Courts Minister welcomes new way of working in Auckland
Tuesday 31 January 2012, 2:47PM
By Chester Borrows
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Courts Minister Chester Borrows congratulated Ministry of Justice staff today, following the successful launch of a regional way of working across district courts in New Zealand’s most populous region.
From today, services offered at each of the six district courts in the region – North Shore, Waitakere, Auckland, Manukau, Pukekohe and Papakura – will be managed regionally to ensure better service delivery at the local level.
The shift to the new way of working follows extensive consultation with staff, the judiciary and court users, and has been rolled out against a backdrop of business-as-usual activities at the affected courts.
"Auckland is by far our busiest region so it’s been a great effort by court staff to get ready to go live today with the new system.
"I saw fit-for-purpose workplaces, well designed processes and staff who could tell me what a good day meant for them in terms of quality and productivity. There were clear indications that the change process has been well managed,” he said.
Mr Borrows stressed that the new way of working did not change the services offered at each court. He said that the only difference court users should notice is more efficient services, with the new systems and processes making things consistent, aligned, and easier to access.
“Consolidating these systems is a significant change to the way we manage our courts behind the scenes. They are a key part of ongoing efforts to modernise the way we deliver services in the Auckland region and around the country.”
“The benefits of taking a regional approach to managing resources and workloads are clear. The recent centralising of the management of Family Court hearings scheduled for one day or more, has reduced waiting times for those cases from 19-35 weeks to just nine weeks,” Mr Borrows said.
“The public can expect an enhanced service, with quicker timeframes, and easier access to that service.”