Local government

A list of our content (including reports, articles, blog posts, and published letters) about the local government sector (city, district, and unitary councils, and council-controlled organisations).
Waste management planning by territorial authorities

April 2007: All territorial authorities must adopt a waste management plan. In this audit, we checked whether all had done so, and whether six were implementing them. Some of the plans were out of date or did not contain all the information we expected...

Residential rates postponement

November 2006: Overall, councils’ rates postponement policies are well designed, and councils are administering them in the interests of their communities. However, we have identified some areas where councils could improve their rates postponement policies and procedures...

Local authority codes of conduct

June 2006: The Local Government Act 2002 created a new legal requirement for each local authority to adopt a code of conduct for its elected members. We examined councils' experiences in developing and using their codes...

Management of the West Coast Economic Development Funding Package

May 2006: In May 2000, a once-only payment of $120 million was made to help the West Coast region’s economy adjust to the Government’s policies to end the logging of indigenous forest. Of this funding package, $92 million was placed with the West Coast Development Trust, and the remaining $28 million was divided equally between the 4 West Coast local authorities. This report looks at how these 5 entities have managed the use of the funding package...

Management of heritage collections in local museums and art galleries

April 2006: This report provides museum staff with an independent assessment of collection management policies and practices against recognised principles of sound collection management, illustrates good practice, and suggests ways for museums and art galleries to work more effectively as individual institutions and collectively as a sector...

Local Authorities Working Together

May 2004: Working together can be a practical and cost-effective way for local authorities to share experience and resources, tackle common tasks, or take advantage of economies of scale. Working together can bring significant benefits that may not always be in the form of cost savings...

Managing the Relationship Between a Local Authority's Elected Members and its Chief Executive

July 2002: In this report, the key aspect that we examined was how elected members and their chief executive manage their relationship in the grey area between governance and administration. Difficulties in managing that part of the relationship appear to be a common cause of problems between councils and their chief executive. We suggest ways in which this situation might be improved...

Thames Coromandel District Council: Asset Registers and Other Matters

July 2001: This report contains our findings regarding a complaint made by the Concerned Citizens of the Coromandel Peninsula about certain actions of the Thames Coromandel District Council. Although the complaint raised over 50 issues, our report addresses only those issues that we considered to be most significant...