Council operations
Unlike some systems internationally New Zealand local government has considerable discretion when it comes to designing their organisational and decision-making structures.
While territorial councils are required to have a mayor (elected by the community at large) and regional councils a chair (elected by councillors) other arrangements will vary.
Territorial authorities can have between six and 30 members (including the mayor) while regional councils between six and 14 members. The average number of members per council is 11.
In terms of political organisation councils tend to have either a number of standing committees or a portfolio system. They may also contain a number of sub-municipal bodies which bring decision-making closer to communities and/or locate a number of services in Council Controlled Organisations (CCO).
Standing committees - standing committees enable a council to delegate decision-making on issues to smaller groups of elected members who have the opportunity to investigate issues in more depth and in consultation with citizens. Practice varies, however, in relation to both the level of authority and the nature of the responsibilities delegated to committees. Some committees have decision-making authority while others are purely advisory.
Portfolio systems - as the number of elected members on councils has reduced there has also been a move away from standing committees to portfolio systems where individual councillors take a leadership role in relation to specific policy issues, such as transport or the arts.
Sub-municipal bodies - just as councils delegate responsibilities to standing committees to enable them to take a more holistic and strategic view, they also have the ability to delegate responsibilities to sub-municipal bodies, such as community boards, and local boards in Auckland. Once again practice varies between councils which devolve significant decision-making powers to others which limit their community boards to an advisory role.
Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) - CCOs are public companies owned by one or more local authority (or to which a local authority has the right to appoint more than half the directors). Councils that operate trading activities will almost always incorporate them as CCOs which puts the activity at arms-length from the council itself. The new Auckland Council has seven CCOs to run a wide range of activities from transport and water to economic development and events.
The question of how to organise themselves, and whether or not to devolve or delegate decision-making responsibilities, is one that must be addressed by new councils immediately after their election and is complied in each council's ‘governance statement'. Governance statements can usually be accessed from council websites.
Local government staff
Local authorities employ approximately 25,000 staff representing a broad range of disciplines, from arborists and dog control officers to policy analysts. Each council, however, directly employs only one staff member, their chief executive, who employs the remainder of the staff on behalf of the council.
Staff numbers vary considerably according to the size of the local authority. As an example Auckland Council employs more than 8000 staff while Kaikoura District Council operates with under 30 paid employees.
Chief executives are employed on fixed term contracts limited to five years, although the term can be extended for another two years following a formal performance review. The positions must be re-advertised at the end of the negotiated period.
Typically a chief executive will work with a management team, however, the organisation structures will vary according to the size of the council and the preferences of the chief executive.
Council services tend to be provided by internal departments, stand alone business units or council controlled organisations. Decisions about how services will be operated are usually made by the chief executive in consultation with his or her council. The decision to form a CCO, however, can only be made after consultation with the community.
In recent years there has been a growth in the use of shared services and outsourcing. Shared services occur where two or more councils see opportunities for either enhancing service quality or reducing cost by establishing a jointly owned organisation to provide a service, thus increasing economies of scale. For example, Wellington City Council, Hutt City Council and Upper Hutt City council have formed a company, called Capacity, to manage their drinking water networks.
In the Bay of Plenty all the local authorities are participating in the Bay of Plenty Local Authority Shared Services project which provides a range of shared services from information technology to procurement.
There has also been a movement towards agreements which result in larger councils providing specialised services on behalf of its smaller neighbours. Timaru District Council, for example, provides regulatory services, such as health inspections, for its smaller neighbours Waimate and Mackenzie District Councils.
