Report from the Controller and Auditor-General, Water and Roads: funding and management challenges

The Office of the Auditor-General has investigated the state of the infrastructure, the maintenance done by local authorities, and what is needed to ensure the provision of roads and the “three waters” (water supply, wastewater, and stormwater) in the future. Introduction A key responsibility of local authorities is the management of infrastructure delivering essential services: roads and the “three waters” (water supply, wastewater, and stormwater). In New Zealand these assets are collectively worth more than $100 billion. The Office analysed the asset management practices of 31 selected local authorities that between them own 74 percent of local authority property, plant, and equipment assets nationwide

NZGOAL Software Extension

These are the official New Zealand Government guidelines to provide clarity on how government agencies can make their software open source. Government agencies invest significantly in software development and often own the copyright in the software that they develop or that is developed for them. Public sharing and the licensing of this government-owned software under free and open source software licence terms has the potential to: (a) save agencies time and money, resulting in a more efficient use of scarce resources; (b) encourage open innovation on the part of both the public and private sectors; (c) contribute to economic growth, primarily through the private sector being able to leverage and support government investment in the software it openly releases for re-use; (d) contribute to the formation of trusted communities of users whose public and private sector members have common or similar goals or interests; (e) result in continuous and ongoing maintenance of the released software code through these communities of users in a way that may not be achievable by a single agency alone; (f) enable agencies to better align their operational and strategic activities with relevant aspects of the Government ICT Strategy 2015; and (g) in some cases, foster transparency – for those who can read software code – as to the methods or algorithms used for the creation or delivery of public data and services, thereby enabling critical analysis and potentially the provision of improvements back to the releasing agency. This NZGOAL Software Extension (NZGOAL-SE) provides agencies with a means of realising this potential. It: (a) explains the legal and policy context that is relevant to agencies’ open source licensing of software; (b) sets out a series of policy principles to guide agencies in their open sharing of software code; (c) advocates the use of particular open source software licences for this purpose; and (d) sets out a review and release process to guide agencies through the review of the software they propose to release for re-use, the purpose of which is to help agencies make decisions that are legally robust and practically useful

'Is your city pretty anyway?' Perspectives on graffiti and the urban landscape

Drawing on survey and focus group research completed in New Zealand in 2009 this article examines young peoples’ perspectives on graffiti and tagging. The results further demonstrate that graffiti writing is an activity invested with considerable cultural meaning by many of those engaged in it and that their understanding of graffiti is considerably at odds with prevailing political, media and policy discourse that sees it purely in terms of criminal damage and antisocial behaviour. While graffiti can be conceptualised as an alternative way of ‘reading’ urban space, the results of this study show that writers recognised that graffiti had damaging consequences and was inappropriate in some contexts. Graffiti was not simply nihilistic destructive behaviour but one in which perceptions of criminality were leavened by aesthetic judgements and the allure and excitement of potential local celebrity

Ladies in waiting: the timeliness of first trimester services in New Zealand

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Termination of pregnancy (TOP) services are a core service in New Zealand. However, compared to other developed countries, TOP services are accessed significantly later in the first trimester, increasing the risk for complications. The aim of this study is to examine the timeliness of access to first trimester TOP services and establish the length of delay between different points in the care pathway for these services.</p> <p>Methodology</p> <p>Data were collected from all patients attending nine TOP clinics around the country between February and May 2009 (N = 2950). Patient records were audited to determine the timeline between the first point of entry to the health system to the date of termination. In addition, women were invited to fill out a questionnaire to identify personal level factors affecting access to services (N = 1086, response rate = 36.8%).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Women waited an average of almost 25 days between the date of the first visit with the referring doctor and the date of their termination procedure. There was a delay of 10 days between the first visit with the referring doctor and the date that the appointment for the procedure was booked, and a further 10 days delay between the date the appointment was booked and the first appointment date. Over half of the women in this study had their pregnancy terminated at ten weeks or above.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Women in New Zealand are subject to a lengthy delay while seeking TOP services. Efforts should be made by TOP clinics as well as referring doctors to reduce the waiting times for this service.</p

Enhancing off-site manufacturing through early contractor involvement (ECI) in New Zealand

Procurement strategies that enable early contractor involvement (ECI) in design may enhance off-site manufacturing (OSM) by overcoming previously identified barriers to its uptake. Involving constructors during the design stage can reduce the risk of design buildability issues, and standardising traditionally bespoke ECI processes may help overcome cultural resistance to unfamiliar OSM technology. Following literature review and using case studies, document analysis and legal doctrine, a two-stage ECI conceptual process model for New Zealand is proposed. This was tested and refined following feedback at a conference. The model comprises a first-stage pre-construction contract and a second-stage standard-form construction contract. Key process variables are considered with solutions to provide collaboration and transparency while maintaining competitive fixed pricing across the supply chain. Legal doctrine analysis is used to distinguish between design buildability obligations and design codes compliance. The model contributes towards the development of a standard form for pre-construction contracts

Predictors of vitamin D status and its association with parathyroid hormone in young New Zealand children.

BACKGROUND: Despite increased awareness of the adverse health effects of low vitamin D status, few studies have evaluated 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] status in young children. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess vitamin D status on the basis of 25(OH)D and its relation with parathyroid hormone (PTH) and to identify possible predictors of 25(OH)D status in young children living in a country with minimal vitamin D fortification. DESIGN: Serum 25(OH)D and PTH concentrations were measured in a cross-sectional sample of children aged 12-22 mo [n = 193 for 25(OH)D, n = 144 for PTH] living in Dunedin, New Zealand (latitude: 45 degrees S). Anthropometric, dietary, and sociodemographic data were collected. RESULTS: The majority of children sampled in the summer (94%; 47 of 50) had 25(OH)D >50 nmol/L; however, nearly 80% of children sampled in the winter (43 of 55) had serum concentrations 60-65 nmol/L, a plateau in PTH was evident. CONCLUSIONS: Seasonal variation in 25(OH)D concentration implies that postsummer vitamin D stores were insufficient to maintain status >50 nmol/L year-round. Examination of the predictors of 25(OH)D in our model shows few modifiable risk factors, and thus effective dietary strategies may be required if future research determines that children with 25(OH)D concentrations <50 nmol/L are at significant health risk. This trial was registered at www.actr.org.au as ACTRN12605000487617

Differentiated Regulation:the case of charities

The increasing number and influence of charities in the economy, evidence of mismanagement and the need for information for policymaking are all reasons for establishing charity regulators. Public interest and public choice theories explain charity regulation which aims to increase public trust and confidence in charities (and thus increase voluntarism and philanthropy) and to limit tax benefits to specific organisations and donors. Nevertheless, regulation is resource intensive, and growing pressure on government budgets requires efficiencies to be found. This study proposes regulation differentiated according to charities' main resource providers, to reduce costs and focus regulatory effort, and provides a feasible segmentation