5.3 Meeting procedures

Many of the council’s significant formal decisions are made by resolution of the Governing Body, a local board or a committee at formal meetings. The procedure for such resolutions is governed by the [1]: 

• relevant Standing Orders [2] 
• rules in the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
• rules in Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2002.

The aspects of council meetings governed by these rules include the following: 

• how meetings are called, including the amount of notice required [3] 
• meeting quorum [4] 
• the chairs of meetings [5] 
• how items arise from discussion at the meeting, including how resolutions are proposed and voted on (see standing orders) 
• rules about the conduct of members at the meetings [6] 
• requirements for public notification of meetings and agendas [7] 
• the right of the public to attend meetings and the ability to exclude people in some circumstances [8] 
• requirements to keep minutes and make these publicly available [9]. 

Meeting agenda

The council must hold meetings that are necessary for the good government of its region or district [10]. Each council meeting follows an agenda [11]. Matters usually appear on the meeting’s agenda by way of officer reports, usually drafted by staff and approved by managers or a member of the council’s executive leadership team. The reports are uploaded onto the council intranet before a scheduled meeting and an agenda is published on the council website two days before the meeting takes place. 

Decision making

Unless the Local Government Act 2002 or the Standing Orders provide otherwise, any act or question coming before the Governing Body, local board or its committee must be decided by an open vote, by the majority of the members present and voting [12]. This reflects the fact that the Governing Body or local board is democratically responsible for the council’s decision-making. 

Public participation

The public can have input into the council’s decisions at meetings of the Governing Body, local boards and their committees. Ordinarily, an item is included on the agenda at the start of meetings open to the public (see standing orders).   Requests for public input are decided in accordance with Standing Orders.  If a request for public input is approved, each speaker may talk for five minutes during this section of a Governing Body meeting and for three minutes during a local board meeting.  However, a resolution to exclude the public may apply to the whole or a relevant part of a meeting. 

Revoking, amending and correcting errors in decisions 

Generally, a power to make a decision can be used more than once. This applies when circumstances change or decisions are required [13]. In some circumstances, a decision-maker also has the power to: 

• revoke, suspend, amend or remake the substance of the decision [14] 
• correct any errors or omissions in the decision [15]. 

A decision-maker does not always have these powers. It is appropriate to seek legal advice before seeking to change a decision. 

Revoking, suspending or amending decisions

Whether a decision can be revoked or amended after it has been made depends on the nature of the decision. This requires balancing the principles of finality and flexibility [16].  

For some types of decisions, fairness requires that the council’s decision is final and cannot be revoked or amended. This is usually because individuals need to be able to rely on the decision’s finality or it would be unfair on affected individuals to restart the decision-making process once it has been completed. 

For other types of decisions, it is more important the council has flexibility to revoke or amend its decisions as circumstances change or new information comes to light. 

The general principle is that a decision that determines a specific individual’s or group’s legal rights (for example a resource consent decision) cannot be revoked once it has been communicated to the individual or group concerned as final. At that stage, the decision-maker is functus officio or finished with the decision [17].  

Prior to that point (for example if it has been communicated as a draft decision or signed-off but not communicated), the decision has not been finalised in law and may be amended. Most regulatory decisions fall into this category. 

The types of decisions that can generally be revoked, suspended or amended are ones that involve:  

• appointing someone to a role, office or committee [18] 
• delegating powers or functions to an individual or committee 
• creating regulations, rules, policies or other instruments [19]. 

Correcting errors

Generally, the decision-maker may correct errors or omissions in the decision once it has been made [20]. Corrections should be made promptly after the decision has been issued and should be communicated to the affected people. 

The power to correct errors does not allow the decision-maker to change the decision because they have changed their mind or because new information has come to light [21], even when it appears the decision was based on incorrect information.  

The power to correct errors may generally be used to correct drafting errors, for example, when the wrong person is named in a decision or a document is misdated, provided that it is clear from the context what was actually intended. Some administrative errors may also be corrected, for example, when the wrong person has signed the document or the wrong document is referred to. 

Care needs to be taken if the correction affects the legal rights of an individual, especially where the error or omission is not obvious from reading the document. In these cases, legal advice should be sought. 

Footnotes

[1] Local Government Act 2002, Sch 7, cl 19(3). 

[2] Made under Local Government Act 2002, Sch 7, cl 27. 

[3] Local Government Act 2002, Sch 7, cl 19(4), (5) and (6) & cls 21, 22; LGOIMA ss 46, 51. 

[4] Local Government Act 2002, Sch 7, cl 23. 

[5] Local Government Act 2002, Sch 7, cl 26. 

[6] See Standing Orders; Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act s 50. 

[7] Local Government Official Information Meetings Act s 46. 

[8] Local Government Official Information Meetings Act ss 47, 48 and 49. 

[9] Local Government Act 2002, Sch 7, cl 28; LGOIMA s 51. 

[10] Local Government Act 2002, Sch 7, cl 19. 

[11] Local Government Official Information Meetings Act s 46A; see also Standing Orders. 

[12] Local Government Act 2002, Sch 7, cl 24.    

[13] Interpretation Act 1999 s 16. 

[14] Interpretation Act 1999, s 15. 

[15] Interpretation Act 1999, s 13. 

[16] See for example Goulding v Chief Executive Ministry of Fisheries [2004] 3 NZLR 173; and Zaoui v Attorney-General [2005] 1 NZLR 577 (CA) at [54]. 

[17] See for example Goulding v Chief Executive Ministry of Fisheries [2004] 3 NZLR 173. 

[18] Interpretation Act 1999, s 12. 

[19] Interpretation Act 1999 s 15. 

[20] Interpretation Act 1999 s 13. 

[21] See for example Goulding v Chief Executive Ministry of Fisheries [2004] 3 NZLR 173; Ellipse Institute Ltd v New Zealand Qualifications Authority.