Transition Authority sheds light on future Supercity ICT

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Impact on local body jobs won't be fully known until IT systems are integrated

By Rob O'Neill | Auckland | Monday, 2 November, 2009

The Auckland Transition Authority (ATA) has outlined its assumptions, draft structures and change processes in a discussion docuiment released to local body staff in the region this afternoon.

The planning is based on a number of key assumptions, including that call centres and ICT will be centralised from November 2010.

ICT will be led by an executive described in the document as the "Manager IS", reporting to the CFO of the new Auckland Council. The CFO has six other direct reports on the draft structure diagram released today and in turn reports to the CEO.

The ATA aims to finalise its proposed structure and transition approach by January 2010 to enable change process and executive recruitment to commence.

"The timeframe to gain the advantages of consolidation of some functions (e.g. Finance, IT and HR) will be determined by the constraints of establishing common systems," the discussion document says.

"While preliminary planning is underway, it is likely that upon establishment, the Auckland Council will rely mainly on current individual council systems and processes. This will limit the extent of consolidation of functions or the need to change staff locations prior to November 2010 ..."

The ATA says key assumptions include: there will be no degradation of service levels at 1 November 2010; existing service centres and offices continue to provide frontline services; and service delivery will change following the development and adoption of consistent and integrated service strategy and progressive integration of systems.

"The Auckland Transition Agency (ATA) wants to give as much clarity as possible to employees of existing local government organisations about the changes they will face," the document says.

"However it is too early to give all employees a definite view as to whether the work that they carry out will be subject to change as a result of the establishment of new structures before 1 November 2010 or in the transition period after that.

"First, there is still a lot of information to analyse and a detailed strategy and design process to go through to reach a view as to how each part of the new structures should operate.

"Second, the integration of the IT and other systems and processes which support local government activities will take time."

Change to staffing in HR, call centres, ICT and other areas will be dependent on the timeframe for consolidating systems, ATA says.

"We are committed to a fair, transparent change process and we continue to seek the knowledge and expertise of you and your staff to get this right," says ATA's executive chairman, Mark Ford. "As much information as practicable will continue to be communicated in a clear and timely way so that those affected by change can make informed decisions."