Our consulting team works across a wide range of clients in the public sector.
Recent assignments include:
Water Services Reform
Wellington Local Authorities
Working on behalf of the nine Chief Executives of the Wellington councils we are acting as the Project Director for the councils’ response to the Government's Local Water Done Well policy for water services delivery. This involves working at a variety of levels from mayors and councillors to CEOs, general managers and staff to develop a new model for water services delivery in the Wellington region. The role provides a critical connection across the councils to ensure they are effectively engaging and responding to the policy. This work has included review of policy, provision of advice, extensive workshops, and engagement with Iwi, local government elected members, Department of Internal Affairs, and other stakeholders.
Wellington Waste Minimisation Roadmap
Wellington City Council
We worked with SLR Consulting to undertake a strategic review of the current and future challenges for Wellington’s waste management and minimisation. Following the review, we then developed the Wellington City Waste Minimisation Roadmap. This roadmap outlines a 30-year strategy to minimise waste and a programme of work to deliver on this. The roadmap has been adopted by Wellington City and spans a range of interventions, including behaviour change, service and infrastructure delivery, advocacy, partnerships and regulation.
Waste Futures Programme
Dunedin City Council
Working with the Council’s Waste and Environmental Service Group, we have helped to scope, design and deliver the Waste Futures project to consider the optimal future waste management model for Dunedin. This is a high profile and high-risk project given the urgency to determine a solution due to the imminent closure of the Green Island Landfill, high stakeholder interest and a rapidly evolving waste context. Our support has helped to scope the optimal project approach, ensure executive and stakeholder support, procure and manage necessary consultancy input and land the outcomes with decision makers. The approach has based on the principles of the Better Business Case process and our support has included quality assurance of process, outputs and agreement to the outcomes. Major workstreams have included the development of business cases for the future operating model; development of the Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE) for the consenting of the Smooth Hill landfill site, and AEE for the re-consent of the Green Island landfill.
Shaping Future Dunedin Transport
Dunedin City Council / Waka Kotahi / Otago Regional Council
We have helped to lead, coordinate and deliver a Better Business Case process to respond to the changing needs of central Dunedin driven by the planned new $1.5bn Dunedin Hospital, investment by University of Otago, waterfront redevelopment, and central city revitalisation works. As joint client programme manager of phase one this project, and of the Connecting Dunedin partnership, Dougal List helped develop a collaborative and innovative approach to consider the future transport needs of Dunedin. The outcomes were fully endorsed by all partners and have led investment and commitment to the subsequent phase of work and programme delivery.
Connecting Dunedin
Dunedin City Council / Waka Kotahi / Otago Regional Council
Dougal List was the Programme Director for the Connecting Dunedin transport programme for over three years. This included working across the three partners of Dunedin City Council, Waka Kotahi and Otago Regional Council to align the programme, engagement processes, workstreams and governance. The governance group included both senior executives and local politicians.
Bus Priority Action Plan
Greater Wellington Regional Council and Wellington City Council
We led the process, coordinated and delivered a joint Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) and Wellington City Council (WCC) project to develop an action plan that will improve bus priority on the key commuter transport corridors in Wellington. This included establishment of a joint project team comprising staff from GWRC, WCC, the New Zealand Transport Agency, and several transport communications and design consultancies working as sub-contractors under our direction. Whilst the primary objective of the assignment was the delivery of an action plan, our critical role was to build and lead a diverse team to collaboratively develop the plan. This assignment was politically sensitive, had high public visibility and was occurring in the midst of the local body election period. Successful delivery required tact, nuance and political nous.
City Streets
Let’s Get Wellington Moving
Scott Consulting have provided project management and strategic transport and urban development advice to coordinate and support the delivery of the City Streets indicative business case as part of the wider Let’s Get Wellington Moving programme. This multi-party programme and business case built upon the Bus Priority Action Plan by integrating this work into the wider LGWM programme. The role required the coordination of a wide range of technical experts and management of multiple stakeholder organisations and people to gain alignment on the direction and outcomes of the business case within a highly sensitive political and public context.
Stakeholder and engagement refresh: He Mahi Rau Rika
Otago Regional Council
We worked with Otago Regional Council (ORC) to review and update their Significance, Engagement and Māori Participation Policy as well as internal practice model. This assignment involved undertaking a range of interviews and discussions with various internal and external stakeholders to understand the gaps and opportunities in existing practice as well as a review of best practice models and policy. Based upon this review we then developed the refreshed ORC Significance, Engagement and Māori Participation Policy, named ‘He Mahi Rau Rika’ as well as a new internal practice plan to support and guide internal change. We are currently supporting ORC to work through testing this new way of working with stakeholders and to develop internal capacity and capability.
Programme coordination, secretariat services and administrative support
The Scott Consulting team are extremely good at organising, coordinating, keeping things on track and getting things done. We can often provide a spare pair of hands when chaos requires order, and the team have skills in all aspects of programme management from procurement, contract and budget management through to stakeholder engagement and secretariat services.
Scott Consulting has supported Kāinga Ora in the role of Commercial Coordinator for the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund project. This project is providing government funding for bulk infrastructure that will enable medium-term housing outcomes in areas of need.
We have also provided project support at the Ministry of Health, KiwiBuild, the Provincial Development Unit and assisted with a review of the Government’s Jobs for Nature initiative.
Strategy & operating model reviews
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
We have supported groups within MBIE that have been through significant change, and which led national functions through a period of reform. We have undertaken reviews to clarify the role and value proposition of several branches and are providing support to develop branch strategies that identify the functions required to deliver on this value. We led a process to co-design the structure, capability and operating model that supports the strategies.
Local Government strategy and operating model reviews
Whakatāne District Council & Grey District Council
We have conducted reviews of the current model for delivery of the Whakatāne and Grey District Councils’ strategy and operating models to ensure that they are fit for purpose and will meet the Councils’ needs now and into the future.
The reviews encompassed all aspects of each Council’s enabling functions. This included asset and financial management, governance, leadership, project and programme management, corporate services and human resources, strategy and planning, and the strategic competence of each function.
The reviews identified possible alternatives to the current arrangements and proposed an outline implementation plan for the preferred approach, we have subsequently been engaged by both Councils to assist with the implementation of the preferred approach.
In Whakatāne this comprised ongoing support to the Chief Executive through the subsequent change process including interim in-line support in tier two roles whilst permanent staff were recruited. At the Grey District Council, we provided support to the Chief Executive through the change process by establishing a project team to implement the changes required and the provision of governance oversight of this team.
Policy advice
New Zealand Treasury & the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
We have provided senior policy advice support to Treasury and MBIE in the areas of housing and urban development, COVID-19 economic supports, immigration, Managed Isolation and Quarantine, and small business policy.
Functional reviews
Ministry of Education
We have completed three reviews for the Ministry of Education that provided independent advice on its communications and engagement function, the national network planning and delivery function, and the enabling functions within the Early Learning and Student Achievement Group. All of the reviews provided an independent assessment of the current state performance of the function against best practice and the needs of the organisation, identified and evaluated a range of options for improving the performance of the function, and provided the Ministry with recommendations and an outline implementation plan for transitioning to a best practice approach.
Review of the Local Government Commission, Department of Internal Affairs
We reviewed the Local Government Commission to understand the needs of the sector now and in the future in terms of the functions of the Commission, and the extent to which the Commission has been effective in meeting these needs. The review identified alternative, more effective ways for the Commission to support the needs of the sector.
National Ambulance Sector Office Review, Ministry of Health & ACC
We undertook a review of the structure and functions of the National Ambulance Sector Office to ensure the office was fit for purpose and well placed to meet organisational needs now and into the future. As part of the review, we provided organisational design options and recommendations for non-structural change.
Wellington Regional Hospital Travel Action Plan
Greater Wellington Regional Council and Capital Coast District Health Board
Working with Greater Wellington Regional Council, Capital and Coast District Health Board, Wellington City Council, Waka Kotahi and a range of user stakeholder groups (including union reps), Scott Consulting led the coordination and development of a travel behaviour change single stage business case (SSBC) and action plan. This is involved working with a wide range of internal staffing groups, detailed analysis of customer needs and insights, risk management, and wide consideration and testing of potential actions. This process brought together and built positive working relationships between stakeholders and enabled funding and delivery commitments from all of the SSBC partners.
Once the business case and action plan were complete Scott Consulting provided coordination and secretariat services to the coordination group for the pre-implementation phase of the action plan.
Development of a needs-based parking policy
Capital and Coast District Health Board
Working with management, staff, and unions we assisted the DHB to develop a new staff parking policy that aligned with the Travel Action Plan. This involved a review of domestic and international best practice, running stakeholder workshops and developing a policy that was fit for the varied and complex needs of DHB staff.
Play Streets – developing and testing guidance material
Waka Kotahi & Sport NZ
Scott Consulting worked with Waka Kotahi, Sport NZ, numerous local authorities, Regional Sports Trusts and community stakeholders to develop guidance for councils to support Play Streets. This involved the initial development of draft guidelines which were then tested by seven local authorities over a six-month period. We coordinated the pilot phase, completed a report with recommendations for finalising the guidance, then developed the final guidance ready for adoption into the New Zealand Guide for Temporary Traffic Management.