| Press Release: Auckland Social Policy Forum |
|
|
|
|
11 May 2010 Submissions on billion-dollar Auckland Social Policy Forum close on 21 May Aucklanders have only a few days left to have their say about the Auckland Social Policy Forum, which will help decide how $11-12 billion is spent each year in their city. Feedback on the proposed forum closes on Friday 21 May - less than two weeks away. North Shore Community & Social Services spokesperson Yvonne Powley says that community feedback is urgently needed on a discussion document which was issued by the Minister of Social development Paula Bennett in late January. “The Social Policy Forum will play a major role in deciding how billions of dollars will be distributed for social services in greater Auckland. “This will be our only chance to have a say in how the forum is set up, who is on it, what it does and how its relationships work. “Getting that right will be pivotal to the development of a humane, prosperous and socially responsible society in the new Auckland governance structure, and yet hardly anyone even knows that the forum is being set up.” Minister Paula Bennett has said that the forum will be chaired by the Minister of Social Development, and will include the Mayor of the new Auckland Council and the chairs of relevant council committees. Local boards will also be represented in some way. The Social Policy Forum will identify Auckland’s critical social issues, and recommend how they should be addressed. Social issues include all the things that contribute to people’s wellbeing - for example, employment, community safety, housing, health and education. Some of these services are delivered by Wellington-based central government, and some by local government (councils). Ms Powley says that the most important aspect of the new forum will be to ensure that communication is from the community upwards, as well as from the ‘top down.” “The challenge will be to ensure that the diverse voices of the community are heard so that the needs of the people of Auckland are met. “We need to find ways to work together, to develop solutions, rather than being told what the issues are and what the solutions are. This should be an equal partnership between the Auckland Council, central government and the community.” Carol Ryan from Raeburn House agrees. “This forum will only be successful if the many and varied voices of the community are welcomed and heard. Importantly, there must be effective channels of communication with the Auckland Council’s Maori, Pacific Island and Ethnic advisory boards. “ A major challenge, they say, will be to ensure that the new forum is both broad-based and integrated. The forum will need to pull together all the diverse agencies involved in the social policy field, and there will need to be mechanisms to ensure that they all talk to each other and work together. In the new governance structure, consideration of social issues will need to be built into each and every agency, especially the new Auckland Council and its CCOs, says Ms Powley. There is also a need, says Ms Ryan, to ensure that all relevant agencies are involved in the Forum. “It will be necessary to broaden membership to include Ministers with social service portfolios - for example the ministers of health, education and housing.” Ms Powley says that the initial establishment of the forum is only a first step. “As the Auckland Council and its 21 local boards grow and develop, agencies such as the forum will grow and develop with them and alongside them. We expect that the Auckland Council will maintain an ongoing partnership with the community during that process.” Importantly, she says, the new forum should set aspirational targets, looking ahead at what can be achieved rather than backward at what has not been achieved. Both say that it is vital that the new forum is well resourced. It needs staff and funding to do its job properly and direct funds in the best way possible. A crucial part of that is research. “Unless we do the necessary research to establish what the problems are now, how can we be expected to allocate resources to effectively fix them?” says Ms Powley. Lastly, says Ms Ryan, in the new political environment it is important to identify and strengthen approaches that have been proven to work in the past - ‘we need to build on past successes rather than start completely from scratch.”
Auckland Social Policy Forum discussion document
Feedback can be sent in any form and returned either
ENDS Contacts: Yvonne Powley - North Shore Community & Social Services, 09 4864820 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Carol Ryan - Raeburn House, 09 4868941 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |