The Chair will open the meeting and welcome everyone present.
2 Apologies
At the close of
the agenda no apologies had been received.
3 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.
4 Confirmation
of Minutes
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That the Franklin Local Board:
a)
confirm the ordinary minutes of its meeting,
held on Tuesday, 24 November 2020 as true and
correct.
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5 Leave
of Absence
At the close of
the agenda no requests for leave of absence had been received.
6 Acknowledgements
At the close of
the agenda no requests for acknowledgements had been received.
7 Petitions
At the close of
the agenda no requests to present petitions had been received.
8 Deputations
Standing
Order 7.7 provides for deputations. Those applying for deputations are required
to give seven working days notice of subject matter and applications are
approved by the Chairperson of the Franklin Local Board. This means that
details relating to deputations can be included in the published agenda. Total
speaking time per deputation is ten minutes or as resolved by the meeting.
At the close of the agenda no
requests for deputations had been received.
9 Public
Forum
A period of
time (approximately 30 minutes) is set aside for members of the public to
address the meeting on matters within its delegated authority. A maximum of 3
minutes per item is allowed, following which there may be questions from members.
At the close of
the agenda no requests for public forum had been received.
10 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.”
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Franklin Local
Board
01 December
2020
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Review of decision-making policy
File No.: CP2020/17474
Te take mō te
pūrongo
Purpose of the report
1. To
seek input into the review of decision-making policy, particularly the
allocation of decision-making responsibility for non-regulatory activities and
endorse the proposed approach to the long-term plan consultation draft.
Whakarāpopototanga matua
Executive summary
2. Local boards and the Governing Body obtain their decision-making
responsibilities from three sources: statute, delegation and allocation. The
‘Decision-making responsibilities of Auckland Council’s Governing
Body and local boards’ policy provides an overview of these sources and
the types of decisions involved.
3. For non-regulatory activities, the Governing Body is required by
legislation to allocate decision-making responsibilities to either itself or
local boards (these are known as allocations). It is also required to publish
these in the long-term plan and annual plans of the council. The current
allocations are contained in the decision-policy in the current Annual Plan
2020/2021 (Attachment A).
4. The
allocations have been reviewed a few times in the past decade and currently
reflect a consideration by the Governing Body on what is a fair division of
responsibilities and in line with legislative principles.
5. In
recent workshops with local boards, many indicated that the current allocations
are acceptable. However, some also noted that they have concerns about the
application and interpretation of some elements.
6. The
council is committed to keeping the allocations and delegations under active
review. Staff are recommending that a review be undertaken by the Joint Governance
Working Party (JGWP) before the adoption of the long-term plan. The JGWP
currently monitors the progress of the Waiheke pilot and is well placed to make
recommendations on how the findings of the pilot impact the existing
responsibilities that are allocated and delegated to local boards. The JGWP is
also well placed to examine and recommend improvements to other issues within
the current decision-making framework that are raised by local boards.
7. This
report seeks feedback on:
· the
current allocations (decision-making for non-regulatory activities)
· existing
delegations or aspects of regional decisions where a local board may want to
request a delegation
· proposed
approach to the long-term plan consultation – to use the current policy
with minor amendments.
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Ngā tūtohunga
Recommendation/s
That the Franklin Local Board:
a) give
feedback on the allocations and delegations in the decision-making policy.
b) endorse the proposed approach to the long-term plan consultation.
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Horopaki
Context
8. Both
the Governing Body and local boards are responsible and democratically
accountable for the decision-making of Auckland Council. Whether responsibility
for a particular decision rests with the Governing Body or one or more local
boards depends on the nature of the decision.
9. There are three main sources of decision-making responsibilities:
· statutory decision-making responsibilities
· delegation
of decision-making responsibilities
· allocation
of decision-making for non-regulatory activities.
Statutory decision-making responsibilities
10. Statutory
decision-making responsibilities come from legislation and are outlined in the
decision-making for context and clarity only. These are outside the scope of
the review discussed in this report.
Delegation of decision-making responsibilities
11. Delegations
are the transfer of responsibility, function or power from one decision-maker
to another. The decision-maker who delegates the responsibility is responsible
and accountable for the exercise of the delegated responsibility.
12. The
decision-making policy records the delegations from the Governing Body to local
boards. The Governing Body and local boards can also be delegated
decision-making responsibilities from Auckland Transport but there are no
delegations from AT in place at this time.
13. The
existing delegations from the Governing Body to local boards include things
such as:
· giving input into notification decisions for resource consent
applications
· making,
amending and revoking liquor licensing applications under the Sale and Supply
of Alcohol Act 2012
· certain
powers under the Reserves Act 1977 for local reserves including declaring,
classifying, and reclassifying a reserve and proposing the
revocation of reserve status in order to manage the land under the Local
Government Act 2002.
Allocation of decision-making for non-regulatory activities
14. The
Governing Body is required by legislation to allocate decision-making
responsibility for the non-regulatory activities of Auckland Council to either
itself or local boards. The allocation must be in accordance with principles
contained in section 17(2) of the Act which provide as follows:
a) decision-making
responsibility for a non-regulatory activity of the Auckland Council should be
exercised by its local boards unless paragraph (b) applies:
b) decision-making
responsibility for a non-regulatory activity of the Auckland Council should be
exercised by its Governing Body if the nature of the activity is such that
decision-making on an Auckland-wide basis will better promote the well-being of
the communities across Auckland because:
i) the
impact of the decision will extend beyond a single local board area, or
ii) effective
decision-making will require alignment or integration with other decisions that
are the responsibility of the Governing Body, or
iii) the
benefits of a consistent or coordinated approach across Auckland will outweigh
the benefits of reflecting the diverse needs and preferences of the communities
within each local board area.
15. The presumption of local decision-making (unless
there is a case for decision-making on a regional basis) means local boards are
responsible and accountable for a large part of council’s non-regulatory activities.
These activities include parks, community facilities, libraries, community
development programmes and events.
Previous reviews
16. The current allocations have been reviewed and
refined over the years. A comprehensive review in 2015
concluded that the allocations were working well and that there was a growing
understanding and increasing sophistication of how to use them.
17. The review that was done as part of the
Governance Framework Review (GFR) found that the current allocation recommended
an area that local boards could be further empowered in. This led to the
delegation of responsibility for service property optimisation decisions to
local boards.
18. The delegation to local boards for service
property optimisation decisions is currently reflected in the decision-making
policy as a non-regulatory activity that is allocated and not delegated. A
recent review by the legal team has concluded that this requires correction.
This is discussed further below.
19. In
March 2018, the Local Government Commission recommended that the council keeps
the delegations and allocations of functions to local boards under active
review and to consider whether to roll out the Waiheke pilot (or aspects of it)
elsewhere before completion, if it is achieving the desired results. The
council accepted this recommendation and undertook to conduct a review every
three years. The opportunity to update the policy every year as part of the
annual plan is still available.
Tātaritanga me ngā
tohutohu
Analysis and advice
Review 2021
20. Staff
recommend that the JGWP undertakes a review of the decision-making policy in
early 2021.
21. The JGWP
meets bi-monthly to consider governance matters of mutual interest to the
Governing Body and local boards. The JGWP is charged with monitoring the
implementation of the Governance Framework Review recommendations and is
receiving regular reports about the Waiheke pilot. The JGWP does not have
delegated decision-making powers but reports its findings to local boards and
the Governing Body for final decisions.
Draft decision-making policy for consultation
22. For
purposes of the long-term plan public consultation, council is advised to
include drafts of all long-term policies for context.
23. Staff
propose that the current policy (Attachment A) be included in the consultation
materials for context and to reserve any substantive amendments until the review
is complete.
24. The
consultation draft of the decision-making policy can include non-substantive
edits including:
· updates
to Schedule 1 (Regional Parks) to ensure accuracy e.g. inserting macrons,
correcting an erroneous deposited plan number, including Motukorea/Browns
Island in the list of regional parks
· updates
to reflect any delegations that have been given and are yet to be recorded in
the policy
· technical
correction – there is one correction that has been identified (further
below).
25. If
already approved, the Governing Body may also wish to include the proposal to
allocate Rodney drainage districts to the Governing Body. This responsibility
is currently allocated to the Rodney Local Board. This matter is the subject of
a separate report to the Governing Body.
Technical correction: Disposal delegation
26. In 2017,
local boards were given a delegation from the Governing Body to make disposal
decisions. This delegation was made as part of a series of agreements and
actions that the Governing Body committed to following the Governance Framework
Review (resolution number GB/2017/118). The delegation is limited to the use of
the ‘optimisation of service assets’ policy.
27. The
optimisation of service assets policy, which sets out the purpose and
principles for optimisation of underperforming or underutilised local service
property, was adopted by the Finance and Performance Committee in March 2015
(resolution number FIN/2015/16). A key element is that sale proceeds from
underperforming service property are locally reinvested to advance approved
projects or activities on a cost neutral basis. The delegation to local boards
was designed to enable local boards to make the final decisions on local asset
disposal and reinvestment, providing all policy criteria have been met.
28. In the
current decision-making policy, this responsibility is shown in the
allocations. Staff have considered that this is an error that needs correcting.
This responsibility is derived from statutory responsibilities that rest with
the Governing Body and, therefore, is not available for allocation but it can
be delegated, which has indeed been done in Governing Body resolution number
GB/2017/118.
29. Decisions
to keep or dispose of council assets directly impact on the council’s
‘capacity to provide, or ensure the provision of, services and facilities
(including local activities)’ as well as the ability to manage revenue,
expenses, assets, liabilities, investments and general financial dealings
prudently. These are responsibilities of the Governing Body that provides
useful context for the delegation to local boards.
30. Disposal
decisions, if made under delegated authority, must be consistent with the
long-term plan in the sense that they are expressly or implicitly authorised by
that plan. This does not mean that every purchase or disposal decision must be
specifically identified in the long-term plan. An example of this is agreeing
to use the optimisation of service assets policy to finance or contribute
towards a strategic outcome identified in the long-term plan.
Tauākī whakaaweawe
āhuarangi
Climate impact statement
31. This
report relates to a policy and does not have any immediate or long-term climate
impacts.
Ngā whakaaweawe me
ngā tirohanga a te rōpū Kaunihera
Council group impacts and views
32. Council
departments will be involved in the review of the policy and had been invited
to give feedback on issues that may not be working well.
33. Feedback
received to date from some departments reinforces the recommendation for
guidance notes to aid interpretation of the allocations in the decision-making
policy.
Ngā whakaaweawe
ā-rohe me ngā tirohanga a te poari ā-rohe
Local impacts and local board views
34. It is not
anticipated that matters arising from this report will have a significant local
impact.
35. Local
boards’ views and preferences are being sought through this report. Staff
have gathered some views informally in workshop discussions.
36. The following
list of issues have been compiled from the informal discussions with individual
local boards. Local boards may wish to consider the following elements in their
feedback relating to the review:
· integrate
findings and progressions from the Governance Framework Review
· provide
clarity on the decision-making policy through guidance notes and other
supporting material
· agree
a streamlined dispute process which can be used by local boards when there is a
dispute over the allocation and/or its interpretation
· consider
whether the allocations require further clarity on those responsibilities
delegated by the Governing Body to council-controlled organisations, noting
that the purpose of the policy is to ensure Aucklanders know who is responsible
for what
· consider
and provide resolution or guidance on issues for which there may be a conflict
or disagreement between staff and elected member interpretation. These issues
include but are not limited to:
o placemaking
o procurement
o filming
on parks (linked to permitting)
o land
newly acquired – responsibility over purpose and location
o street
environment and town centre activity
o approach
to regional vs. multi-board vs. local
o stormwater
decisions
o naming
of parks not allocated to the local board but that are located in a local
board’s area
· consider
whether decision-making responsibilities over some allocation elements can be
shared instead of adopting a binary approach to them, e.g. local drainage
reserves
· consider
if more delegations can be given to local boards, including but not limited to:
o area
plans
o other
areas of Governing Body - the perception here is that the scale of
responsibilities that sit with Governing Body is broad and not possible to
ensure political oversight and monitoring over everything
· consider
role of mana whenua and the Independent Māori Statutory Board – are
there decision-making responsibilities that should be delegated to them?
· consider
areas where local boards want to see more support and empowerment, including:
o optimisation
of service property
o local
economic development.
Tauākī whakaaweawe
Māori
Māori impact statement
37. There are
no decisions being sought in this report that will have a specific impact on
Māori.
Ngā ritenga
ā-pūtea
Financial implications
38. There are
no financial implications directly arising from the information contained in
this report.
Ngā raru tūpono me
ngā whakamaurutanga
Risks and mitigations
39. This
report seeks feedback to inform the review of a policy that will not be adopted
until June 2021. As such, there is very little risk associated with not
providing feedback on time.
40. Local
board views, if any, will be shared with the Governing Body in mid-December and
then sent to the JGWP for their review in early 2021.
Ngā koringa ā-muri
Next steps
41. Feedback
from local boards will be presented to the Governing Body in mid-December 2020.
42. At its
mid-December 2020 meeting, the Governing Body will be:
· deciding
the approach to the long-term plan consultation; the draft decision-making
policy agreed at this meeting will be reviewed in early 2021
· confirming
the referral to the JGWP to undertake a review, consider and respond to issues
to be raised by local boards.
43. Staff
will be preparing guidance notes to aid the interpretation of the
decision-making policy. The JGWP will oversee this task.
Ngā tāpirihanga
Attachments
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No.
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Title
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Page
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a⇩
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Decision-making responsibilities of the governing body
and local boards
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15
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Ngā kaihaina
Signatories
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Author
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Shirley Coutts - Principal Advisor - Governance
Strategy
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Authorisers
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Louise Mason - GM Local Board Services
Carol McKenzie-Rex - Local Area Manager
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