31 June 2026.

· All GMs to be either a Controller or Recovery Manager + selected Tier 3 managers will be trained to Controller or Recovery Manager – nominations by GMs.

· Where alignment exists – job profiles will be updated to include specific emergency management roles, e.g. Public Information Management to Comms and strengthen the wording in the ‘other’ section of profiles.

· Refresher training and scenario exercises to be undertaken.

*Minimum, moderate and optimal based on the size of the emergency event and response required. Christchurch sized event, for example, requiring optimal operational level capacity.

Equally, a plan is under development to address weaknesses in the Council’s Business Continuity Plans (‘BCP’), which will focus, inter alia, on the following:

· Review and approve/accept BCPs by 30 June 2025.

· Development of testing plan and schedule for BCPs. Conduct tests with iterative review based on outcomes.

· Ongoing testing of technology disaster recovery plan.”

6. Strategic Risk 10: Failure to manage critical/strategic assets

6.1 The assessment of this strategic risk is attached as Attachment 4.

7. strategic risk 11: loss of public trust

7.1 The assessment of this strategic risk is attached as Attachment 5.

8. Strategic risk dashboard

8.1 The strategic risk dashboard is set out below. The risk ratings have been determined on the basis of the current risk environment and consequences of the risk event, the controls and their effectiveness, and the reliance on the individual controls.

8.2 The dashboard includes only those strategic risks for which a full assessment has been completed. Note, Strategic Risk 4’s name has been changed from last reporting; its content remains the same.

Strategic Risk Dashboard As at 27 November 2024
Risk Name	Raw Risk	Residual Risk	Target Risk
Risk 1: Failure to meet financial obligations	Extreme	Medium	Medium
Risk 2: Failure to deliver on key projects and programmes	Extreme	Medium	Medium
Risk 3: Failure to manage and protect Council information	Extreme	High	Medium
Risk 4: Failure to adapt to the effects of climate change	Extreme	High	Medium
Risk 5: Ineffective relationship and stakeholder engagement	Very High	Medium	Medium
Risk 6: Major failure of health, safety and wellbeing policies and procedures	Extreme	Medium	Low
Risk 7: Failure to attract and retain staff	Very High	Medium	Medium
Risk 8: Failure to meet legal obligations	Extreme	High	Medium
Risk 9: Significant disruption to Council’s continuity and/or lifeline utility disruption	Extreme	Very High	Medium
Risk 10: Failure to manage critical/strategic assets	Extreme	High	Medium
Risk 11: Loss of public trust	Very High	High	Medium

9. NEXT STEPS

9.1 All strategic risks are subject to iterative reviews. Outcomes of reviews will be presented to the Committee.

9.2 Reviews may also be triggered if there is a significant change in one of the following parameters:

· Significant change in the internal or external context, including major organisational or process changes (Reference Risk Management Framework, Section 4.3.1 for external and internal context descriptors).

· Major risk event that is deemed to have an influence on the strategic risk.

· Substantial control or mitigation failure.

10. Compliance and administration

Does the Committee have delegated authority to decide?		Yes
Are the decisions significant?		No
If they are significant do they affect land or a body of water?		No
Can this decision only be made through a 10 Year Plan?		No
Does this decision require consultation through the Special Consultative procedure?		No
Is there funding in the current Annual Plan for these objectives?		Yes
Are the recommendations inconsistent with any of Council’s policies or plans?		No
The recommendations contribute to: All goals.
The recommendations contribute to the achievement of objective/objectives in: (Not Applicable)
Contribution to strategic direction and to social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being	The risk management objectives cover all aspects of Council, including strategy, tactics, operations and compliance. The Risk Management Framework sets out the basis for managing risk across Council and a large part of this is culminated through the creation of risk registers and the strategic risk assessments.

Attachments

1.	Strategic Risk 5 ⇩
2.	Strategic Risk 8 ⇩
3.	Strategic Risk 9 ⇩
4.	Strategic Risk 10 ⇩
5.	Strategic Risk 11 ⇩

Committee Work Schedule

TO: Risk & Assurance Committee

MEETING DATE: 27 November 2024

TITLE: Committee Work Schedule

RECOMMENDATION TO Risk & Assurance Committee

1. That the Risk & Assurance Committee receive its Work Schedule dated November 2024.

COMMITTEE WORK SCHEDULE – NOVEMBER 2024
~~27 November 2024~~ 11 June 2025	Business Assurance six-monthly accountability report	General Manager Corporate Services		Finance and Audit Committee 16 December 2020 Clause 68.2
~~27 November 2024~~ 12 March 2025 11 June 2025 1 October 2025	Health and Safety Quarterly Update Q1 July to Sept 2024 Q2 Oct to Dec 25 Q3 January to March 2025 Q4 April to June 2025	General Manager People & Capability
~~27 November 2024~~ 12 March 2025 11 June 2025 1 October 2025	Wellbeing Quarterly Update Q1 July to Sept 2024 Q2 Oct to Dec 25 Q3 January to March 2025 Q4 April to June 2025	General Manager People & Capability
~~27 November 2024~~ 12 March 2025 11 June 2025 1 October 2025	Strategic Risk Management Reporting	General Manager Corporate Services		Terms of Reference
12 March 2025	Review of Health & Safety Framework	General Manager Corporate Services		6 March 2024 Clause 11-24 11 September 2024 Clause 24-24
12 March 2025	Annual review of Council’s Risk Management Appetite and Tolerance Levels	General Manager Corporate Services		6 March 2024 Clause 4-24
~~27 November 2024~~ 11 June 2025	Review of Contract Management Framework	General Manager Corporate Services	The organizational realignment changed where the contract management function reports. The focus has been on embedding this change prior to undertaking a review of the framework	26 April 2023 Clause 2-23
As required	Fraud and Whistleblowing Policy Quarterly Update	General Manager Corporate Services		26 April 2023 Clause 12-23
1 October 2025	Review Annual Report	General Manager Corporate Services		Terms of Reference
2025	Review of Legal Compliance Framework	General Manager Corporate Services		26 April 2023 Clause 2-23
2025	LTP Debrief	General Manager Corporate Services		6 March 2024 Clause 11-24
2025	Review of Cyber Security	General Manager Corporate Services		6 March 2024 Clause 11-24
TBC	Local Water Done Well - Assets and Liability Assessment	General Manager Corporate Services	Pending regional CCO investigation

Proactive Release of Confidential Decisions

All released confidential decisions can be found on Council’s website.

Stephen Armstrong (Chair)
Karen Naylor (Deputy Chair)
Grant Smith (The Mayor)
Mark Arnott	Lorna Johnson
Brent Barrett	Orphée Mickalad
Vaughan Dennison	William Wood
Leonie Hapeta	Kaydee Zabelin