Assignment question
Suppose the Auckland Council is writing a public transport policy for the city.
The Council has identified an area of high deprivation that has poor public transport options at present. Most people commute by car and the walking and cycling options are limited.
As part of its draft Public Transport Policy, the Council proposes to increase the number of bus routes serving this area. A new large bus centre and ‘park and ride’ will act as a transport hub. The park and ride service will enable people with cars to park and catch the bus to work and other places.
The Council has identified a number of sites for the transport hub. The preferred site is close to the motorway; however, it is also right next door to a primary school.
The Council has the draft Public Transport Policy out for public consultation.
Write your assignment in a public health submission format arguing why the increased bus services/transport hub should or should not go ahead, analysing it from a health/wellbeing perspective and equity perspective.
Remember to make recommendations. Consider how the policy could be improved.

Ensure you include a cover letter as well.
Make the essay from your personal perspective.
Think about aspects from the Local to Global.

Word limit: 1500 words (excluding references and cover letter). Please work within the word limit (you will be penalised for being significantly under or over). Please put your word count (excluding references and cover letter) on your assignment.

Marks: This assessment is worth 30% of the final grade.

Mark allocation:

Marks will be given for:
• Answering the question!!!
• Including a cover letter and executive summary
• Structure of the submission – Remember your assignment is to be in the form of a submission not an academic essay. You will be marked down if it is not in a submission format
• Including the relevant points in the ‘Making a Submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee.’ Also refer to the ‘Submission checklist’ document under your assignment 2 resources.
• Content
• Making recommendations
• Also, refer to the Assignment grading guide on Cecil to give guidance on the general points that we consider when marking if essays are an A, B, C etc grade.

Referencing: Use references throughout. The common form of referencing for submissions is footnotes. For this assignment we are happy for you to use either footnotes or the Vancouver or APA style of referencing.

Essay guidance:
Remember this is not an academic essay.

Use the format outlined in the ‘Making a Submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee document’ (see assignment 2 resources below) for your assignment.

Use the Policy submission lecture, readings, Policy Submission Tutorial group work, examples, and assignment resources to help in making a good submission and structure/format.

1. Executive Summary

This should cover the following points:

• Who you are
• BRIEFLY explain to the policy-makers your approach to health, and therefore why this policy is important for wellbeing
• BRIEF statement of your general position on the policy area, whether you support or oppose the proposed measures and BRIEFLY state your main reason
• Summarise in bullet points your major recommendation/s from the body of your submission (limit yourself to three or less).

Suggested word allocation: no more than 500 words
2. Body of the submission

This should be organised in numbered paragraphs, so that the policy-makers can refer to parts of your submission in their discussion, and in their response to you. Consider starting a section with the objective or policy statement you are planning to discuss, followed by a discussion of the evidence for why you think it should be supported, or changed, and then conclude with a recommendation about that policy.

Consider the following points:
• The policy makers know all about the policy, and have probably got a good handle on the internal government documents that they should be using to underpin it. Therefore, unless the policy contradicts higher strategic documents, there is little point in describing these internal documents, or the policy itself in your submission.
• Consider your audience! This is not an academic essay, so your points need to be very clear and easy to follow by lay people. Use references from the peer-reviewed literature to support any claims you make, and avoid emotive language.
• Recommendations should be practical, relevant to the purpose of the policy, and realistic.
Body of submission: suggest approximately 1000 words

Assignment 2 Resources
1. Making a Submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee. 2012. Download from http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/about-parliament/get-involved/submission/00CLOOCHvYrSaySubmission1/how-to-make-a-submission
This is a guide for people on making submissions on proposed legislation but the recommended format is frequently used for submissions on draft policy, submissions on Resource Management Act applications and other submissions.
Use the format outlined in the ‘Making a Submission’ document for your assignment.
2. The Submission lecture (18/9/2013) powerpoint will be uploaded – provides an overview of submissions, how policy becomes law, making submisisons and other ways to influence policy etc.
3. Policy submission checklist
Policy submission checklist 1
Information to include Comments
Heading Who the submission is addressed to
Full title of the bill, inquiry, strategy, plan etc
Submitter Who this submission is from (individual or organisation you are representing), position and contact details
Do you wish to appear before a committee? Statement on whether you (and others) wish to appear before the select committee, council committee etc to speak in support of your submission
*Organisation aims If applicable, brief details on the submitter’s organisation such as its vision, objectives or goals; membership; structure
Consultation State if you have consulted, who has been consulted, and how much support you have for the submission
Note: sometimes some of this information is included in a covering letter rather than in the body of the submission
* In this assignment we do not need to include organisation aims, because we represent ourselves (a concerned member of the society).
Policy submission checklist 2

Information to include Comments
General position statement Statement of your general position on the bill/act/plan etc, whether you support or oppose the proposed measure and give your reasons
Detailed comments Having stated you general position, make more detailed comments, recommendations, wording changes etc
An executive summary Very important to summarise key points and recommendations
Some people may only read some of the submissions, or only the executive summaries

Content of submission – 5 basic principles checklist

Principle Comments
Relevant If the submission is not relevant to the issue it may not be considered
Clear Logical order and development of arguments
Use meaningful headings, text broken down into paragraphs
Numbered paragraphs can be useful as it enables comments to be easily referred to
The structure of the bill, strategy, plan etc can be a good way to organise your submission
If doesn’t flow or is jumbled then it will lose impact
Concise Simple, direct, avoid too much jargon
Submissions can be too long and overly complex
Accurate Include all relevant information, reference, check facts
Errors will greatly reduce your credibility
Conclusion Restate recommendations in a conclusion or an executive summary at
beginning
4. Lots of examples of submissions online. Suggest looking at the Auckland Regional Public Health Services submission webpage as a starting point. http://www.arphs.govt.nz/about/submissions