TAFM cabinet papers now available
The TAFM (Transparency, Accountability and Financial Management) Cabinet papers have now been released by the Minister of Local Government. The papers outline the Government's plans for amending the Local Government Act 2002 in order to streamline long term planning and improve transparency and accountability. The Minister intends to have a bill ready for its first reading before parliament rises for Christmas and we have been assured that there will be a full select committee process to enable councils and others to express their opinions.
The Cabinet papers are notable for the lack of any reference to mandatory referenda, which the Minister had earlier flagged, and for any prescriptive approach towards what he calls 'core' services. Other changes include: a requirement that all councils publish a 'pre-election' report, which will summarise financial statements for the three years prior to each election; a requirement that councils provide more information on their key infrastructural assets as well as a requirement that national standards be developed for those infrastructural services. In addition, a number of changes have been made to streamline the long term council community plans (LTCCP). These include changing the name to 'long term plan' (LTP); incorporating community outcomes into the long term planning process (instead of a separate process) as well as removing a number of policies, such as the development contributions policy, from the LTP process.
Local Government New Zealand and the Society of Local Government Managers will be working alongside each other to develop sector submissions for the select committee as soon as the consultation phase begins. Copies of the Cabinet papers can be found at the following link:
This information is now live on the DIA website
It is also linked to from the DIA homepage 'Features' box, as well as the Local Government Act 2002 and Local Government Policy web pages.
