Agenda of Upper Harbour Local Board - Thursday, 9 February 2023

1 Nau mai | Welcome

The Chairperson will lead the meeting in a Karakia.

2 Ngā Tamōtanga | Apologies

At the close of the agenda no apologies had been received.

3 Te Whakapuaki i te Whai Pānga | 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 Te Whakaū i ngā Āmiki | Confirmation of Minutes

That the Upper Harbour Local Board:

a) confirm the ordinary minutes of its meeting, held on Thursday, 8 December 2022, as a true and correct record.

5 He Tamōtanga Motuhake | Leave of Absence

At the close of the agenda no requests for leave of absence had been received.

6 Te Mihi | Acknowledgements

At the close of the agenda no requests for acknowledgements had been received.

7 Ngā Petihana | Petitions

At the close of the agenda no requests to present petitions had been received.

8 Ngā Tono Whakaaturanga | 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 Upper Harbour 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 Te Matapaki Tūmatanui | 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 Ngā Pakihi Autaia | 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.”

Upper Harbour Local Board

09 February 2023

Annual Budget 2023/2024 local board consultation content

File No.: CP2023/00177

Te take mō te pūrongo

Purpose of the report

1. To approve local consultation content and supporting information as part of the Annual Budget 2023/2024 process, along with a local engagement event.

Whakarāpopototanga matua

Executive summary

2. For each financial year, Auckland Council must have a local board agreement that is agreed between the Governing Body and the local board in each local board area. These agreements set out local board priorities and the local activities to be provided for the year. Together, the 21 local board agreements form a section of the annual budget.

3. Auckland Council will be consulting on both local and regional content as part of the Annual Budget 2022/2023 consultation. This is planned to take place from late February to late March 2023. Content relating to each local board agreement must be included as part of that consultation.

4. This report seeks approval from the local board for the 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.

5. Local boards will need to approve local consultation content by 9 February 2023 to be incorporated into the Annual Budget 2023/2024 consultation document and supporting information, which is planned to be adopted by the Governing Body on 15 February 2023.

Ngā tūtohunga

Recommendation/s

That the Upper Harbour Local Board:

a) approve local consultation document content and local supporting information content for inclusion in the Annual Budget 2023/2024 consultation material.

b) delegate authority to the local board Chairperson to approve any changes required to finalise the local consultation document and supporting information content for the Upper Harbour Local Board for the Annual Budget 2023/2024.

c) approve the following Have Your Say event in the local board area during the Annual Budget 2023/2024 consultation period:

i) Information stall at Albany community market

Date: Saturday 4 March 2023

Time: 12 – 4pm

Location: Albany Community Hub, 575 Albany Highway, Albany

d) delegate authority to the local board Chairperson 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 receive feedback and hear from the public through “spoken (or New Zealand sign language) interaction” at the council’s public engagement events during the consultation period for the Annual Budget 2023/2024:

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

Horopaki

Context

6. The Annual Budget 2023/2024 will contain the budget and funding impact statement for the year, identify any variations from the financial statements and funding impact statement in the 10-year budget for the relevant year, and provides for integrated decision-making and coordination of the council’s resources. The Governing Body is responsible for adopting the annual budget.

7. As part of this process, local boards develop annual local board agreements which are agreed between local boards and the Governing Body (and are included in the annual budget).

8. Local board agreements set out how the council will reflect the priorities and preferences in the local board’s plan through the activities to be provided in the local board area.

9. Content relating to each local board agreement must be included in the Annual Budget 2023/2024 consultation document.

10. Auckland Council is facing an estimated $295 million operational expenditure challenge for the Annual Budget 2023/2024.

11. The Mayoral Proposal was released on 5 December 2022. This included a proposed cut of 5 per cent to local board operational funding as part of the council’s proposed response to mitigate the budget pressures for 2023/2024.

12. Local board chairs were invited to attend a Governing Body workshop, held after the Mayoral Proposal was released, where the proposed regional consultation content was discussed. All local board members were invited to attend briefings on the regional consultation topics.

13. On 15 December 2022, the Governing Body decided to consult on a proposed cut of 5 per cent to local board operational funding.

14. Public consultation on the budget is planned to take place from late February to late March 2023.

15. 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.

Tātaritanga me ngā tohutohu

Analysis and advice

16. Local boards held workshops during November/December 2022 to determine their proposed priorities for their 2023/2024 local board agreement. Additional workshops held in January/February 2023 considered consultation requirements based on the proposed cut of 5 per cent to local board operational funding.

17. Each local board is now requested to approve its local consultation document and supporting information content for consultation (Attachments A and B respectively).

18. Should changes be required to the local consultation content during the document production, they will be provided to the local board chair for approval.

19. Aucklanders who wish to have their views on the proposed content of the local board agreement 2023/2024 and Annual Budget 2023/2024 considered by Auckland Council should be provided a reasonable opportunity to present those views in a manner and format that is appropriate to their preferences and needs.

20. As there is a proposal to amend the council’s long-term plan (10-year Budget) identified in the regional consultation content for the Annual Budget 2023/2024, the special consultative procedure is required.

21. 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 to elected members and staff to hear from the public in relation to the local board agreement, provides for this spoken interaction.

22. The Have Your Say event recommended to be held in the Upper Harbour Local Board area is:

Information stall at Albany community market

Date: Saturday 4 March 2023

Time: 12 – 4pm

Location: Albany Community Hub, 575 Albany Highway, Albany

23. 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/s to ensure they are able to attend.

24. If circumstances change between now and the start of the consultation period that require any changes to the approved Have Your Say event, these will be provided to the local board chair for approval in line with the recommended delegation.

Tauākī whakaaweawe āhuarangi

Climate impact statement

25. The decision to consult is procedural in nature and the small scale of the Have Your Say events means any climate change impacts will be negligible.

26. However, where practicable, events proposed will be in locations accessible by public transport, to reduce private vehicle travel and increase opportunities for attendance.

27. Some of the proposed initiatives or projects included in the consultation content may have climate change impacts. The impacts of any initiatives or projects Auckland Council chooses to progress 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

28. The Annual Budget 2023/2024 is an Auckland Council group document and will include budgets at a consolidated group level.

Ngā whakaaweawe ā-rohe me ngā tirohanga a te poari ā-rohe

Local impacts and local board views

29. 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 the local board finalising its local board agreement.

Tauākī whakaaweawe Māori

Māori impact statement

30. Many local board decisions are of importance to and impact on Māori. The local board agreement and Annual Budget 2023/2024 are important tools that enable and can demonstrate council’s responsiveness to Māori. The 2020 local board plan forms the basis for local priorities.

31. The approach to Māori engagement for Annual Budget 2023/2024 will be finalised when the consultation documents are adopted, including development of bespoke materials.

32. 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 challenges.

Ngā ritenga ā-pūtea

Financial implications

33. There may be marginal costs associated for Have-Your-Say events including venue hire (where council premises cannot be utilised).

34. After consultation local boards will make decisions on local spending in the local board agreement with financial impacts that affect local communities.

Ngā raru tūpono me ngā whakamaurutanga

Risks and mitigations

35. There is a statutory requirement for content relating to each local board agreement to be included in the Annual Budget 2023/2024 consultation document. The local board must approve its local consultation content by close of business on 9 February 2023 in order for it to be formatted and reviewed in time to be incorporated into the Annual Budget 2023/2024 consultation document and supporting information for adoption by the Governing Body.

Ngā koringa ā-muri

Next steps

36. The Governing Body is due to adopt the consultation document and supporting information material and to approve the consultation approach for the Annual Budget 2023/2024 on 15 February 2023.

37. Following consultation, the Governing Body and the local board will make decisions on the Annual Budget 2023/2024 and local board agreements respectively in June 2023

Ngā tāpirihanga

Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

Ngā kaihaina

Signatories

Authors

Phoebe Peguero - Senior Advisor Operations and Policy

Heather Skinner - Senior Local Board Advisor

Authorisers

Oliver Roberts – Acting General Manager Local Board Services

Lesley Jenkins - Local Area Manager

Louise Mason - General Manager Local Board Services

Upper Harbour Local Board

09 February 2023

Auckland Council’s submission on the Inquiry into the 2022 Local Elections

File No.: CP2023/00373

Te take mō te pūrongo

Purpose of the report

1. To seek local board feedback on the Justice Committee’s Inquiry into the 2022 local elections.

Whakarāpopototanga matua

Executive summary

2. Parliament’s Justice Committee is conducting an inquiry into the 2022 local elections and is calling for submissions, which close on 14 February 2023. It is usual practice for the Justice Committee to conduct an inquiry following a parliamentary or local election in case there are issues that require a legislative response. For this inquiry, the committee will examine the law and administrative procedures for the conduct of the 2022 local elections, with particular reference to:

a) low voter turnout

b) the provision of election services by private organisations, with particular reference to:

· special voting

· provision of ballot papers

· complaint processes

· accountability for local elections

· postal voting (including security of ballots and whether postal voting is an effective method of receiving votes)

c) the age of eligible voters (with reference to lowering the age of eligible voters to 16 years).

3. The changes to legislation requested in the draft submission are:

(i) to allow overseas voters the ability to obtain and return a vote electronically as they do for parliamentary elections

(ii) to accept votes date-stamped by the postal provider on the day of elections (or earlier)

(iii) to increase the nomination deposit fee for mayoral candidates to reduce the risk of having to re-run an election if any candidate is found, prior to election day, to not be qualified to stand for election.

4. Staff will report a fuller evaluation of the 2022 Auckland elections to the Governing Body meeting on 23 March 2023. Due to the Justice Committee’s early submission deadline it was not possible to complete this within the timeframe.

5. The draft submission is attached as Attachment A and focusses on the issues the Justice Committee has identified. The body of this report provides an overview of the points made in the submission.

6. The draft submission does not take a position on the question of lowering the voting age but makes comments that are relevant to Auckland Council’s context. The local board might consider whether to resolve a position on voting age.

7. Due to the constrained timeframe most local boards have not been able to meet to provide feedback but have used their urgent decision-making processes. Feedback that is received prior to the Governing Body committee meeting will be circulated. As is practice, all local board comments will be appended to the Auckland Council submission.

Ngā tūtohunga

Recommendation/s

That the Upper Harbour Local Board:

a) provide feedback on the Justice Committee’s inquiry into the 2022 local elections.

Horopaki

Context

8. Parliament’s Justice Committee is conducting an inquiry into the 2022 local elections and is calling for submissions, which close on 14 February 2023. For this inquiry, the Justice Committee will examine the law and administrative procedures for the conduct of the 2022 local elections, with particular reference to:

a) low voter turnout

b) the provision of election services by private organisations, with particular reference to:

· special voting

· provision of ballot papers

· complaint processes

· accountability for local elections

· postal voting (including security of ballots and whether postal voting is an effective method of receiving votes)

c) the age of eligible voters (with reference to lowering the age of eligible voters to 16 years).

9. The draft submission focusses on these issues and raises some additional matters for legislative change.

10. The Minister of Justice has separately established an Independent Electoral Review to review electoral law. In September 2022 the review panel released its consultation document and submissions closed in November 2022. The panel will publish a draft report in May 2023 for public comment on the panel’s recommendations and will provide its final recommendations to Government in November 2023^{^[1]}. This review deals with Parliamentary electoral law but is of relevance to local government in that matters such as the electoral term and voting age are within its scope.

11. The key steps in a local election by postal vote comprise:

· the Electoral Commission updates the Parliamentary electoral roll

· the council’s Electoral Officer updates the ratepayer roll

· the council’s Electoral Officer calls for and receives nominations for candidates

· the council’s Electoral Officer arranges for voting documents to be posted to those on the residential and ratepayer rolls

· voters have about three weeks to post their ballots

· the ballots are counted, and the council’s Electoral Officer declares the results.

Tātaritanga me ngā tohutohu

Analysis and advice

Low voter turnout

12. The submission compares turnout in Auckland with turnout in other New Zealand metropolitan councils and with some councils overseas.

13. The level of turnout in Auckland is in-line with these, though higher turnout is experienced in countries with compulsory voting and in a few standouts such as Denmark.

14. The submission conveys the results of the council’s most recent post-election survey where respondents were asked why they did not vote. The top reasons were:

· I don’t know anything about the candidates

· I forgot to vote

· I am not interested in politics or politicians.

15. Some common suggestions to improve turnout include online voting (which Auckland Council has supported in the past). This is on hold while the Government Communications Security Bureau has concerns about cyber-security. In Canada over 150 municipalities conduct online voting, but a researcher there advised turnout increased by only about 3 per cent.

16. The draft submission also comments on the possibility of providing booth voting as well as postal voting. For the 2022 elections there was a noticeable increase in those who wished to vote on election day itself. Booth voting on election day, in addition to postal voting in the weeks prior, would reduce barriers for some. Electors of councils in the United Kingdom have the option of both, but turnout is same as for Auckland Council, if not lower.

17. The submission also considers the argument for introducing political parties into local elections but, again, this is the case with councils in the United Kingdom, which have low turnouts.

18. Compulsory voting would be a major change and should be left to the Independent Electoral Review panel.

19. The draft submission notes there are no obvious easy solutions to increasing turnout (other than compulsory voting) however it notes options for reducing barriers and improving voter experience.

Provision of election services by private organisations

20. The draft submission notes that it is impossible for staff to run elections as well as undertaking their normal duties. The routine election services need to be contracted out for the sake of efficiency and effectiveness.

21. For the 2022 elections, Auckland Council utilised 25 staff (mostly on a part-time basis) from across the main organisation to undertake those activities that it had a responsibility for. Collaboration between this virtual team and Elections Services was important and worked well.

Special voting

22. The identification of special voting centres and their staffing is a collaborative undertaking between the Electoral Officer, Election Services and the council. Council facilities are used and council staff take part and are trained by the Electoral Officer to undertake the associated duties.

23. There have been issues experienced with running out of special voting papers due to electors attending special voting centres outside of their area. An option being investigated for 2025 is to provide the ability to print special voting documents at special voting centres if hard copies run out.

Provision of ballot papers

24. The draft submission notes the various reasons an elector might not receive a ballot paper, a frequent one being that electors forget to update their details on the electoral roll with the result their ballot paper is sent to their former address.

Complaint processes

25. The submission notes that there are three agencies involved in complaints about local elections, those being:

· the Electoral Commission in terms of matters relating to the electoral roll

· the Electoral Officer, who is responsible for the conduct of the election

· the council, which is responsible for regulations relating to election signs and for promoting the elections.

26. This can be confusing for electors who sometimes contact the wrong agency when making a query or wanting to make a complaint. Auckland Council has learnt that there needs to be excellent communication between the agencies to ensure that queries and complaints are dealt with appropriately.

27. Council advisory staff dealt with:

· 32 complaints / queries relating to election signs

· 54 complaints / queries relating to election protocols for staff and incumbent members

· 63 complaints / queries not categorised.

28. Council bylaw enforcement staff conducted 154 visits of election signs as a result of complaints.

29. The Electoral Officer referred three complaints of alleged offences to the Police.

Accountability for local elections

30. The submission notes that the council has previously expressed support in principle for the administration of local elections to be the responsibility of the Electoral Commission. Until that happens the council believes the current arrangements, with their respective accountabilities, work well.

Postal voting

31. The submission notes that postal services are now in decline and that Auckland Council provided vote boxes for voters to deposit their ballots at:

· Countdown supermarkets

· train stations

· libraries and other council facilities.

32. There were 136 vote boxes with 127,000 votes deposited into them (31 per cent of all votes).

33. The submission notes that postal voting does not serve overseas voters well. Staff are aware of one voter in Australia whose voting pack was posted on 16 September and who received it on 15 October, in the week following election day. This was subsequently found to be a problem with an overload in the local mail centre.

34. For Parliamentary elections, overseas voters may download their voting paper, fill it in and upload it back. This happens over the internet and regardless of Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) concerns about online voting, staff believe this is a risk worth taking and the same option should be available for overseas voters in local elections. A recommendation is made for legislative change to allow this.

Age of eligible voters

35. The draft submission does not commit the council to a position on this topic but makes comments about some matters that are relevant to local elections and to the council:

(i) Local elections use the parliamentary electoral roll which is established under the Electoral Act 1993. Age eligibility is not set separately under the Local Electoral Act 2001, and this should continue to be the case.

(ii) Local elections include electing licensing trust members. Young people cannot purchase alcohol until they are 18 years of age. This is due to greater vulnerability of younger people to alcohol harm. Vulnerability to alcohol is a separate issue to the competency to vote and should not disenfranchise a young person. Older people who are vulnerable to alcohol are not disenfranchised.

(iii) The council’s Youth Advisory Panel has a minimum age of 14 though the youngest to date has been 15 years old. Experience is that younger people contribute with well-considered opinions.

Candidate deposit to stand for mayor

36. If a candidate for mayor is found, between the close of nominations and election day, to be unqualified to stand for election the election for mayor is declared void and has to be held again. The cost of doing this is covered by insurance but it would be extremely inconvenient to electors and increase the risk of reputational damage. The election of a new mayor would not be finalised until the following year.

37. There are no other positions where this is required.

38. For the 2022 Auckland Council elections, there were 23 candidates for mayor. The higher the number of candidates, the greater the risk of an unqualified mayoral candidate, and invalidated election. If the threshold for standing for mayor was raised, it would reduce candidates to those who were serious about standing and the risk of having to hold the elections again would be reduced. The submission proposes raising the deposit for mayoral candidates from $200 to $500. A balance needs to be struck between mitigating this risk, and not limiting candidacy for mayor to those who are wealthy.

Tauākī whakaaweawe āhuarangi

Climate impact statement

39. Most of the issues discussed in the submission do not impact the climate except that it is likely online voting would reduce emissions if it meant that voting documents and booklets for over 1 million electors no longer needed to be printed and posted. This reduction would be ongoing.

Ngā whakaaweawe me ngā tirohanga a te rōpū Kaunihera

Council group impacts and views

40. There are no impacts on the council group.

Ngā whakaaweawe ā-rohe me ngā tirohanga a te poari ā-rohe

Local impacts and local board views

41. Local board views are being sought on the draft submission and will be incorporated into the council’s final submission as appropriate.

Tauākī whakaaweawe Māori

Māori impact statement

42. The impact of elections on representation of Māori on Auckland Council is an important matter and is being considered separately to this submission through an internal review of the Council’s election processes to be conducted in March 2023.

Ngā ritenga ā-pūtea

Financial implications

43. There are financial implications associated with matters discussed in the submission, but these have not yet been quantified. For example, if the council introduces booth voting in addition to postal voting, then there will be an additional cost to running the election.

44. On the other hand, if the return of ballot papers is not through New Zealand Post but by voters depositing their ballots in council vote boxes, there could be a small reduction in cost due to the freepost reply not needing to be paid.

Ngā raru tūpono me ngā whakamaurutanga

Risks and mitigations

45. The risks associated with a mayoral candidate being unqualified to stand election with the result the election has to be run again is raised in the council’s submission. This is a significant risk for Auckland Council. Mitigation to this risk is described in paragraphs 43-45.

Ngā koringa ā-muri

Next steps

46. The Planning, Environment and Parks Committee will consider the submission on Thursday 2 February 2023.

47. Local board resolutions will be included in the Auckland Council submission on this matter.

Ngā tāpirihanga

Attachments