Request to investigate Wellington City Council

3 March 2021

Councillor Fitzsimons
Wellington City Council

Tēnā koe Councillor Fitzsimons

Request to investigate Wellington City Council

Thank you for your email of 21 February 2021 raising concerns about decision-making by Wellington City Council (the Council) and requesting an investigation by our Office.

Specifically, you have asked us to investigate a resolution made by the Council’s Annual Plan/Long Term Plan Committee (the Committee) on 18 February 2021 about the future of the Wellington Central Library building (the library building). This is because, in your view:

• at that meeting the Committee resolved that an option about private ownership of the library building would be included in the draft long-term plan (LTP) consultation document, which was not appropriate to do without rescinding an earlier Council resolution on 21 July 2020 about retaining Council ownership of the library building;
• the Council is now in a situation where an important decision about the future ownership of the library building has been made by a subordinate committee of the Council without any attempt to rescind the earlier decision of the Council;
• the Council might have failed to comply with the Local Government Act 2002 because a subordinate committee has attempted to override a decision of the Council; and
• there has been a failure on the part of the Council to comply with the elements of good governance, which include having sufficient information and analysis.

You have also asked that our Office provide councillors and the Council’s Executive Leadership Team with training on good governance.

For the reasons outlined below this is not a matter we plan to investigate further.

Compliance with the Local Government Act 2002

The first part of your request is about whether the Council has complied with the Local Government Act.

It is not generally part of our role to determine if a council has complied with its legal obligations. In this case, it is not for us to provide a definitive legal view about whether the Committee was able to make the decisions it did about the content of the draft LTP consultation document (including whether it needed to rescind any earlier decisions).

We understand that the Council’s General Counsel provided oral advice during the 18 February meeting, advising that the Council did not need to revoke or amend the 21 July 2020 resolution. This advice was subsequently supported by Simpson Grierson.

The Council is in the process of developing its LTP consultation document, which includes preparing the information and assumptions underlying it. The meeting on 18 February was part of that process. In our experience, it is not unusual for councils to spend time considering what should go in this important document.

We note your point about receiving information close to the meeting on 18 February, and your view that there was not enough time to consider it. Generally, it is good practice to ensure that clear information is provided to decision-makers to enable them to make the best decisions in each situation. However, we also recognise that the deliberations about matters that should or should not be included in an LTP are dynamic and it is relatively common for last minute adjustments to recommendations to be made.

You are concerned that the Council is now in a situation where an important decision about the future ownership of the library building has been made by a subordinate committee of the Council. The decision made by the Committee is to inform the development of the LTP consultation document, which still needs to be adopted by the Council. Following adoption, the Council will need to consult on its preferred approach with the community, before adopting the LTP prior to 30 June. The final decision will therefore not be made until after the Council has received and considered feedback arising from public consultation with its community.

Governance

You have also asked us to provide training to the councillors and the Council’s Executive Leadership Team about governance.

We have previously provided a training session for councillors about governance matters, including managing conflicts of interest and the role that audit and risk committees should have in supporting effective risk management. We also have a general interest in public organisations governing well so they can effectively deliver services to the public.

In this situation, we note that the Council has announced an immediate review of its governance. We are interested in the outcome of that review and understanding what lessons the Council draws from it. At that point, we could consider whether it is appropriate for us to provide further governance training to the Council.

Given the public interest in this matter we intend to publish this letter on our website. 

Thank you for writing to us.

Nāku noa, nā

John Ryan
Controller and Auditor-General

Cc Barbara McKerrow, Chief Executive, Wellington City Council