Regional Commissioner's foreword

Welcome to the Ministry of Social Development’s Northland Regional Plan for 2009/2010.

In these times of change it is more important than ever that we work with our people, our families and our communities to help them become independent.

In the current economic environment our work becomes even more significant. Getting people into jobs is a priority, now more than ever. We will continue to ensure that people who hit hard times receive the financial assistance they are entitled to. We will also strive to bridge the gap between the demands of employers and the support our clients need to gain sustainable employment and appropriate training.

We are always working to make sure we operate in the most effective and efficient way possible. Our communities need to know we are delivering value for money. But we will not compromise our service. We are working to remove unnecessary administration so our case managers can spend more time helping those who need our help. We anticipate the demand for our services will increase in the coming year and we have a plan to meet our staffing needs and to manage the implications of any increase in our workload.

We are working to make sure our young people are able to reach their full potential. We are helping young people make life decisions about education, training and employment – it improves their outcomes and the outcomes of our region.

This plan highlights some of the initiatives we are undertaking in Northland. Most of them couldn’t happen without our community, nongovernment and government groups working with us. As I said at the beginning, now more than ever we need to be working together for Northland.

Clive Manley
Regional Commissioner
for Social Development