Tolley Anne: Education (Polytechnics) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Tolley Anne: Education (Polytechnics) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:656;Page:5943] 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Tertiary Education) 
: 
 I move  
That the Education (Polytechnics) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 Later I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Education and Science Committee that the committee report finally to the House on or before 13 November 2009 and that the committee have authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions and during any evening on a day in which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 187 and 190(1)(b) and (c). The purpose of this motion is to bring forward the report back of the bill to ensure its enactment before Christmas. This will give existing polytechnic councils at least 4 months to transition towards the new governance arrangements which will come into effect on 1 May 2010. 
This Government is committed to building a stronger and more responsive tertiary education system. A key priority is to strengthen the quality of provision and to enhance provider accountability. As a critical part of the tertiary education system it is important that the polytechnic sector in New Zealand is a financially viable sector that is capable of providing high-quality vocational education and training opportunities for New Zealanders. This Government is committed to polytechnics and institutes of technology. We understand the role they play in communities as economic and education hubs. We want to give them governance arrangements that are workable and allow polytechnic councils to get on with the business of serving their students and communities. At the same time this Government does not have the desire or the money to continue to provide the $416 million of special assistance funding that the sector has received since 2005-06. 
The first objective of the bill is to improve the governance capability and effectiveness of polytechnic councils. The bill establishes new governance arrangements for polytechnics with the aim of building the capability of councils. There are four main features of the new governance arrangements. Firstly the bill emphasises the importance of good governance. Appointments to councils will be made on the basis of relevant skills and experience especially governance experience. New individual duties are placed on council members that highlight the primary obligation of members to act in the interests of the polytechnic as a whole. The Government’s expectation that these duties will be complied with is demonstrated through the new power conferred on the Minister for Tertiary Education to remove council members for just cause. Just cause includes breaches of any of the collective or individual duties of members. 
Secondly the size of polytechnic councils is reduced from a membership that can currently range from 12 to 20 members to eight only. Provision has been made for four ministerial appointees: the chief executive and one member each from the student body the academic board and the community served by the polytechnic. This size strikes a balance between a council that represents the key parties involved in a polytechnic and one that is workable. 
Thirdly the Minister for Tertiary Education will appoint the chair and deputy chair of each polytechnic council. They will be chosen from among the four ministerial appointees and the successful community nominee. Having the Minister make these appointments is consistent with the Crown Entities Act 2004. It does not mean however that the chair and deputy chair will be subject to ministerial direction. As council members they must comply with their duty to act in the interest of the polytechnic. 
Fourthly the bill provides for collaborative governance arrangements such as enabling individuals to sit on more than one polytechnic council and allowing two or more councils to combine. These arrangements are intended to assist with the recruitment of suitable candidates for council membership especially in rural areas. They also create a more flexible legal framework that councils can take advantage of when looking to develop innovative responses to governance issues as they arise in future. 
The second objective of the bill is to allow the Crown to more effectively respond to the risks posed by polytechnics with educational or financial performance issues. The bill amends the Education Act 1989 to create a more flexible intervention framework for the polytechnic sector—one that allows for a gradually escalating series of responses to situations of risk. Three new interventions are created. Subject to appropriate legal constraints the chief executive of the Tertiary Education Commission will be able to require a polytechnic council to obtain specialist help or prepare a performance improvement plan. The Minister for Tertiary Education will be able to appoint a Crown manager to undertake specified council functions. It is intended that the Crown manager will perform a similar role to the limited statutory manager in the compulsory schooling sector. The bill also empowers the Secretary for Education to issue specific criteria for assessing the level of risk to the operation and long-term viability of polytechnics. 
The bill contains a number of miscellaneous amendments. Firstly this Government is concerned about the number of young people who are leaving school without adequate qualifications. The bill amends the Education Act 1989 to allow the Manukau Institute of Technology to establish a tertiary education high school which will operate from the beginning of 2010. Intended as a trial project the tertiary education high school will offer a course of study to students in years 11 to 13 who have been identified by their school as unlikely to succeed in a conventional school setting but who are motivated to succeed in tertiary education and whose parents are supportive. Secondly under the Education Act 1989 each individual polytechnic is required to have an academic board. The bill enables two or more separate polytechnic councils to establish a combined academic board. This provides councils keen on developing closer working relationships another option to consider and improves administrative efficiency. Finally the bill includes minor technical amendments to the tertiary education parts of the Education Act 1989. These amendments will update the Act by removing redundant provisions. I commend the bill to the House.