Helping Canterbury to recover
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Helping Canterbury to recover from the earthquakes provides us with challenges and opportunities. We are committed to playing our part in the recovery and rebuilding of Christchurch and helping Cantabrians to get their city back on its feet.
Providing temporary accommodation
Canterbury Earthquake Temporary Accommodation Service
The Canterbury Earthquake Temporary Accommodation Service (CETAS) is an essential part of the Government’s earthquake recovery programme. It contributes to the rebuilding and economic and social recovery of Canterbury.
We worked in partnership with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to deliver CETAS. The service provides financial assistance, temporary accommodation assistance and a support service to households affected by the earthquakes.
Key highlights for the year included the following.
- The Rawhiti Domain Temporary Accommodation Village opened in July 2012 providing 20 new government-supported temporary units, bringing the total number of units to 83.
- Partially furnished units were trialled at the Rawhiti and Linwood temporary accommodation villages.
- The CETAS website launched an accommodation portal where landlords can list their property or room on the website at no cost. The portal enables people to search for rooms and other properties, and to contact landlords directly before they contact CETAS for temporary accommodation assistance.
More than 350 households were temporarily housed in the three government-supported villages.
Integration of government accommodation
Christchurch Integrated Government Accommodation project
The Property Management Centre of Expertise has a functional leadership role to co-ordinate agencies’ needs in the Christchurch central business district (CBD). The Christchurch Integrated Government Accommodation (CIGA) project physically co-locates government agencies so they can work together, deliver joined-up results and support the revitalisation and rebuilding of the Christchurch CBD.
Durham Street Front of House initiative
In February 2013, we opened a purpose-built, New Zealand government- branded site in Christchurch. The Durham Street Front of House initiative features a new cross-agency design, shared facilities and services. The benefits are expected to include:
- reduced administration costs due to collaborative service provision
- the ability to test services across multiple government agencies
- easier online transactions for clients, resulting in an increased shift to the digital environment
- better experiences for clients, with seamless services from multiple agencies in one place.
The Durham Street site co-locates Inland Revenue, StudyLink, Work and Income, and Child, Youth and Family.
Joined-up employment services
Canterbury Skills and Employment Hub
The Canterbury Skills and Employment Hub opened in mid-November 2012. The Hub is a partnership between the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Building, Innovation and Employment, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), and the Tertiary Education Commission.
The Hub aims to ensure New Zealanders get first access to jobs in the rebuilding of Christchurch. Employers can use the Hub’s website to upload vacancies and check for suitable candidates.
The Hub has been well received. Growing numbers of employers and jobseekers are registering.
As at 30 June 2013, 1,092 employers were registered with the Canterbury Skills and Employment Hub.
Addressing the needs of vulnerable clients
In 2012/2013, we ensured that clients living in Christchurch’s red zone knew about the support available to them, by working alongside CERA, CETAS and the Housing New Zealand Corporation. We contacted more than 300 clients, working with the Earthquake Support Co-ordinator Service and advocating on behalf of clients to the Housing New Zealand Corporation.
We also worked with CERA, the New Zealand Red Cross, the Christchurch City Council and the Canterbury District Health Board on the Community Wellbeing Planning Group. We provided information on the needs of vulnerable clients. We also worked with power companies as part of the Winter Resilience campaign.
Providing funding support
Canterbury Social Support Fund
The Canterbury Social Support Fund gives continued social services support for the people of Canterbury recovering from the Canterbury earthquakes. In 2012/2013, we made approximately $2 million of contestable funding available.
The fund also provided discretionary funding for organisations to strengthen their community-based support for families.
More than 16,000 individuals and families were supported by the Canterbury Social Support Fund.
