Part 1: Introduction

1.1
The Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Act 2009 (the Act) dissolved eight Auckland local authorities,¹ terminated 20 council-controlled entities that had been associated with them,² and established Auckland Council (the Council), which became operational on 1 November 2010.

1.2
The reform legislation required the former councils and the entities they controlled to prepare annual reports, including audited financial statements and, sometimes, statements of service performance, to cover the final 16-month period to 31 October 2010.

1.3
The Auckland Transition Agency, established to prepare the way for Auckland Council, was required to prepare a single final report that covered the whole of its period of operation from 23 May 2009 to dissolution on 31 October 2010.

1.4
The legislation assigned responsibility for finalising the annual report of each of the dissolved local authorities and terminated council-controlled organisations to the entity that received all or most of the former entity's operations.³

1.5
The 2009/10 annual reports of six of the eight former councils were completed and adopted within the statutory deadline. Since then, the remaining two former councils' annual reports, and the required summaries, have been completed and adopted, and made available to the public. None of the annual reports of the terminated council-controlled organisations were completed or made available to the public within the statutory deadline.

1.6
The former councils' financial statements included significant provisions for dealing with leaky home claims. As explained in Part 3, Auckland Council is the local authority most affected by such claims.

1: Auckland City Council, Auckland Regional Council , Franklin District Council, Manukau City Council, North Shore City Council, Papakura District Council, Rodney District Council, and Waitakere City Council.

2: These council-controlled entities are listed in Appendix 1. Auckland Transport Infrastructure Limited was wound up and struck off the companies register before the dissolution date, leaving 19 council-controlled organisations requiring annual reports for the 16-month period to 31 October 2010.

3: Appendix 2 lists the entities responsible for finalising the annual reports of entities dissolved or terminated by the Act.