5.4 Elected member workshops
Workshops are informal forums held primarily for information or discussion purposes, and at which no resolutions or decisions are made. Workshops support decision-making by:
Enabling elected members to provide “direction-setting” guidance to staff, including on policy options; and
Enabling elected members to develop their understanding of issues, and seek further information where they might require it, prior to making a formal decision in the future.
Governing Body workshops are open by default, which occurs by way of workshop recordings being uploaded to the council’s website. Workshops may be closed if the chairperson considers it is reasonable to do so in a particular case.
Using the right mechanism, as illustrated in the table below, to engage with elected members helps to ensure efficiency and best use of staff and elected member time.
| Seek a decision | Explore an issue or get political guidance on identified priorities | Seek political direction on other issues | Provide information or project update |
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|
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Decision-making meeting of the Governing Body or local board |
Workshop |
Informal discussion, working party |
Memos, reports, tours or other means |
Structuring workshops
As informal meetings, there is flexibility on how workshops are structured. This provides an opportunity for local boards to collaborate across borders through sub-regional cluster workshops, as well as for Governing Body members to be invited to local board workshops if relevant. It also enables local board chairs or members to be invited to Governing Body committee workshops.
Workshops are scheduled regularly with dedicated times blocked out in meeting schedules. This enables several items to be discussed, but time is limited. In general, workshop time is reserved for priority issues – those on the forward work programme or significant emerging issues – and other items may be refused or postponed.
Material should be provided for pre-circulation to enable quality discussion and input. This includes a clear purpose (what elected members are being asked for) and clarity if any of the material is confidential.
During the workshop
Conflicts of interest need to be declared, with the member removing themselves from the discussion for that item [1]. This is the same process as for a formal decision-making meeting.
If technology such as video conferencing is available, it can be used to save travel time for staff or presenters.
Workshops are not decision-making meetings; therefore, while they can be used to gather informal feedback or insights, they cannot be used to provide formal feedback on an issue. This means for example that while a local board could provide insights on an issue at a workshop, it cannot decide a formal position.
Follow-up from the workshop
Where a Governing Body workshop is open, the workshop, the agenda (and subsequent notes) and a recording of the workshop will be published on the Auckland Council website.
Where a Governing Body workshop is closed to the public, the workshop and the reasons that it is closed will be published on the Auckland Council website. No recording of the workshop will be published, but the council may decide to publish relevant workshop records on its website.