Dear Claire

Thank you for your email dated 24 April 2019 requesting all correspondence and information relating to the hiring of Lucy Revill to solicit views from young people on a recent WCC plan, specifically what hiring process was applied, and whether this was a competitive process that was open to the public

Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to respond as soon as possible, but no later than 23 May 2019

The reference number for your request is IRO-8375.

Please contact us if you have any further questions.

Kind regards

Jessica Hall
Assurance Services Coordinator  | Wellington City Council
| W Wellington.govt.nz | |

The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

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Dear Ms. Robinson,

 

Thank you for your email to the Council received on 24 April 2019 in which
you requested information regarding the Planning for Growth project and
the use of social media.

 

Under section 13 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings
Act 1987, the Council is required to provide you with a decision on your
request within 20 working days.

 

I can advise that your request is granted and for no cost.

 

I anticipate the information requested will be available by Thursday 30
May 2019.

 

Should you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.

 

Kind regards,

Ian.

 

 

Ian Hunter
Assurance Advisor | Complaints and Information Assurance | Governance and
Assurance Directorate | Wellington City Council
P 04 803 8315 | M 021 227 8315 |
E [1][email address] | W [2]Wellington.govt.nz | [3]Facebook|
[4]Twitter

 

References

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Dear Claire,

 

Thank you for your email to the Council received on 24 April 2019 in which
you requested information in respect of the Council engaging Lucy Revill
in the Planning for Growth project. As you asked a number of questions I
will address these in the order of your email.

 

1) “I would like to receive all correspondence and information relating to
the hiring of Lucy Revill to solicit views from young people on a recent
WCC plan. I would specifically like to know what hiring process was
applied, and whether this was a competitive process that was open to the
public?”

 

With respect to Lucy Revill being engaged by the Council in relation to
the Planning for Growth project, I can advise that the Council used the
services of an external agency, in this case McCready Bale Media Ltd
(MBM). The brief given to MBM was to:

 

o Get people who see their future in Wellington to give their views on
the City’s growth,
o Encourage diverse groups of Wellingtonian’s to participate in the
growth discussion, and
o A strong focus on young people.

 

In this case, the engagement process with Lucy Revill was managed directly
by MBM and the only correspondence held by the Council in respect of the
process is attached.

 

Under section 7 (2)(a) of the Local Government Official Information and
Meetings Act 1987, some information has been redacted as it contains
personal information about private individuals.

 

If you disagree with the decision to redact the documents, you can apply
in writing to the Ombudsman to have the decision investigated and reviewed
under section 27 (3) of the Local Government Official Information and
Meetings Act 1987.

 

With respect to the hiring process, the Council is working with the agency
MBM who are one of the agencies on the ‘All of Government’ panel.  Of all
the agencies on this panel we met with three, and proceeded with MBM on
the basis of their ability to reach young people – a key objective of the
Planning for Growth engagement strategy.    

 

2) “Information on how much taxpayers will be compensating Ms Revill for
this work?”

 

Under section 7(2)(b)(ii) of the Local Government Official Information and
Meetings Act 1987 this information is withheld as it would be likely
unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who
supplied it or who is the subject of the information.

 

If you disagree with the decision to withhold this information, you can
apply in writing to the Ombudsman to have the decision investigated and
reviewed under section 27 (3) of the Local Government Official Information
and Meetings Act 1987.

 

I can advise however that the social media promotion component of the
overall campaign including Lucy Revill’s involvement, speaker series event
promotion, animated Facebook advertisement, and Facebook lead generation
survey, had a budget of $7,786.00.

 

3) “Information on what other social media ‘influencers’ were considered
and/or approached for this role?”

 

If I have understood your question correctly then I can advise the Council
has been looking at ways to extend its audience reach to younger
Wellingtonians, part of which has included working with MBM.

 

With respect to the Planning for Growth project, the Council considers
this is a once in a generation opportunity to shape our future city.

 

The project spans ten years as we prepare for 50,000 to 80,000 more people
living in Wellington, and as such it is important that we reach and engage
all parts of the community in this important conversation. The outcome of
the engagement will lead to a full review of the District Plan which is
central to how and where the city will grow.

 

The engagement involves a whole range of approaches such as; attending
community meetings and events, media and social media campaigns, direct
engagement and networking with stakeholders and interest groups and paid
marketing campaigns. 

 

One part of that campaign is to find ways to connect with younger
audiences which we are doing in a variety of ways. One of those involves
working with blogger and journalist, Lucy Revill. Within 24 hours of going
live, Lucy’s blog and social media posts had reached over 2,000 people.

 

Using social media influencers was one aspect of their proposal. When
selecting which social media influencer to engage with MBM presented a
range of people, and the decision was made based on their social media
reach with young people, and having a genuine interest in Wellington
related topics.

 

4) Whether the fact that Ms Revill resides outside of Wellington was
factored into the hiring process?”

 

At the time of the appointment Ms Revill was resident in Wellington.
Whilst the Council is aware that Ms Revill has recently re-located, we do
not consider this changes her interest in this issue or her social media
reach with younger Wellingtonians.

 

Should you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.

 

Kind regards,

Ian.

 

 

Ian Hunter
Assurance Advisor | Complaints and Information Assurance | Governance and
Assurance Directorate | Wellington City Council
P 04 803 8315 | M 021 227 8315 |
E [1][email address] | W [2]Wellington.govt.nz | [3]Facebook|
[4]Twitter

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://wellington.govt.nz/
3. https://www.facebook.com/wellingtoncityc...
4. http://twitter.com/wgtncc