TERMS
OF REFERENCE
Responsibilities
The Chief Executive Review Committee is established to review
the Chief Executive’s performance and to recommend to the Governing Body the
terms and conditions of the CE’s employment including any performance agreement
measures and annual remuneration.
Powers
All powers necessary to perform the Committee’s
responsibilities.
Except:
(a) powers that the Governing Body
cannot delegate or has retained to itself (see Governing Body responsibilities)
(b) where the Committee’s responsibility is limited
to making a recommendation only
EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC – WHO NEEDS TO LEAVE THE MEETING
Members of the public
All members of the public must leave the meeting when the
public are excluded unless a resolution is passed permitting a person to remain
because their knowledge will assist the meeting.
Those who are not members of the public
General principles
·
Access to confidential information is managed on a “need to know”
basis where access to the information is required in order for a person to
perform their role.
·
Those who are not members of the meeting (see list below) must
leave unless it is necessary for them to remain and hear the debate in order to
perform their role.
·
Those who need to be present for one confidential item can remain
only for that item and must leave the room for any other confidential items.
·
In any case of doubt, the ruling of the chairperson is final.
Members of the meeting
·
The members of the meeting remain (all Governing Body members if
the meeting is a Governing Body meeting; all members of the committee if the
meeting is a committee meeting).
·
However, standing orders require that a councillor who has a
pecuniary conflict of interest leave the room.
·
All councillors have the right to attend any meeting of a committee
and councillors who are not members of a committee may remain, subject to any
limitations in standing orders.
Staff
·
All staff supporting the meeting (administrative, senior
management) remain.
·
Only staff who need to because of their role may remain.
Local Board members
·
Local Board members who need to hear the matter being discussed
in order to perform their role may remain. This will usually be if the matter
affects, or is relevant to, a particular Local Board area.
Independent Maori Statutory Board (IMSB)
·
Members of the IMSB who are appointed members of the meeting
remain.
·
Other IMSB members and IMSB staff remain if this is necessary in
order for them to perform their role.
Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs)
Representatives of a CCO can remain only if
required to for discussion of a matter relevant to the CCO.
An apology from
Cr WB Cashmore has been received.
2 Declaration of Interest
Members are
reminded of the need to be vigilant to stand aside from decision making when a
conflict arises between their role as a member and any private or other
external interest they might have.
3 Confirmation of Minutes
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That the Chief Executive Officer Review Committee:
a)
confirm the ordinary minutes of its meeting,
held on Tuesday, 17 March 2015 as a true and correct
record.
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4 Petitions
At the close of
the agenda no requests to present petitions had been received.
5 Public Input
Standing Order
3.21 provides for Public Input. Applications to speak must be made to the
Committee Secretary, in writing, no later than two (2) working days
prior to the meeting and must include the subject matter. The meeting
Chairperson has the discretion to decline any application that does not meet
the requirements of Standing Orders. A maximum of thirty (30) minutes
is allocated to the period for public input with five (5) minutes
speaking time for each speaker.
At the close of
the agenda no requests for public input had been received.
6 Local Board Input
Standing Order
3.22 provides for Local Board Input. The Chairperson (or nominee of that
Chairperson) is entitled to speak for up to five (5) minutes during this
time. The Chairperson of the Local Board (or nominee of that Chairperson)
shall wherever practical, give two (2) days notice of their wish to
speak. The meeting Chairperson has the discretion to decline any application
that does not meet the requirements of Standing Orders.
This right is
in addition to the right under Standing Order 3.9.14 to speak to matters on the
agenda.
At the close of
the agenda no requests for local board input had been received.
7 Extraordinary Business
Section 46A(7)
of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (as amended)
states:
“An item that is
not on the agenda for a meeting may be dealt with at that meeting if-
(a) The local authority by resolution so decides; and
(b) The presiding member explains at the meeting, at a time
when it is open to the public,-
(i) The
reason why the item is not on the agenda; and
(ii) The reason why the discussion of the item cannot be
delayed until a subsequent meeting.”
Section 46A(7A)
of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (as amended)
states:
“Where an item
is not on the agenda for a meeting,-
(a) That item may be discussed at that meeting if-
(i) That item is a minor matter relating to the general business
of the local authority; and
(ii) the presiding member explains at the beginning of the
meeting, at a time when it is open to the public, that the item will be
discussed at the meeting; but
(b) no resolution, decision or recommendation may be made in
respect of that item except to refer that item to a subsequent meeting of the
local authority for further discussion.”
8 Notices of Motion
At the close of
the agenda no requests for notices of motion had been received.
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Chief
Executive Officer Review Committee
19 May 2015
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Chief
Executive's Performance Discussion
File No.: CP2015/08625
Purpose
1. To discuss the performance of
the organisation with the Chief Executive.
Executive
Summary
2. The Chief Executive Review
Committee last met on 17 March 2015. Since then, the substantive issues that
committee members should consider in their discussion with the Chief Executive
include:
i. the
conclusion of the Long-term Plan (LTP) and the performance of the organisation
in supporting elected members in their LTP deliberations
ii. the
recruitment of Executive Leadership Team members and the reorganisation of the
Operations Division
iii. amending
the Chief Executive’s financial and non-financial delegations
iv. the
proactive publication of council information
v. the
results of the latest staff engagement survey.
3. The next Chief Executive Review
Committee meeting is scheduled for 18 August 2015.
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Recommendation
That the Chief Executive
Officer Review Committee:
a) discuss the performance of the
Chief Executive and council organisation.
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Comments
4. The Chief Executive Review
Committee last met on 17 March 2015. Since then, the substantive issues that
committee members should consider in their discussion with the Chief Executive
include:
Long-term Plan
5. Public
consultation on the 10-year budget closed on 16 March 2015. A record number of
written submissions were received (27,383 compared to 10,084 for the last LTP),
along with additional feedback through events and social media
channels. The new approach taken to engage with Aucklanders provides a sound
platform to build on for future engagement activity, with feedback generally
very positive about the level and quality of engagement achieved.
6. Staff reviewed
all feedback received and developed a series of reports summarising the
feedback to brief elected members ahead of final decisions being made on 7 and
8 May 2015. The final decisions represent the culmination of a significant
programme of work undertaken by elected members and staff over the last 16
months. Staff will now progress outstanding reporting requirements,
finalise the LTP and support local boards to finalise their agreements and LTP
budgets. An audit process will also be completed before the final LTP,
including 21 local board agreements, is considered by the Governing Body for
adoption on 25 June 2015.
ELT and reorganisation of the
Operations Division
7. The Chief Executive has
previously advised committee members of a number of changes to the Executive
Leadership Team (ELT) as a result of early departures and retirements:
· Sue
Tindal joined council as the Chief Finance Officer in late March 2015.
· Jim
Quinn has been appointed to the role of Chief Strategy Officer and commenced on
18 May 2015. Jim was previously the Chief Executive of KiwiRail.
· Phil
Wilson has been appointed Director, Governance and will start his new role in
June 2015. Phil has a long background in local government at a senior level.
· Final
interviews for the Director People and Capability role have been completed.
Confirmation of the successful applicant will be made shortly.
8. In
addition, ELT has been exploring how it works together and what it wants to
achieve. It has become clear that in order to take the organisation forward and
deliver on our plans for Auckland, ELT needs to be rebalanced. Auckland’s
growth and development is ramping up, and the Operations Division is central to
council’s response. To ensure an effective delivery, the Operations Division
will include the creation of three new divisions from existing departments.
These divisions are Community Services, Regulatory Services, and Infrastructure
and Environmental Services. Each division will be led by a director who will
report to the Chief Operating Officer. The three new directors will become part
of the ELT, helping to ensure that council’s leadership team accurately
reflects the workload and direction of the organisation. These changes will be
cost neutral in the first instance. In the medium to long term, cost savings
will be delivered and contribute to the already agreed cost efficiency
programme.
Chief Executive Officer
Financial Delegations
9. Committee members have
previously considered amending the Chief Executive’s delegations and have taken
a progressive and thoughtful approach in assessing the options. The proposal
was discussed in greater detail during the councillor retreat in February 2015.
The proposal will be considered as part of an overall package of Mayoral
initiatives designed to create more space for elected members to consider
higher strategic issues, and will be presented to the Governing Body as part of
the 28 May 2015 agenda.
10. The proposal is to increase the
Chief Executive’s delegated financial authority from $7.5 million to $20
million, and the joint Chief Executive and Mayor or Committee Chair delegation
to $22.5 million. At this stage the financial delegations affecting local
boards will remain unchanged.
11. Committee members have requested
information about the delegations of the former councils. Based on available
information we have identified that there was a wide variety of differing
levels of delegation across the former councils. These range from $0.5 million
for Waitakere City Council, $4 million for Auckland City Council and $5 million
for Manukau City Council. In contrast, the Chief Executive financial
delegations for Auckland Regional Council and Rodney District Council were up
to the budget provided for in their respective Annual Plans. We do not have
information for Franklin District Council, Papakura District Council or North
Shore City Council.
12. Other local authorities that
support limits up to the approved annual plan budget include Dunedin City
Council, Wellington City Council, Wellington Regional Council and Tauranga City
Council.
13. There are differing levels across
the central government state sector. The NZ Transport Agency Chief Executive
has delegated authority up to $100 million, MBIE $10 million for opex and $50
million for capex, ACC health services up to $50 million and ACC non-health
services up to $10 million.
Table One:
Chief Executive Financial Delegations (Public Sector Organisations)
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Chief Executive Financial Limit
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Waitakere
City Council
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$0.5m
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Auckland
City Council
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$4m
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Manukau
City Council
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$5m
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Auckland
Council
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$7.5m
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MBIE (Opex)
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$10m
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ACC
(Non-health)
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$10m
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MBIE (Capex)
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$50m
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ACC
(Health)
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$50m
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NZ
Transport Agency
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$100m
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Auckland
Regional Council
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Up to budget provided for in Annual Plan
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Rodney
District Council
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Up to budget provided for in Annual Plan
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Tauranga
City Council
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Up to budget provided for in Annual Plan
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Wellington
City Council
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Up to budget provided for in Annual Plan
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Dunedin
City Council
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Up to budget provided for in Annual Plan
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14. The Governing Body can amend the
Chief Executive’s financial delegations by adopting an amended delegation
instrument (Schedule One to the Chief Executive’s delegation). The Tender and
Procurement Committee’s Terms of Reference would need to be amended to reflect
the revised delegation limits.
Proactive publication of
council information
15. In a move to strengthen
Aucklanders’ trust and confidence in the council organisation, we are
proactively publishing information about activities that is of public interest.
The type of information we will be publishing includes, but is not limited to:
· Auckland
Council Group staff numbers (as included in the most recent annual report)
· Explaining
council’s finances: debt, efficiency savings and annual average rates increases
· Contracts
council has awarded and the total spend with vendors (every six months)
· Progress
updates on the NewCore project.
16. Publishing information of this
type is recognised as public sector best practice in making information more
accessible to Aucklanders. It also provides greater levels of openness and
transparency on how the council works and strengthens Aucklanders’ trust in
local government.
17. The information is available in a
new section on council’s website called “More about the Council” where it will
be updated regularly to ensure the content remains relevant and current.
Staff engagement survey results
18. Auckland Council continues to
focus on strengthening employee engagement as a key metric in the People
quadrant of our balanced scorecard. Participation in the survey remains high,
with 79 percent of our people completing the 2015 survey. The overall
engagement score is now 69 percent, an increase of 1 percent on last year’s
survey results. This is the fourth consecutive year in which the survey has
shown improvements in engagement. The industry standard, for New Zealand local
government and private sector companies of a comparable size, is 71 percent.
19. Three clear themes have been
identified for action planning: Understanding the big picture; Valuing our
People; and Customer focus. Team results will be released this month with all
teams encouraged to complete action planning over the next two months. ELT will
continue monitor progress to ensure action as a result of the survey.
Consideration
Local
Board views and implications
20. The Chief Executive engages with
Local Board Chairs through the Local Board Chairs Forum and their feedback is
taken into consideration.
Māori
impact statement
21. Māori outcomes are
influenced through the delivery of council outputs and the effectiveness of
council’s operational capability and capacity. The Chief Executive’s 2014/15
performance objectives include reporting on the Māori responsiveness
framework targets achieved.
Attachments
There are no attachments for
this report.
Signatories
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Author
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Michael Quinn - Executive Officer
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Authorisers
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Stephen Town - Chief Executive
Alan Brookbanks – People and Capability Director
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