Audits of councils' long-term plans

Since 2006, the Auditor-General has had a statutory duty to issue opinions on local authorities' long-term plans (formerly long-term council community plans, or LTCCPs) under sections 84(4) and 94 of the Local Government Act 2002.

We have worked with local government to put in place the resources, standards, and know-how to audit councils' 10-year plans. We also share and promote best practice in long-term planning.

The Office prepares occasional newsletters setting out information about our approach and work to audit long-term plans, and about issues councils may find useful to be aware of in preparing their long-term plans.

We prepare public reports and make presentations about councils' preparation of long-term plans, and our audit of these. We also make available to councils many elements of the guidance and checklists used by our auditors for the long-term plan audits.

Our methodology

Please email us for a summarised version of our audit methodology for the 2012-22 long-term plans.

We also have newsletters available that we prepared for the 2009 audits (see Auditing the Future: 2009) and presentations and newsletters that we prepared for the 2006 audits (see Preparing for the 2006 audits).

Page last updated: 22 November 2011