31 October 2022
Reference 2223-0645
D Towell
[FYI request #20720 email] Tēnā koe D Towell
Thank you for writing to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) on 1 October 2022,
to request the following information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
1. When does the 'Victoria Street Precinct trial' end?
2. How is the success, or otherwise, of the trial being measured? Please provide any documents
relating to this.
3. Is a staff survey going to be conducted with the staff working at both sites, to get their
feedback? If so, when and in what format? If not, why not?
4. How many desk noise barriers were removed from the MBIE premises at 162 and 167b Victoria
Street West?
5. What is the current location of the desk noise barriers that were removed?
6. What is the value of the noise barriers removed from the premises? Either current value, or the
value when purchased.
7. How many staff and/or MBIE groups have complained, informally or formally, about the removal
of the desk noise barriers?
8. Please provide copies of any documents relating to reports/surveys or equivalent made by sound
engineers (or equivalent profession) relating to the effectiveness of the desk noise barriers.
(Company names to be removed if required to allow release).
9. Please provide copies of any documents relating to reports/surveys or equivalent made by sound
engineers (or equivalent profession) relating to the acoustic measures now in place at 162 and
167b. (Company names to be removed if required to allow release).
10. How many private security guards are employed at 162 Victoria Street West?
11. How many private security guards are employed at 167b Victoria Street West?
12. What is the cost to MBIE for the private security guards employed at 162 and 167b Victoria
Street West?
13. How many security guards (equivalent FTE) have been employed to work on floors at 162 and
167b Victoria Street West accessible only by card-accessed lifts and doors?
14. What is the purpose of the security guards employed to work on the secure card-only accessed
floors at 162 and 167b Victoria Street West?
My responses to each part of your request are below.
Question 1
Victoria St Precinct trial
Question 2
Outcomes of the trial
Question 3
Staff surveys
MBIE1376631
The Auckland Consolidation Project provides MBIE a precinct for Auckland Central based MBIE functions.
Leases have been secured for the ground floor and level 4 of 162 Victoria Street West and levels 3, 4, 5
and 8 of 167B Victoria Street West for initial terms of six to nine years. This project has not been
considered as a trial, rather it has enabled the centralisation of MBIE services within two buildings in
Victoria Street West in line with the MBIE Property Strategy.
Feedback has been gathered on an ongoing basis via regular catch ups with the change champions and
people leaders, lessons learnt sessions, the embed phase, and feedback from the governance group.
The lessons learnt sessions with people leaders and change champions have focused on understanding
how staff have found the experience. A three month check-in after the ‘go live’ date was also carried out
with these stakeholders. There are no staff surveys planned in addition to the feedback received.
Question 4
Removal of desk noise barriers
Question 5
Current location of desk noise barriers
Question 6
Value of removed desk noise barriers
Question 7
Complaints about the removal of desk noise barriers
Question 8
Advice from sound engineers relating to effectiveness of desk noise barriers
Question 9
Advice from sound engineers relating to current acoustic measures
No noise barriers have been removed from the Victoria Street West sites. The items removed from the
Victoria Street West sites were workstation dividers. These are not designed to deliver any acoustic
performance or to serve as noise barriers.
12 curved and 90 1200mm x 400mm straight dividers have been removed from the Victoria Street West
premises. The cost of these dividers when they were purchased in 2019 was $265 each and they are
currently in storage at MBIE’s storage facility.
We have recorded eight email complaints or queries about the removal of workstation dividers. Further
comments about the dividers have been captured during the lessons learnt sessions, but these are not
attributed to individuals so we can’t confirm numbers or if these were raised by the same people. The
dividers have also been discussed during inductions and floor walks, but no numbers are available on
these ad hoc verbal conversations. There was no requirement for acoustic testing specifically for the
workstation dividers. However, as part of the fit-out process at the two Victoria St sites acoustic testing
was undertaken by Norman Disney & Young. A copy of the two acoustic testing reports have been
provided as
Appendix A.
Question 10
Number of security guards employed at 162 Victoria St
Question 11
Number of security guards at employed 167B Victoria St
Question 12
Cost of security guards employed at Victoria Street Question 13
Number of security guards employed to work on floors accessible by card-accessed lifts;
and
Question 14
Purpose of security guards on card-only floors
We have interpreted
Questions 10 and
11 as being for the number of security guards at our
Victoria Street West sites.
When we design our work locations, we consider the threats and vulnerabilities for each site in order to
protect our people and members of the public who interact with our organisation. While the security
measures we install at our sites does vary from site to site, it’s about ensuring people’s intentional or
unwitting actions don’t result in a security breach, and that our security is difficult for a non-employee to
breach and/or cause harm to our people and our organisation. Security Guards are an example of one of
the security measures we use to achieve this. Note we do not publicly disclose details about the security
measures operating at our sites.
Accordingly, I am withholding all information in response to
Questions 10, 11, 13 and
14 in full, as well as
the site’s floor plans contained in the appendix, under section 6(d) of the OIA, where the release of
information would be likely to endanger the safety of any person, and section 9(2)(g)(ii) of the OIA, to
maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through measures to protect officers and employees of an
organisation from improper pressure or harassment.
I am also withholding the response to
Question 12 - costs of the security services at the Victoria Street
West sites under section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA, to protect information where making available of the
information would belikely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who
supplied or who is subject of the information.
In line with section 9(1) of the OIA, where we have withheld information using the grounds in section 9(2)
of the OIA, we have only done so when the reasons for withholding outweigh the public interest in the
information’s release.
Thank you again for writing to MBIE. Under section 28(3) of the OIA, you have the right to refer our
response to an Ombudsman for review. You can do find out more about this by emailing
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Adrian Regnault
Group Manager, Workplace
Ngā Pou o te Taumaru
