Part II: Activities and services Introduction PART II ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES OF AUCKLAND COUNCIL INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW Auckland Council provides a range of goods and services. These are detailed in the following sections where the activities undertaken by the council and its CCOs are described. Each section includes details of the expenditure, the projects and achievements together with the levels of service which were provided and details of the performance measures. The performance measures describe either what we set out to achieve or levels of customer satisfaction. Results show performance against the standard (target) we set ourselves. The sections provide information about: • the groups of activities undertaken by Auckland Council. Activities are grouped together because of their connectivity with each other • individual activities undertaken. Individual activities are goods and services delivered to the community – for example, the provision of facilities, providing grants and the performance of regulatory and other functions. Note that some activities are provided by the CCOs. While each set of performance measures, results and commentaries cover the full activity provided by the council and Group, only the portions funded directly by the council are covered in the financial statements. A summary of the total expenditure of the CCOs is covered in the CCO section. Following the sections about the council’s activities, there is coverage of the activities of the 21 local boards, and this is followed by the CCO section. The council has 11 groups of activities: • Community • Lifestyle and Culture • Economic Development • Planning and Regulation • Environmental Management • Solid Waste • Water Supply and Wastewater • Stormwater • Transport • Commercial and Investment • Governance Auckland Council Report 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 52 Part II: Activities and services Introduction EXPLAINING OUR GROUP ACTIVITY STATEMENTS Each group activity statement is broken down into the following headings: OVERVIEW Why the council is involved. THE ACTIVITIES The activities that make up the group (for example Libraries, Community Services, Emergency Management and Cemeteries and Crematoria are the four activities included in the Community group). We use these symbols to show how the activities align with the Mayor’s vision: A productive, high-value economy Cohesive, strong communities Quality urban, rural and natural An excellent transport system environments S TRATEGIC ALIGNMENT How each activity contributes to the council’s strategies. FINANCIAL INFORMATION The operating expenditure and capital investment for the group of activities. The capital expenditure figures include expenditure for projects that the council planned to carry out itself plus what it funded for projects carried out by CCOs. The financial information is presented in dollars thousands. This differs from the financial statements in part three that are in dollars millions. EXPLAINING INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY STATEMENTS Each individual activity has its own overview, followed by the following sub-sections: THE SERVICES PROVIDED UNDER THIS ACTIVITY The regional and local services provided under each activity are listed. Where there are local services, examples are also included. BENEFITS A statement about the benefits to the community of each service. Auckland Council Report 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 53 Part II: Activities and services Introduction MEASURING PERFORMANCE The tables illustrate our service delivery performance for the year. • A statement describes the service we perform – for example: Providing safe, welcoming and accessible library facilities for customers to access library services. • One or more measures are used to determine how well we have performed – for example: Average number of library visits per capita. • While measures link to a level of service, in some instances - for example measures of customer satisfaction - they may be indicative of the broader activity. • The column headed “Indicator” provides a quick visual check of how we performed in the delivery of a service during the year. • The next column gives the 2012 performance result. • The target is the overall or average result we set ourselves to achieve across the region. Actual performance in different parts of the region may be dependent on the extent to which the service was provided in previous local authority areas. • The final column provides the overall or average result achieved across the region in 2011, usually for the eight month period from 1 November 2010 - 30 June 2011, unless otherwise indicated. Beneath the tables are commentaries about how the result was achieved as well as about the actions that the council plans to maintain or improve the result for the 2012/2013 year. How levels of service and performance measures have developed since the establishment of Auckland Council Following transition to a single Auckland Council, levels of service and performance measures were developed by consolidating information from the long-term and annual plans of the previous eight local authorities in the region, with adjustments to reflect the new governance arrangements. In general, consolidation focused on identifying common themes where possible and taking account of our ability to measure and report on the measures for the greater Auckland area. For some activities (for example in the commercial and investment fields) which do not equate with those undertaken by the legacy councils, new levels of service, performance measures and targets have been introduced. The amalgamation of eight councils into Auckland Council and six substantive CCOs presented many challenges - none more so than setting new levels of services and obtaining consistent reliable performance data from disparate legacy systems. In general, the targets that were set reflected the best performance of the legacy councils. The measurement and recording systems used by the legacy councils differed markedly. Prior to amalgamation on 1 November 2010, we were unable to standardise these systems. Reporting performance for the period 1 November 2010 – 30 June 2011 therefore required extracting diverse data from unrelated systems. The resulting consolidated performance results may not have been truly reflective of actual performance, but were best attempts at presenting performance data. During 2011/2012 we worked hard to develop consistent council-wide performance measures, including as part of the work undertaken to develop the Long Term Plan for which the council’s performance measuring regime was further refined. In some of the cases in this annual report where results appear to be below the previous level, the cause may well be because we are using more accurate measurement systems than previously. Auckland Council Report 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 54 Part II: Activities and services Introduction EXPLAINING OUR PERFORMANCE INDICATORS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ANNUAL REP ORT AND THE AUCKLAND PLAN Because the Auckland Plan was finalised and adopted during the reporting period for this annual report, the outcome indicators and performance measures that we include pre-date the Plan. Future Annual Reports will include outcome indicators and performance measures aligned to the outcomes, principles and transformational shifts of the Auckland Plan. Although the outcome indicators and performance measures used in this Annual Report pre-date the Plan, nevertheless they broadly support it. To illustrate this, the symbols illustrated on page xx show how the council’s activities, projects and priorities are aligned to the transformational shifts outlined in the Auckland Plan. A QUICK VISUAL CHECK Our performance indicators are designed to give a quick visual check about progress being made towards achieving the objectives of providing a particular service, as well as about progress being made in meeting the goals of the Unitary Plan. The status of the indicators is derived from the performance results and whether or not they are improving. OVERALL RESULTS FOR ALL COUNCIL ACTIVITIES Across all the council’s activities, we achieved the following results: - Achieving: Satisfactory: Progressing: Improvement: No result Needed Meeting or Within 2% of target, Target not achieved, exceeding target but improvement Target not achieved; over last year no improvement over last year 168 21 27 20 15 Refer to individual activities sections to see the performance indicators for each activity. ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROJECTS 1 JULY 2011 TO 31 JUNE 2012 The key achievements and projects for each activity for the period 1 July 2011 to 31 June 2012 are listed. A number of specific achievements are highlighted by means of short feature stories. Auckland Council Report 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 55 Part II: Activities and services Introduction LOCAL BOARD ACTIVITIES Auckland Council has a unique governance structure, with 21 local boards which have decision-making responsibilities . A description of the decision-making responsibilities of the local boards is included in the local boards section at page xxx, following the activity sections. Information is provided on how this complements the decision- making responsibilities of the governing body. The levels of service, performance measures, achievements and projects delivered by each local board are described. ACTIVITIES OF COUNCIL-CONTROLLED ORGANISATIONS (CCOS) AND WATERCARE SERVICES LTD We provide a summary of those activities performed by the CCOs and Watercare Services Ltd that are funded directly by