Canterbury Regional Plan 2007/2008
Foreword from the Regional Commissioner for Social Development
It is with pleasure that I present to you the Ministry of Social Development's 2007/2008 Regional Plan for Canterbury.
It is pleasing to see a range of indicators that highlight that things are going well in our region. The 2006 Social Report paints a generally positive picture of the Canterbury region, where we score very well, or reasonably well, across nearly all of the social indicators. Our unemployment and labour force participation rates are also very optimistic. These positive statistics are the result of hard work by many people, organisations, community groups, and communities and I would like to sincerely thank all those who have worked with the Ministry to ensure that Canterbury's economic and social environment is in good shape.
I also wish to acknowledge our staff whose passion, determination, skill, and experience have been a key ingredient in our success. In different ways each of us are working towards similar goals, transforming our country into a high income, knowledge-based economy providing a unique quality of life for all. We need to continue our efforts to further improve economic and social outcomes for our people.
The recent merger with Child, Youth and Family presents us with a number of opportunities to use the expertise and resources of all our service lines to bring the benefits of a social development approach to a larger group of our clients. The capacity in our Regional Office has also been increased and this will assist us to have a more visible role in the Canterbury community.
This last year has been busy and as we look to the future I'm inspired by the number of innovations that lie ahead. To illustrate some of these: we are implementing significant changes to our Work and Income services to ensure that all people who are able to work are actively assisted into sustainable employment. Improvements are also planned to the way we work with employers and industry. We are also making changes to our Youth Justice services and are confident that these changes will lead to a reduction in young people who re-offend.
We have invested in increased service co-ordination for teen parents and their children, which will ensure that teenage parents are able to access and use the support services that are available to help them and their children. To provide an opportunity for young people to have their voices heard we are working with others to establish a Youth Council for Christchurch.
You will find more detailed information on these innovations, and others, outlined throughout this Plan.
All of our work supports the Government's long-term vision for New Zealand which is to be a strong economic performer and an inclusive society where all people have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, prosper, and participate in their communities.
Only by working together on opportunities presented to us in our region will we make this vision a reality.
John Henderson
Regional Commissioner for Social Development
