Update - Wednesday 12 August 2020 - #2

COVID-19 Local Government Response Unit main page

At midday today, the Auckland region (Auckland Council area) moved to Alert Level 3 for 3 days until midnight on Friday 14 August. The rest of New Zealand moved to Alert Level 2.

New Health Order requirements

The Government has amended the Health Order to include a requirement for businesses to display the Government’s contact tracer QR codes. Businesses will have a week to comply with this requirement.

Masks are also mandated for those on flights out of Auckland Airport.

COVID-19 Response Preparedness

The Prime Minister’s announcements today noted that one of the new COVID-19 cases had recently visited Rotorua.

This is a reminder that while Auckland is under Alert Level 3, the rest of New Zealand remains at Alert Level 2.

It is important we remain prepared should other regions need to step up Alert Levels.

We encourage councils to continue to promote best practice within your communities for good hand hygiene, cough etiquette and to support people to keep a diary of activities through displaying the contact tracing QR codes. You may find posters to support these messages here: https://covid19.govt.nz/updates-and-resources/posters/

Guidance on council services under COVID-19 Alert Levels

The most up-to-date guidance on council services and operations across the COVID-19 Alert Levels can be found on the COVID-19 Local Government Response Unit webpage.

In the Prime Minister’s updates you will have noted messaging about the use of masks. Currently, the Government encourages those in Auckland to use a mask when accessing essential services. For the rest of the country, we advise their use when in a place where social distancing is difficult.

We will work with the All of Government COVID-19 team to assess whether our guidance needs to be updated to reflect the use of masks and will update you should this Guidance need to be updated. In the interim, the COVID-19 webpage has updated guidance on masks her.

The COVID-19 webpage has been updated to include an overview of restrictions for Auckland. You can also find an overview of all the Alert Levels on the COVID-19 Government website.

Solid Waste

The solid waste working group held a number of initial discussions today, including with the commercial operators. The intention is that normal collections will continue.

Operating of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) will be at the discretion of the local authority concerned.

We will continue to update you on this as we progress this work.

Local government legislative amendments remain in place

On 23 June 2020 the Government issued the Epidemic Preparedness (COVID-19) Notice 2020 Renewal Notice 2020 (the Renewal Notice). This Renewal Notice extends the Epidemic Preparedness (COVID-19) Notice 2020 (the Principal Notice) to 24 September 2020.

As we have noted in previous updates to you, a number of amendments relevant to local government remain available to you during this time, including:

The amendments to enable council meetings via audio or visual link to meet quorum requirements regardless of Council Standing Orders.
The provisions enabling council meetings to be open to the public through online access and to post meeting agendas, reports and minutes on council websites rather than physical locations.
New members of Council can continue to make their statutory declaration (oath of office) via audio or audio-visual link.
Rates rebate applicants can complete the statutory declaration requirement via audio or visual link.
The Order-in-Council mechanism for making further changes to by-election timing and provisions enabling local authority chief executives to delay the commencement of by-election timeframes remain available.

Some of the temporary COVID-19 related legislative amendments have specified repeal dates that are not tied to the Epidemic Notice being in force. Those relevant to local government include:

Amendments to provide more flexibility in the special consultative procedure process if urgent decisions relating to the COVID-19 response are needed – remains in force until 1 October 2020.
Amendments to the definition of public notice in a number of Acts that place a “reasonably practicable” caveat on the requirements for inclusion in a newspaper –remain in force until 1 November 2020.
The extensions providing for bylaws that would otherwise be revoked by section 160A of the Local Government Act 2002 or section 58 of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 to continue in force until 30 June 2021 - remains in force until 1 July 2021.

Further to the above, the Covid-19 Response (Further Management Measures) Legislation Bill (no2) has been passed, giving effect to a two-month extension for local authorities to prepare their annual reports if required;

Under this legislation, the new dates for local authorities to meet reporting timeframes are 30 November 2020 for Council Controlled Organisations and 31 December 2020 for Councils. The extension will be repealed 1 February 2021.

Amendments to the Resource Management Act to allow for RMA hearings to be held by audio visual link, video and certain documents to be made available online have also been made permanent and the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 is now in force and is being operationalised by the EPA and MfE.

The Ministry is beginning to process applications for referred projects and seeking decisions from the Minister for the Environment. Information of the application process is located here on the Ministry for the Environment website.

The governance working group continues to monitor this legislation and what support local government may need to meet requirements in the face of COVID-19.

MSD Connected Service

On Monday, the Ministry of Social Development launched a new service, Connected.govt.nz, to assist workers, employers and job seekers navigate all of the available COVID recovery programmes and assistance.

The website is supported by a free phone line, 0800 264 737 and MSD have launched 35 physical Connected locations around the country.

Connected.govt.nz is a great starting point for finding out about any of the wide range of employment, education and training services available.

Other useful Resources

The All of Government communications team will be updating the Unite Against Covid digital channels, including boosted social media posts, Radio and TV information, and the website www.covid19.govt.nz with the following key messages for people in the area of Auckland.

You may find posters to support the key messages on the COVID-19 Government website.

In July the Government set out the “Stamp it Out” framework for responding to new cases of community transmission, should these arise.

We have re-attached a set of key messages and an A3 on strategy that you may find useful to support you in conversations with your communities.

Foreign nationals in need of assistance can check their eligibility and apply online at the red cross website.