Local governmentLinks to our reports, articles, blog posts, and published letters about city, district, regional, and unitary councils and council-controlled organisations.https://oag.parliament.nz/reports/local-governmenthttps://oag.parliament.nz/@@site-logo/logo.png
Local government
Links to our reports, articles, blog posts, and published letters about city, district, regional, and unitary councils and council-controlled organisations.
5 November 2024: We looked at the actions of Environment Canterbury, Christchurch City Council, Nelson City Council, and Whanganui District Council in responding to the local impacts of climate change. All four councils are making progress with their responses to climate change and doing so in an uncertain and evolving national policy environment.
20 August 2024: Each year, we produce reports that summarise what we’ve observed in different parts of the public sector and set out the results of our audits in that sector for the latest audited year.
30 July 2024: Councils that supply drinking water achieved just under 60% of their targets for water supply measures in 2022/23. We encourage councils to investigate the reasons for non-compliance with drinking water standards and prioritise remedial actions, particularly where this could affect water quality and safety.
27 May 2024: We have replied to Councillor Ray Chung about his request that we investigate the proposed deal between Wellington City Council and Reading Cinemas.
21 May 2024: In 2019, we looked at how effectively Waikato Regional Council, Taranaki Regional Council, Horizons Regional Council, and Environment Southland were managing freshwater quality. We followed up with all four regional councils and spoke with iwi and hapū representatives to see what progress the regional councils had made in response to recommendations we made in 2019 about managing freshwater quality.
25 January 2024: This guidance is designed to help councils provide appropriate and meaningful performance information in their accountability documents, so that communities and ratepayers better understand what councils are doing for them in the short and longer terms.
14 June 2023: We asked the Ministry for the Environment, Statistics New Zealand, Waikato Regional Council, Taranaki Regional Council, Horizons Regional Council, and Environment Southland for an update on their response to recommendations we made in 2019 about managing freshwater quality.
31 January 2023: We wrote to the Chief Executive of Horowhenua District Council after concerns were raised with us about the engagement by the Council of external consultants to provide services in relation to the Levin landfill.
13 October 2022: An Audit and Risk Committee provides a council’s governing body – the set of all elected councillors – and the community with confidence that a council is managing its risks. Here we provide suggestions for how best to set up and run such a committee.
17 June 2022: Councils will soon be setting rates for 2022/23. We want to make councils aware of some rate-setting issues and legal requirements to consider when setting rates.
14 June 2022: Councils need to take care to make sure that council communications are not used, or appear to be used, for political purposes. Here are some of the main things councils should watch out for when making decisions about communication during this pre-election period.
26 May 2022: We wrote to the Chief Executive of Masterton District Council after concerns were raised with us about aspects of the Council's Civic Centre Project.
24 March 2022: We have replied to Mr Peter Newport, Managing Editor of Crux Publishing Limited, about his concern regarding the decision of Queenstown Lakes District Council to sell the block of land known as Lakeview.
December 2021: Councils need to provide their communities with reliable and clear information about the matters proposed for inclusion in their long-term plan and the costs of these so that their community can engage with and provide feedback on this. This report provides our observations on councils' 2021-31 long-term plan consultation documents.
October 2021:We have previously reported that risk management was one of the least mature elements of governance in the public sector. Therefore, we carried out work to better understand the current state of councils' risk management, where the challenges and issues are, and what support councils need to improve how they manage risk.
August 2021: In this article, we share our findings on how conflicts of interest of council employees, including the chief executive and staff, are managed across four councils.
June 2020: The Local Authorities (Members' Interests) Act 1968 (the Act) is somewhat out of date and difficult to understand, and the rules are not always easy to apply in a modern local government context. That is why we have written this plain English guide. We want members who are covered by the Act, and those advising them, to be aware of the Act's rules and the steps they need to take to ensure that they do not inadvertently breach them. This guide also explains our statutory functions under the Act.
May 2020: Last year we visited 21 councils throughout New Zealand to see how they carry out procurement. We heard about the challenges councils are facing and where they felt they could improve. Based on these visits, and observations from our other work on procurement, we wrote an article that poses a series of questions about procurement practice and culture.
September 2019: This booklet is for the elected members of councils and for new members in particular. It gives an overview of the Auditor-General's role and also outlines the kinds of interaction they can expect with the Auditor-General and with his staff.
How well four councils are responding to a changing climate
