Agenda of Implementation Advisory Group

Implementation Advisory Group

10 November 2016

Minutes of Implementation Advisory Group Meeting

held at Ashfield Service Centre on Monday 15 August 2016

The Meeting commenced at 6.38pm.

Members: Lucille McKenna OAM

Alex Lofts

Darcy Byrne (Apology)

Vera-Ann Hannaford

Sam Iskandar (Apology)

Rosana Tyler

Other Attendees:

Richard Pearson Administrator

Vanessa Chan Interim General Manager

Nellette Kettle Director Innovation and Strategy

Popy Mourgelas Manager Corporate Governance, Ashfield

Jennifer Anderson Governance Officer (Minute Taker)

1. Welcome by Administrator

2. Acknowledgement of Country

3. Apologies: Sam Iskandar and Darcy Byrne

4. Disclosures of Interest

5. Election of Chairperson

Nomination: Lofts/McKenna OAM

THAT Vera-Ann Hannaford be appointed Chairperson for the Meeting of 15 August 2016.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

6. Confirmation of Minutes

Recommendation: Lofts/McKenna OAM

THAT the Minutes of the Implementation Advisory Group Meeting held on Thursday 14 July 2016 be confirmed.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

IAG0816 Item 1 INTEGRATION AND INNOVATION PLAN – Monthly Update

Recommendation: Lofts/Hannaford

THAT the report be received and noted.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

IAG0816 Item 2 ICT ROAD MAP - Status Update

Recommendation: Tyler/Lofts

THAT the report be received and noted.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

IAG0816 Item 3 STATEMENT OF VISION AND PRIORITIES

Recommendation: McKenna OAM/Tyler

THAT the report be received and noted.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

IAG0816 Item 4 CHARACTERISTICS OF A STRONG COUNCIL

Recommendation: Hannaford/Tyler

THAT the report be received and noted.

THAT the Joint LRAC receive a briefing on the Greater Sydney Commission and their current planning works and activities, with the option to be delivered to a wider forum to include Councillors from Canada Bay, Strathfield and Burwood Council areas.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

The Meeting closed at 8.05pm.

Implementation Advisory Group

10 November 2016

Item No: IAG1116 Item 1

Subject: Innovation and Integration Plan - Update

File Ref: 16/6012/126459.16

Prepared By: Emma Lannan - Executive Policy Officer, Marrickville

Authorised By: Nellette Kettle - Director, Innovation and Strategy

SUMMARY

This report provides the IAG with a high level summary of progress against the actions in the Integration and Innovation Plan (i-Plan).

RECOMMENDATION

THAT the report be noted and the IAG provide any feedback.

BACKGROUND

The Integration and Innovation Plan (i-Plan) outlines the key projects to establish the Inner West Council in preparation for the return of the elected Council in September 2017.

The commencement of Interim General Manager, Rik Hart, in early September has resulted in some changes to the direction and timing of key strategic areas, including organisational redesign, systems integration and services integration. The roll out of the permanent organisation structure has been brought forward. The approach for service integration has been revised to reflect the new organisational structure and to deliver accountability through Group Managers. Systems integration is being progressed, with Council in discussions with Technology One for an out-of-the-box enterprise solution, which is anticipated to deliver savings in licensing, implementation and training costs.

In recent weeks, there has been extensive community engagement including consultation on the Statement of Vision and Priorities and Stronger Communities Fund Projects and a wide expression of interest process to establish the new Interim Strategic Reference Groups.

CURRENT STATUS

Integration is continuing, guided by the i-Plan. As at 31 October 2016, 45 of the 89 actions have been completed. A status overview against the actions is provided at Attachment 1. Progress in relation to the seven key strategic areas is highlighted below:

Service integration and review

· In line with the new organisational direction, Group Managers will be accountable for the integration of their Service Units, with project management, facilitation and capacity development provided by the Integration and Business Excellence unit.

· Service integration work is currently being driven by a small team comprising:

o Nellette Kettle, Director Innovation & Strategy

o Emma Lannan, Executive Policy Officer

o Daniel Dib, Project Manager

o Integration Manager (under recruitment)

o 2 x business analysts (under recruitment)

· Service Unit Integration leads will be appointed in conjunction with Group Managers.

· A service integration information session was held on 18 October 2016 to brief managers on the initial integration workshops. A briefing was also provided to the Joint Consultative Committee meeting on 20 October giving an overview of the integration framework.

· Integration workshops commenced in October, with eleven workshops delivered to date, covering areas such as fleet, procurement, finance, governance, libraries, parks/trees, communications, events and development assessment. Workshops aim to scope critical projects for each Service Unit and provide a structured framework for integration. Outcomes to date include prioritising harmonisation of key policies, consolidation of fees and charges and processes to improve key service delivery, such as development assessment.

· The service integration program will progress with earnest following the appointment of Group Managers and dedicated integration leads for each Service Unit.

Contemporary local democracy

· To ensure Council maintains close links to the community, a suite of Strategic Reference Groups are currently being established. Expressions of Interest were called in October for seven groups. Over 160 applications were received from across the Inner West community. The Selection Panel, consisting of three LRAC members with the Administrator, met on 4 November to determine Reference Group membership. Applicants will be notified in the week commencing 7 November. An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Group is also in the process of being established separate to the expression of interest process.

· Extensive community engagement has been undertaken during September and October on two key projects:

o Statement of Vision and Priorities: Nearly 1700 people were engaged in the process which included a public forum, engagement at community events and festivals during October, online survey via Your Say Inner West and focus groups with key groups identified by LRAC. The outcomes of this engagement will be reported to the LRAC meeting on 8 November 2016.

o Stronger Communities Projects ($14m): Three options (Transport infrastructure; Community facilities; Recreation and sustainability) were put to the community, with over 650 responses obtained through a public forum, engagement at festivals and online. The assessment panel will meet on 14 November to propose funding allocations.

Integrated planning

· The final phase of developing the Statement of Vision and Priorities will take place with an LRAC workshop on 8 November, before being presented to Council on 6 December.

· Preparatory work, including a process and timeline for the 2017/18 Operational Planning and Budget process is in progress, and will gain momentum once Group Managers are in place to lead planning for their Service Units. The Statement of Vision and Priorities will provide the strategic direction to guide planning for the 2017/18 year. The Operational Plan and Budget for 2017/18 will be fully integrated, reflecting the new Inner West Council structure.

Equipping and supporting Council staff to be resilient through change

· Communication with staff remains a very high priority. The General Manager has held fourteen staff briefings over two months, including sessions at Depot sites and special arrangements for Children’s Services staff. All sessions have been well attended.

· Support continues to be provided to staff in supervisory and leadership positions across the Council, with Anson Consulting presenting two seminars in late September on managing self and leading others through periods of high change.

· Training continues to be offered across the organisation, including recruitment and selections, practical resilience, lateral transfer, applying for jobs, collaboration skills; achievement planning; essential skills for leaders; computer skills (targeted at outdoor staff or those that don’t ordinarily use computers in the course of their work).

· A staff survey will be undertaken in the near future to provide a benchmark for staff morale and engagement during this transition period.

· To keep staff informed on the broad spectrum of work that is happening to build one new Council, a special section on integration activities has been set up on staff intranets to provide information and regular updates for staff.

Organisational re-design

· New organisation structure, including Deputy General Managers, Service Units and Group Managers has been endorsed by Joint Consultative Committee.

· Extensive consultation was undertaken with the current leadership group on the Level 3 organisational structure (Service Units) – ten sessions were delivered by Human Resources staff, with over 90 staff attending and providing feedback to inform the decision on the final structure by the current Executive.

· Recruitment for the permanent Level 2 Deputy General Managers has been completed as previously advised to LRAC members.

· Permanent Level 3 Group Manager positions have been advertised and close on 9 November. These roles are expected to be filled in early December.

· Following the appointment of Group Managers, the next layers of the organisational structure will be finalised in consultation with staff in early 2017.

Systems integration and transformation

· Discussions with Technology One in relation to their out of the box enterprise solution continue.

· Demonstration sessions for specific modules were held from 2-4 November to familiarise staff with function specific aspects of the system.

· The dark fibre installation has been completed. The next stage in the connectivity project is currently underway. This includes installation of network switch modules and connectivity testing between the networks. Activation is expected by the end of November.

· Work has commenced on a network security audit to ensure security is not compromised when all three sites are connected via the dark fibre link.

· A contract to design the domain, active directory/email consolidation was awarded in October. Work is expected to be completed in late December. Construction of the new domain, active directory and email environment is planned to be completed by early March 2017 and then the process of migration of user data and existing systems will commence over the following months.

· Inner West Council website content continues to expand. Recent updates include addition of WestConnex and Marrickville Hospital site pages under ‘Hot Topics’. An online survey is currently open to allow the community to identify what services they want the new website to offer.

Organisational development

· Organisational values project has commenced with workshops engaging over 330 staff to identify a suite of values in late October. Outcomes of the workshops will be presented to staff in early 2017 following consultation with the Leadership Group.

· The Learning and Development Plan is nearing completion

· Work has commenced on an induction program for the new Leadership Group (Deputy General Managers and Group Managers), which will come together for the first time on 12 December.

· A high performance leadership program is in development to be rolled out over a six to eight month period for levels 1-3 staff. This is a significant investment in leadership across the organisation.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

A draft budget for the merger implementation has been developed.

OTHER STAFF COMMENTS

Relevant staff have contributed status comments for their action items.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

This report is publicly available on Council’s website.

CONCLUSION

This report provides the Joint LRAC meeting with a high level summary of progress against the actions in the Integration and Innovation Plan (i-Plan).

ATTACHMENTS

1.⇩

Attachment 1 - i-Plan update 3 November 2016 FINAL

Implementation Advisory Group

10 November 2016

Item No: IAG1116 Item 2

Subject: Citizen of the Year Program 2017

File Ref: 16/6012/126917.16

Prepared By: Sharon Mitchell - Community Engagement Officer, Leichhardt

Authorised By: Josephine Bennett - Director, Community Services

SUMMARY

This report outlines the recommended process 2017 Inner West Council Citizen of the Year Program.

RECOMMENDATION

THAT IAG note the 2017 category and eligibility recommendations for Inner West Council Citizen of the Year Program 2017.

BACKGROUND

Following the Council amalgamation, the Citizen of the Year programs of the former Ashfield Marrickville and Leichhardt Councils require amalgamation. Each of the former Councils had differing categories and timelines. Approval is sought to amalgamate categories and eligibility and use respective allocated budgets in preparation for the Award Ceremony to be held in January 2017. The Citizenship Awards require nomination the nominations are generally opened for between 4 - 6 weeks. The communications is through consultation with the Communications team and promoted through the program was promoted through local media, social media, bulk emails and Council’s website.

To present the awards in January the nominations will be required to open on the 28 November 2016 closing on 9 December 2016. A panel comprising of Inner West Council Staff and a community representative will meet in the week of the 12 December 2016 to assess nominations and propose winners to General Manager and Administrator prior to Christmas. Nominators /Nominees will be invited through an email notification to attend the event prior to 24 December 2016.

The application process for 2017 will be online, replacing the old paper based system previously used by Ashfield and Leichhardt.

2017 CATEGORY AND ELIGIBILITY RECOMMENDATIONS

Former categories

ASHFIELD

· Citizen of the Year

· Young Citizen of the Year

· Young Artist /Sportsperson of the Year

MARRICKVILLE

· Citizen of the Year

· Senior Citizen of the Year

· Young Citizen of the Year

LEICHHARDT

· Citizen of the Year

· Young Citizen of the Year

PROPOSED IWC CATERGORIES

· Citizen of the Year

Senior Citizen of the Year

· Young Citizen of the Year

Awards in former Marrickville were previously presented on the 26 January as part of the Citizenship Ceremony at the Australia Day Celebration event held at Enmore Park Marrickville.

It is proposed the Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year remain at this event.

Initial discussions on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander of the Year 2017 to be presented on either Australia Day or Yabun Movie night have been put on hold. It is proposed that recognition of this kind is more appropriate to go before the ATSIC Reference Group once established. IWC is currently committed to the Pauline McLeod Awards and the discussion of recognition needs to take into account this event with the deliberation of the ATSIC Reference Group. It is proposed to encourage the contributions to wellbeing; and cultural heritage of the ATSIC community in the / Gadigal Wangal area, that this become part of the nominees target activity / or area excelled in.

ELIGIBILITY

It is proposed the eligibility be kept as open as possible to encourage nominations and the criteria below is a merging of the previous eligibility criteria from the previous councils.

· Nominees must be Australian citizens and residing /working / volunteer or a student in the Inner West Council area at the time of nomination;

· Unsuccessful nominees may be re-nominated in subsequent years;

· Self-nominations will not be accepted;

· Awards will not be granted posthumously;

· Sitting state and federal politicians and current vice-regal officers are not eligible. Consideration of retired politicians and officers would be for work in addition to their official duties;

· A person cannot receive a second award in the same Awards category, but can be considered for recognition in a separate category in following years eg. Young Citizen of the Year and then Citizen of the Year;

· The minimum age for the Local Citizen of the Year Awards is 16 years on 26 January 2016;

· All nominees that meet eligibility will be considered for the Citizen of the Year Award;

· Nominees aged 25 years plus on 26 January 2016 will be considered for the Citizen of the Year Award;

· Nominees aged 16 to 25 years on 26 January 2016 will also be considered for the Young Citizen of the Year Award;

· Nominees aged 65 years and over on 26 January 2016 will also be considered for the Senior Citizen of the Year Award; and

· Be undertaking activities that benefit the Inner West local government area.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Combined budget resources from Ashfield and Marrickville.

OTHER STAFF COMMENTS

Nil

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

CONCLUSION

Nominations for Inner West Council Citizen of the Year, Senior Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year 2017 will open on 28 November 2016 and be presented at the Australia Day Celebration in Enmore Park 26 January 2017.

ATTACHMENTS

Nil.