4.3.5 Staff support for local boards
The role of council staff
Council staff play a vital role in helping local boards carry out their governance responsibilities. This includes:
- providing quality advice
- supporting democratic processes
- facilitating effective community engagement.
Together, these help ensure that local board decision-making is robust and well informed.
The role of the chief executive
The chief executive is appointed by the Governing Body and is responsible for implementing and managing the council’s policies and objectives within the budget set by the Governing Body.
The chief executive supports local boards by:
- implementing decisions made by each local board
- providing advice to each local board
- delivering on each local board agreement
- providing administrative support and facilities.
Delegations to staff
To operate efficiently, the Governing Body and local boards need to delegate certain decision-making powers to the chief executive, as they are responsible for their decisions.
Delegations from the Governing Body
The Governing Body has delegated all its functions, duties and powers to the chief executive, with a few exceptions and restrictions (including a financial limit of $20 million). The chief executive has, in turn, delegated those to staff. These delegations only apply to Governing Body responsibilities and not local board decision-making. Only local boards have the power to delegate their decision-making responsibilities to staff.
Delegations from local boards
Local boards have also provided delegations to the chief executive. These delegations are similar to that of the Governing Body. The main exception is the chief executive’s lower financial authority. This differs between local boards but ranges from $1m to $2.5m.
Delegations are subject to a set of delegation protocols that:
- provide expectations and direction to staff
- require a number of actions that are relevant to all local activities
- are outlined in Schedule 2 of the Auckland Council Combined Chief Executive’s Delegation Register [1].
Additional delegations
Local boards can also delegate specific decision-making powers to staff to improve effectiveness and efficiency, such as negotiating the final terms of a community lease, within set parameters
Governance and Engagement Department
Within the Governance and Engagement Department, there is dedicated support for all 21 local boards.
The department provides:
- strategic and policy advice
- leadership in preparing local board plans
- support for developing annual local board agreements
- community engagement support and constituent services
- democracy and administrative support
- guidance for council staff on how to work with local boards
- coordination of planning and processes that cover all local boards
- leadership of change initiatives to improve support for elected members.
How the team works
The Governance and Engagement Department ensures local boards receive advice with both a local and regional lens.
It works across Auckland Council and with council-controlled organisations (CCOs) to ensure boards can carry out their governance roles effectively.
It helps integrate advice from other parts of the organisation.
Report sign-off
The Governance and Engagement Department reviews all local board agenda reports.
Final sign-off is by:
- the local area manager for local board reports
- the general manager of the Governance and Engagement Department for reports that go to all local boards or work programmes.
The local-area manager acts as the chief executive’s delegate at local board business meetings.
Support model
- The Governance and Engagement Department provides dedicated governance support.
- Other council departments supply subject matter expertise and support when needed.