A service working behind the scenes helping hundreds of new residents find their way in a country where they may not speak the language is about to disappear, and be replaced by a $91 million computer programme.

Immigration New Zealand's Tauranga Settlement Support co-ordinator Carole Andersen.

Immigration New Zealand's Tauranga Settlement Support co-ordinator Carole Andersen's job will disappear on June 30. She says replacing the local network of people on the ground with the internet based Face to Face service will overlook the very people who most need the help the referral service can provide.

Before her job disappears Carole is arranging things so the network of agencies and home help and advice she's built up over the last eight years can carry on functioning.

Carole also appealed to Tauranga City Council's City Vision Committee this week to take steps to fill some of the gaps she is concerned about.

She wants the council to extend the learning centre in the city library to include some job search preparation, CV and cover letter writing to target migrant job seekers.

She wants the council to explore the Neighbours' Day Aotearoa concept of turning streets into neighbourhoods welcoming newcomers for safety and networking for all.

And she wants support for a proposed community award for assistance and hospitality toward welcoming migrant individuals and or families.

'To be honest we are not quite sure what the impact is going to be mainly because we don't know the details of the new Face to Face,” says Carole.

Tenders closed on Tuesday, and it depends what service is going to win the tender or pick it up. Settlement Support will cease as a brand.

'We think the new Face to Face service will be there just to take details and email them off, depending on what sort of query,” says Carole. 'But we don't think it's going to be handled in the same way that we've been able to.”

Her example of the sort of person likely to be overlooked by the $91 million computer programme is a Thai woman who had been brought out as a bride and discarded. She was also unwell physically and not able to work.

'She was a resident but she had no idea she could claim the benefit to keep her going for a little while,” says Carole. 'I went and saw her because she didn't drive. She was learning to drive, and I ended up taking her to a doctor, arranging an appointment with work and income and I went along to support her in that.

'She'd had operations in Thailand, so she couldn't just go back and say this is not feeling right, that kind of thing. When you're not feeling that confident about speaking English you are most likely to go to someone who speaks your own language.

'So there's all those off the wall type things you don't pick up in the magazine or a report or format.”

The woman became part of the English language ethnic advisory committee, is now working and physically she's kept on improving, says Carole.

It's the networks that pick up the people who need help, says Carole. Settlement Support in Tauranga sees about 300-350 people a year, sometime individuals sometimes whole families. Immigrants with poor English and lacking internet skills will be most disadvantaged says Carole.

'In June before I finish I intend to create a discussion forum for many of the organisations that have assisted in this, those that still wish to keep in contact will come,” says Carole.

'I intend everybody to introduce themselves say what they do and what their interest is. I did this when I first started in 2006 and it really blew people away as to what other people did, what else was happening in our area.”

She's hoping the likes of Citizens Advice, English Language Partners, Careers NZ will continue to network informally after the computer programme takes over.

'If they maintain contact with other people in a network in their training it is strictly ‘you don't get involved', but if there is a problem - and a lot of them do have, you take them to Carole.

'That's not going to be there any more, but if they know the expertise that is available in the area then they will hopefully have someone to send them to or refer them to.

'Referral and information, that is what we were set up for, but really we've gone beyond that.”