Latest news with #Simmonds
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Staff numbers at polytechnics abysmal: minister
By John Gerritsen of RNZ Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds says staff numbers at some polytechnics are so high they are abysmal. Appearing before the Education and Workforce Select Committee to answer questions about the government's Budget decisions for Tertiary Education, Simmonds said institutions' ratio of staff to students was critical for their viability. Claim govt setting up polytechs to fail She said polytechnics had reduced their staff numbers by 8.2% on a headcount basis and about 4.9% on a full-time equivalent basis but their staff to student ratios were still lower than they were in 2016-17. "Those ratios are critical to the viability of an institution. If you're running at a ratio of less than one to 18 for academic staff to students, you are in financial trouble and they are low," she said. Simmonds said a number of polytechnics were "incredibly damaged by the last four or five years under Te Pūkenga". She said they had lost domestic enrolments, failed to rebuild international enrolments quickly, and had not responded quickly to changes. Simmonds said Te Pūkenga should have addressed staff surpluses at loss-making polytechnics more quickly. She said it had not become financially sustainable, even though it recorded a financial surplus last year. Simmonds and Universities Minister Shane Reti insisted government funding for tertiary education was increasing as a result of the Budget. Committee member and Labour Party MP Shanan Halbert said Budget figures showed total tertiary funding would drop $124m in the 2025/26 financial year to $3.79b. Tertiary Education Commission officials said the drop was due to the end of the previous government's temporary, two-year funding boost and moving the fees free policy to the final year of students' study. Simmonds said the government ended equity funding for Māori and Pacific students because it wanted to target extra funding to needs not ethnicity. She said if a Māori student who was dux of their school enrolled in a polytechnic qualification, their enrolment would attract the equity weighting, even though they had no need of additional support, which she said did not make sense. Tertiary Education Commission chief executive Tim Fowler told the committee enrolments had grown so much that institutions were asking for permission to enrol more students this year than they had agreed with the commission in the investment plans that determined their funding. "We've had most of the universities come to us and ask to exceed their investment plan allocation... over 105% this year. In previous years, I think we might have had one in the past decade, so unprecedented levels of enrolments," he said. Fowler said it was the commission's job to balance that growth, favouring government priorities such as STEM subject enrolments and removing funding from under-enrolled courses. "We're continually adjusting in-flight what that investment looks like and where we see areas where there is demand that we want to support we try and move money to it. Where there's areas of under-delivery, we try and take that out as quickly as we possibly can so it doesn't fly back to the centre - we want to reinvest it elsewhere," he said. "The challenge for us this year, there are far fewer areas of under-delivery than there is over-delivery."
Otago Daily Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Simmonds out and about and talking trash in recess week
As regular readers of Southern Say will know, this is a column which likes a cheap pun as much as the next hack. Environment Minister Penny Simmonds making a keynote speech to the Waste Minimisation conference, as she did this week, certainly offers a multitude of possibilities for mischief. However, this was a serious speech by the Invercargill National MP, one which set out much of what she has been doing in a portfolio in which the opposition likes to claim Ms Simmonds' performance has been of diminishing proportions to the needs of the great outdoors. "Over the past year and a-half, I've been focused on delivering the government's priorities for waste, contaminated sites and broader environmental challenges," Ms Simmonds began encouragingly. "We know the waste sector has long-standing issues, but these challenges come with opportunities to improve outcomes for both the natural world and our communities." So far, so green. As, potentially, are changes to replace the Waste Minimisation Act and the Litter Act which the government has recently consulted on: the former law dates from 2008 and the latter from 1979, and the attitudes to and science concerning those issues are much changed and greatly advanced. "The aim is to introduce the new legislation before the next general election," she said. The government was also working on improving recycling, reducing plastics use and was awaiting a report on how to recycle materials which at present cannot be accepted by kerbside collection schemes. Now, some might say "what a load of old rubbish" to that, but consider this. The WasteMINZ conference is a four-day affair with an associated trade expo event — "the flagship event for New Zealand's waste, resource recovery and contaminated land sectors" may sound unnecessarily grandiose, but WasteMINZ has got some game. Here are some numbers to consider, from a report released the previous week into building industry waste from the year 2023. This single source of industrial waste sent 5.25 million tonnes of debris to dumps — over two-thirds of all the waste those tips and landfills received — and of that, 18.5% was recycled. Also, consider that just in Dunedin alone right now are being built a new hospital, regional council headquarters, ACC hub and a radiology service building, and that in the city's hinterland, consent is being sought for mines and transport hubs. Those will generate many thousand of those annual millions of tonnes of debris — much of the recent waste being courtesy of the hospital project and the associated demolition of the former Cadbury factory. That all has to go somewhere, and few would want to see it in rivers, oceans or dumped on wasteland. That is the way we used to do things, as Ms Simmonds knows well given that the Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfills Fund is $20 million of remediation money under her purview. Locally, that fund has put cash into clearing up the Little Tahiti Landfill in Milford Sound, the Ocean Beach Landfill near Bluff and funded planning work ahead of a much-needed purge of the old Kettle Park Landfill in Dunedin. Ms Simmonds told the conference that more help was at hand. Nearly 80% of waste was soil or rubble, and a lot of that was either clean or so slightly contaminated that it could be rinsed and reused rather than dumped. "This contributes to landfill overuse, emissions and high project costs. For these reasons, I am pleased to confirm today that I support the WasteMINZ proposal to fund a national soils management framework," Ms Simmonds told a no-doubt pleased audience. "Ministry for the Environment officials will be working with WasteMINZ to develop a phased approach for addressing these issues. Details are still to be finalised and the sector will be kept updated." So far, so sensible, as was news that the government had established an emergency waste fund. When a disaster such as an earthquake, cyclone or flood strikes, an enormous amount of waste is generated which, by and large, councils have to clean up — often without extra funding. Ms Simmonds touted a standing fund and a simple application process, hopefully avoiding the lengthy delays faced by Christchurch in clearing quake debris or Hawke's Bay in disposing of silt from the cyclonic floods. However, it was not all clean and pristine in Ms Simmonds' wasteful world: she had to skip around the government removing the 2025 deadline to phase out all PVC and polystyrene food and drink packaging — a decision taken to give the industry more time to adopt alternatives. Ms Simmonds also promised to continue to "reduce waste and support recycling innovation" — which sounds good, but which avoids highlighting that the government actually reduced the amount of funds allocated to be spent out of the Waste Management Levy in the May Budget. If you are the opposition, this is trashing the environment to pay for tax cuts; if you are the government, the $30m left after the fund is reduced by 49% will "improve the value of that spending." Time will tell if less really is more. The youth of today The triennial Youth Parliament takes place on July 1 and 2, although the associated programme of supporting events is already in full swing. Every three years, MPs pick a teenager from their electorate or region to be their Youth MP: that young person then gets two days in Wellington taking part in debates, committee hearings and being grilled by a youth press gallery. Having worked in the actual press gallery during a previous Youth Parliament, it's a fun and inspiring event for all concerned. The South's Youth MPs are: Angus Noone (Mark Patterson); Ankita Pilo (Joseph Mooney); Enya O'Donnell (Miles Anderson); Hunter McKay Fairfax Heath (Todd Stephenson); James Watson (Scott Willis); Jomana Mohartram (Francisco Hernandez); Nargis Girhotra (Penny Simmonds); Phoebe Ashdown (Rachel Brooking); Zenah Taha (Ingrid Leary).
Wales Online
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Ellie Simmonds' devastating baby dilemma and split from boyfriend after Strictly
Ellie Simmonds' devastating baby dilemma and split from boyfriend after Strictly The Paralympian addresses the difficult decisions she now faces in a new ITV documentary Simmonds faces a hugely difficult decision on whether or not to have children Former Team GB swimmer Ellie Simmonds has revealed the heartbreaking decision she faces on whether to have children, admitting that she was "just not ready" for the emotional toll of the dilemma. The five-time Paralympic gold medallist, who retired from swimming in 2021, turned 30 in November and is looking to start the next chapter of her life. However, Simmonds - who has achondroplasia, the most common cause of dwarfism - remains uncertain about whether she wants to become a mother or not. She addresses the dilemma in a new ITV documentary - Ellie Simmonds: Should I Have Children? - which airs on ITV at 9pm on Tuesday night and explores the challenges faced by parents who have been told that their child will be born with disabilities. The programme sees Simmonds explore the various options available to her, from sperm donors to egg freezing, as well as adoption, having herself been adopted at two weeks old after being given up by her birth mother. However, the former swimmer, who also starred on Strictly Come Dancing in 2022, has another factor to weigh up in deciding whether to have children, knowing that her achondroplasia will play a significant role in any future decisions about starting a family. "I already know that gene changes led to my dwarfism and if I started a family, there would be a chance that I'd pass it on," she told The Times. "I'm super lucky. I've got the least impaired version of achondroplasia. But there could be complications with the spine, bowing of the legs, which can lead to reduced walking." Article continues below After consulting a clinical geneticist who specialises in achondroplasia, Simmonds has learnt about pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT) – a technique that identifies genetic faults in embryos before they are transferred to the uterus – leaving her with some difficult decisions to make. Should she decide to have a child with a partner of average height, she explains in the programme, the baby would have a 50% chance of having achondroplasia. However, if her partner also had achondroplasia, the likelihood of having an average-sized child decreases to 25%, with a 50% chance of 'single dose' dwarfism and a 25% risk of 'double dose' dwarfism, from which babies do not survive. Additionally, those who undergo PGT also have to commit to having a 'normal' embryo placed back in the uterus, which as Simmonds notes in the documentary, means: "If we did that, no dwarfism baby would be born to a dwarfism couple." She later added that this would be true "in fact, not just a dwarfism baby, but any baby with a disability", leaving her with a heartbreaking dilemma over whether to undergo PGT or not. While doing so would see her avoid a potentially fatal outcome, she would also filter out a disabled child in the process. "I'm involved in dwarf sports and the dwarfism community. I'm so proud to be part of that and to have dwarfism," she said. "It would depend if [the father] was an individual with dwarfism or a non-disabled person. I'd never heard of PGT before now. But now I feel educated. I know it's there for me [if I want it] and to prevent the trauma of a double dose. "I came away from it thinking, 'What can I do to make sure that people with a disability are being brought into this world to have a happy, content and fulfilled life?' We might need a bit more support and I might need a few adaptations around my house, or maybe some hospital appointments, but we're all different and it should be celebrated. "I'm trying to help families and disabled people to feel more content, to feel happy with who they are," she added, before admittting that adoption "is definitely something I'd be up for thinking about in the future". Participating in the documentary proved to be an eye-opener for Simmonds, as she admitted: "Making all these decisions is like digging deep down into your core. I was just not ready for it. "I thought I knew everything about my body, but there was so much I didn't know," the former swimmer continued. "I now understand that as you get older your fertility drops. I know a lot of people who are starting to freeze their eggs, so they have the opportunity to have a child in the future. "That's definitely something that I may do. And a lot of women are now deciding to use a sperm donor and have a child on their own. That's powerful too. "But it's also powerful to understand that you don't have to get married and have children and live happily ever after like in the movies. You've got other options for your life. My indecision is more about being a woman than about my disability." The heartbreaking dilemma comes two years after Simmonds split from her boyfriend of two years, Matt Dean, who she had known since they were both children. While they kept their relationship out of the spotlight, i t was reported in 2023 that they had parted ways, although it was claimed that their break-up was "amicable". Matt had previously been seen cheering on Simmonds during her stint on Strictly a year before their break-up, with the Paralympian revealing that he helped convince her to take part in the show. She told The Sun at the time: "I was like 'shall I, shall I not?' Then I spoke to my other half Matt, and he was like 'go for it Ellie, take that leap of faith, you don't know unless you try.' Article continues below "Now I'm so happy I said yes. As soon as I did we were bouncing around the kitchen like 'yay!' Like little buzzing bees."
Otago Daily Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Simmonds taking charge as Te Pukenga gets whacked
Vendetta is the Italian word for "revenge", and it was used quite a lot by Labour in the House on Tuesday. No, not because its MPs were complaining about the National Party's views of Te Pati Maori (which they were), but because they were complaining about that well-known political mafiosi, Invercargill National MP Penny Simmonds. Now, Ms Simmonds has not got a bitter bone in her body, but so far as Labour was concerned, as she got to her feet to begin the work she has been preparing for for many months — the dismantling of Te Pukenga — Ms Simmonds was some sort of conglomeration of Vito Corleone, Tony Montana and Tony Soprano as she sought retribution for the perceived wrongs done to her. "This plan is Minister for Vocational Education Penny Simmonds' personal vendetta," Shanan Halbert thundered. "This is a terrible move from a minister with a vendetta, with no plan, no funding for vocational education," Rachel Boyack said. Ginny Anderson's contribution was somewhat less on the nose — she accused Ms Simmonds of having "a singular purpose" — but you know that she meant the "V" word. So, what was Labour getting so steamed up with Ms Simmonds about? The Education and Training (Vocational Education and Training System) Amendment Bill basically undoes a huge chunk of work which Labour had done while it was in government, to merge the country's various polytechnics into the mega Te Pukenga organisation. The mega merger was, you may recall, the work of one Chris Hipkins, a man of some prominence in Labour's ranks. The creation of Te Pūkenga had laudable aims, such as streamlining procedures and policies and reducing cost duplication. However, its critics — notably the former Southland Institute of Technology chief executive, one Penny Simmonds — claimed it stripped away local autonomy and punished successful polytechnics by using their better bottom lines to prop up less successful polytechnics. After a brutal gangland war otherwise known as the 2023 election, Don Luxon took control of the mean streets of New Zealand and Capo Simmonds was placed in charge of the vocational education sector, making the woman tasked with making Te Pukenga sleep with the fishes. If that be a vendetta, then so be it. "Te Pūkenga will be referred to as the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology and will remain as a transitional entity for a one-year period before being disestablished by 31 December, 2026, if not before," Ms Simmonds said. "Each polytechnic will be funded independently and will have local governance and management. For most, they will continue operating at their current campuses across the country. Some polytechnics will be established as stand-alone entities; others requiring additional support will be designated members of a federation or merged, with Cabinet considering their options later." And as for why Te Pūkenga had to be offed, Ms Simmonds slated it as being an expensive failure. "Its push to centralise and standardise polytechnics and work-based learning was wrong, and it cost this country dearly." Ms Simmonds will not have been surprised at the level of Labour's ire, although she may have been a touch dismayed given the considerable amount of praise her first salvo at vocational education reform, a revamp of work-based learning, received when it was announced in April. She harked back to those glory days, saying that those changes were just what apprentices, learners and industry had been calling for — decentralised vocational education with training based around the specific needs of industries. "It [the Bill as a whole is] for all those apprentices, trainees and employers involved in work-based learning who've struggled to get support from an overly bureaucratic and remote Te Pūkenga head office in Hamilton," she said. "This redesign is also for the communities up and down the country who've watched on in frustration as their local polytechnics have been stripped of local innovation and control." She probably got most people on side as soon as she mentioned Hamilton. A more measured assessment of the Bill came from Dunedin Green list MP Francisco Hernandez, who did not even come close to using the "V" word, but certainly raised several cogent objections to Ms Simmonds' proposals. "We have no philosophical objection to the idea that there could be thriving, independent vocational institutions; however, this legislation does not establish that," he said. "However, this disestablishment has been severely disruptive to the hundreds of staff around the country who've been let go; to the thousands more that have had to go through job consultations that have rescoped, descoped and unscoped their roles." Mr Hernandez further asserted that the reforms potentially opened a door for asset sales and privatisation. "It's asset sales and privatisation. That's absolutely what's going on. So, we would like to see guardrails against that," he said. "Let's have some support for thriving, independent polytechnics. Let's actually put our money where our mouth is by supporting funding for them and not disestablishing them." Speaking of scrapping things As foreshadowed last week, Parliament did indeed pass Southland National MP Joseph Mooney's novel notice of motion regarding legal training. To clarify, Mr Mooney sought to overturn a regulation that tikanga Maori be a compulsory component of all compulsory legal subjects. He had no objection to tikanga being taught, nor with the NZ Council of Legal Education having acted within its powers to make tikanga a standalone compulsory subject. However, he and the majority on the regulations review committee found that making tikanga a compulsory part of all compulsory subjects was "unusual and unexpected" and should be disallowed. So did a majority of the House, but not without a heap of scorn from the Opposition benches.
Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Bill passes first reading to disestablish Te Pūkenga
Penny Simmonds. Photo: supplied Legislation to disestablish New Zealand's centralised vocational education and training system passed its first reading in Parliament yesterday. "Today, we've taken a major step forward toward a vocational education and training system that works for learners, employers, industries and local communities," Vocational Education and Training Minister Penny Simmonds said. "The Bill, which has passed its first reading, will return decision-making to where it belongs — in the hands of regional polytechnics and industry. "This is a common sense reset that ensures polytechnic education and training is responsive to regional needs and work-based learning for apprentices and trainees is led by the industries that rely on it." The Education and Training (Vocational Education and Training System) Amendment Bill proposes a structural reset of vocational education, focusing on two key priorities: restoring local decision-making for polytechnics, and giving industry greater leadership in standard-setting and work-based learning. Among the key changes in the Bill are: • Disestablishing Te Pūkenga and creating a network of regional polytechnics, which will operate as standalone institutions or within a federation. Te Pūkenga will remain as a transitional entity for one year to manage unallocated programmes and activities. • Replacing Workforce Development Councils with new Industry Skills Boards, effective January 1, 2026. These statutory bodies will be governed primarily by industry representatives and responsible for setting standards, undertaking workforce planning and advising the Tertiary Education Commission on relevant funding matters. • Transferring work-based learning functions from Te Pūkenga to Industry Skills Boards for up to two years, allowing time for new delivery arrangements across polytechnics, private training establishments and Wānanga to be developed. •Amending training levy provisions to enable Industry Skills Boards to levy industry members, subject to industry support. Ms Simmonds said implementation would take up to two years, with the first group of polytechnics and new Industry Skills Boards in place from January 1. — APL
