13 July 2016
Official Information Request No. 9000142742
(Please quote this in any correspondence)
Mr. Stephen Davis
By email:
[FYI request #4046 email]
Dear Mr Davis
Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (The Act)
Re: LGC review of Council
I refer to your email, which we received on 24 May 2016, requesting information about
representation reviews for Auckland Council.
We respond to each of your specific questions below.
1. Has Auckland Council conducted a representation review since it was established?
No.
2. When is Auckland Council required to notify the next representation review by?
Auckland Council is required to conduct a review of representation arrangements for the
2019 elections. The process requires the council to develop its first proposal no earlier than
1 March 2018 (see Local Electoral Act 2001 section 19K) and publicly notify its proposal no
later than 8 September 2018. This is the formal process. The new council may choose to
engage with the public on an informal basis earlier than this. An aspect of representation is
the provision of Maori wards and if the council wishes to pursue this, different timing may
come into play.
3. Any reports, email or other correspondence to or from senior management, elected
officials or central government about the next representation review.
We directed this request to our Principal Advisor, Democracy who led this piece of work. He
has provided the emails which were deemed to be most relevant to your request. These are
attached for your reference.
4. Any drafts or other preliminary work on Auckland Council's initial proposal for the
next representation review.
The current council considered whether or not to pursue provisions for the establishment of
Maori Wards in 2014. It decided to defer that and instead make submissions to government
about two issues that impact on Auckland Council. The first issue is that any other council,
when it reviews its representation arrangements, can review the number of councillors. The
number of members of the Auckland Council governing body is set in legislation as a mayor
and 20 councillors and cannot be reviewed. The second issue relates to the alignment of
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
ward boundaries and local board boundaries. With the population changes that have
occurred in Auckland it is likely that ward boundaries will have to be altered to ensure an
even spread of representation. The review of representation cannot alter local board
boundaries and so ward boundaries and local board boundaries may become unaligned. A
political working party was established to work with officials to develop a submission to the
government. The working party included councillors and local board chairs to ensure all
points of view were captured. As part of its considerations the working party was presented
with census data and possible scenarios. These scenarios were to illustrate impacts of
changes in population and no scenario should be taken to represent the council’s position,
except for any formal resolutions made by the governing body.
We have attached:
(i) Agendas and minutes of meetings of the political working party
(ii) Report to the governing body proposing submissions to government
(iii) Letter to the Chief Executive of the Department of Internal Affairs and the response
Please note that information has been withheld as follows:
• Junior staff names have been withheld under s 7(2)(a) of the Act, in order to protect
the privacy of individuals
• Some opinions contained in emails and presentations are not included under
s7(2)(f)(i) where withholding the information is necessary to maintain the effective
conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expressions of officers
• Legal advice being sought or provided has been withheld under s 7(2)(g), in order to
maintain legal professional privilege
If you have any further queries please contact me on 09 301 0101, quoting Official
Information Request No. 9000142742.
Yours sincerely
Leigh Collecutt
LGOIMA Business Partner
Democracy Services
9000142742
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
