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Whau Local
Board
02 December
2020
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10-year
Budget 2021-2031 consultation
File No.: CP2020/18118
Te take mō te
pūrongo
Purpose of the report
1. To
approve local consultation content as part of the 10-year
Budget 2021-2031 process, along with a local engagement event.
2. To
provide input on regional consultation content for the 10-year Budget
2021-2031.
Whakarāpopototanga matua
Executive summary
3. For each
financial year, Auckland Council must have a local board agreement that is
agreed between the Governing Body and the local board, for each local board
area. Local board agreements set out local board priorities and the local
activities to be provided, and together the 21 local board agreements form a
section of either the Long-term Plan (referred to as the 10-year Budget) or
Annual Budget for that year.
4. Auckland
Council will be consulting on both local and regional content as part of the
10-year Budget 2021-2031 consultation. This is planned to take place from 15
February – 15 March 2021.
5. This
report seeks approval from the local board for local consultation content. It
also seeks approval of a Have Your Say event to be held in the local board area
to give Aucklanders an opportunity to provide face-to-face feedback during the
consultation period.
6. This
report also seeks the views of the local board on priority regional topics to
be included in the 10-year Budget 2021-2031 consultation. Potential topics
include climate change, infrastructure needed for housing and growth, community
investment and funding.
7. The
Governing Body and local boards will approve regional and local items
respectively for consultation by 9 December 2020. The regional and local
consultation items will then be incorporated into the 10-year Budget
consultation document and supporting information, which is planned to be
adopted by the Governing Body on 10 February 2021.
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Ngā tūtohunga
Recommendation/s
That the Whau Local Board:
a) approve
local consultation document content (Attachment A) and local supporting
information content (Attachment B) for inclusion in the 10-year Budget
2021-2031 consultation material
b) delegate
authority to the local board Chair to approve any changes required to
finalise the local consultation document and supporting information content
for the Whau Local Board for the 10-year Budget 2021-2031
c) agree
to hold one Have your Say event during the consultation period and specify
the date, time and location for that event
d) delegate
authority to the local board Chair to approve any changes required to the Have
Your Say event
e) delegate
to the following elected members and staff the power and responsibility to hear
from the public through “spoken (or New Zealand sign language)
interaction” in relation to
the local board agreement at the council’s public engagement events
during the consultation period for the 10-year Budget 2021-2031:
i) local
board members and chairperson
ii) General
Manager Local Board Services, Local Area Manager, Local Board Senior Advisor,
Local Board Advisor, Local Board Engagement Advisor
iii) any
additional staff approved by the General Manager Local Board Services or the
Group Chief Financial Officer
f) provide feedback on the
Mayoral proposal and potential regional consultation topics for the 10-year
Budget 2021-2031.
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Horopaki
Context
8. For each
financial year, Auckland Council must have a local board agreement that is agreed
between the Governing Body and the local board for each local board area.
9. Local
board agreements set out (among other things) how the council will, in the year
to which the agreement relates, reflect the priorities and preferences in the
local board’s plan in respect of the local activities to be provided in
the local board area.
10. Content relating to
each local board agreement must be included in the 10-year
Budget 2021-2031 consultation document.
11. Public consultation
on the budget is planned to take place from 15 February – 15 March 2021.
12. Aucklanders will be
able to provide feedback during the consultation process through a variety of
channels which include face-to-face (for spoken and New Zealand sign language
interaction), written and social media. A contingency plan will be developed
for the event of a change to COVID-19 alert levels.
Tātaritanga me ngā
tohutohu
Analysis and advice
13. Local
boards held workshops during October and November 2020 to determine their proposed
priorities for their 2021/2022 local board agreement. Each local board is now
requested to approve its local consultation document and supporting information
content for consultation, as attached as Attachment A and B.
14. Should changes be
required to the local consultation content during the document production, they
will be provided to the local board chair for approval.
15. Any new local
Business Improvement District (BID) targeted rates must also be consulted on
before they can be implemented. Local boards are therefore also requested to
approve any new proposals for consultation.
16. Aucklanders who
wish to have their views on the proposed content of the local board agreement
2021/2022 and 10-year Budget 2021-2031 considered by Auckland Council should be
provided a reasonable opportunity to present those views in a manner and format
that is appropriate to the preferences and needs of those persons.
17. The special
consultative procedure requires the council to provide an opportunity for
Aucklanders to present their views to the council in a manner that enables
“spoken (or New Zealand sign language) interaction” between the
person and the council’s decision-makers, or their official delegates.
The recommended Have Your Say events, along with the recommended delegation,
provide for this spoken interaction.
18. It
is recommended that the Whau Local Board hold one event in the local board area
during the consultation period.
19. There will also be
online information available and the opportunity to submit written or digital
feedback. Note that the proposed date for the Have Your Say event will be
checked with Ward Councillor to ensure they are able to attend.
20. The consultation
period does not begin for a couple of months. If circumstances change between
now and the consultation period requiring any changes to the approved Have Your
Say event these will be provided to the local board chair for approval. A
contingency plan will be developed for any changes to COVID-19 alert
levels.
Regional priorities for the 10-year
Budget 2021-2031
21. The Finance and
Performance Committee is considering potential regional topics for the 10-year
Budget 2021-2031 consultation, including:
· Climate
change: the actions that Auckland Council will take to respond to climate
change and how to pay for them
· Housing
and growth infrastructure: where to upgrade or extend infrastructure to support
new housing development across Auckland
· Community
investment: how to manage our aging community facilities and invest in new services
or facilities
· Funding: considering the impacts of
COVID-19 on the council’s budget, the right levels of capital and operating spending and how to finance this.
22. The Mayoral
proposal, which outlines the Mayor’s priorities for consultation, will be
included as Attachment C when it is released.
23. The local board is
asked to provide feedback on the Mayoral proposal and potential regional topics
for the 10-year Budget consultation. The feedback from the local boards will be
collated and provided to the Governing Body to consider, when approving
regional items for consultation on 9 December 2020.
Tauākī whakaaweawe
āhuarangi
Climate impact statement
24. The decision to
consult is procedural in nature and the small scale of the Have Your Say events
mean any climate change impacts will be negligible. These decisions are
unlikely to result in any identifiable changes to greenhouse gas emissions. The
effects of climate change will not impact the decisions.
25. However, where
practicable, events proposed will be in locations accessible by public
transport, to reduce car travel but also increase the opportunities for
attendance.
26. Some of the
proposed initiatives or projects included in the consultation content may have
climate change impacts. The climate change impacts of any initiatives or
projects Auckland Council chooses to progress with as a result of this
consultation, will be assessed as part of the relevant reporting
requirements.
Ngā whakaaweawe me
ngā tirohanga a te rōpū Kaunihera
Council group impacts and views
27. The 10-year Budget
2021-2031 is an Auckland Council group document and will include budgets at a
consolidated group level.
28. Consultation items
and updates to budgets to reflect decisions and new information may include
items from across the group. This will be reflected in
the report on regional consultation items going the Governing Body on 9
December 2020.
Ngā whakaaweawe
ā-rohe me ngā tirohanga a te poari ā-rohe
Local impacts and local board views
29. Local board Chairs
have been involved in the development of the regional topics for consultation
by attending Finance and Performance Committee workshops. Local board members
were provided access to summarised versions of the presentations made at the
Finance and Performance Committee workshops.
30. Local boards will
have further opportunities to provide information and views as the council
progresses through the 10-year Budget 2021-2031 process.
31. Aucklanders will
have the opportunity to give feedback on regional and local proposals contained
in the budget. All feedback received from submitters residing in the local
board area will be analysed by staff and made available for consideration by
the local board, prior to finalising its local board agreement.
Tauākī whakaaweawe
Māori
Māori
impact statement
32. Many local board
decisions are of importance to and impact on Māori.
The local board agreement and the 10-year Budget are important tools that
enable and can demonstrate the council’s responsiveness to Māori. The local board plan that was adopted in November
2020 forms the basis for local priorities.
33. The approach to Māori engagement for the 10-year
Budget 2021-2031 will be finalised once consultation topics
are confirmed, including development of bespoke materials.
34. There is a need to
continue to build local board relationships with iwi and the wider Māori community. Ongoing conversations will assist the
local board and Māori to understand each
other’s priorities and issues.
Ngā ritenga
ā-pūtea
Financial implications
35. Event associated
costs include venue hire (where council premises cannot be utilised).
Ngā raru tūpono me
ngā whakamaurutanga
Risks and mitigations
36. There is a
statutory requirement for content relating to each local board agreement to be
included in the 10-year Budget 2021-2031 consultation document. The local board
must approve its local consultation content by 4 December 2020 in order for it
to be formatted and reviewed in time to be incorporated into the 10-year Budget
2021-2031 consultation document and supporting information.
Ngā koringa ā-muri
Next steps
37. The Governing Body
will adopt the consultation document and supporting information material, and
approve the consultation approach for the 10-year Budget 2021-2031 in February
2021.
38. Following
consultation, the Governing Body and the local board will make decisions on the
10-year budget and local board agreement respectively in June 2021.
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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Whau Local Board consultation document content
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13
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b⇩
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Whau Local Board supporting information content
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15
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Ngā kaihaina
Signatories
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Author
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Beth Corlett - Advisor Plans and Programmes
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Authorisers
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Helgard Wagener - Acting Policy and Planning Manager
Louise Mason – General Manager Local Board
Services
Adam Milina - Local Area Manager
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Whau Local Board
02 December
2020
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Review of decision-making policy
File No.: CP2020/17603
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-making 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 Whau 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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25
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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 – General Manager Local Board
Services
Adam Milina - Local Area Manager
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