Auckland Council please explain

Tuesday, 22 January 2013, 4:30 pm
Press Release: Employers And Manufacturers Association

Media statement Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The recent revelation that staff numbers at Auckland Council and its CCOs are up by 840 over one year to June 2012 or 12 per cent is hard to understand, says Kim Campbell, chief executive of the Employers and Manufacturers Association.

"As one of the leading champions backing the single city for Auckland we want to hear from Council why this is the case," he said.

"In today's environment with all organisations and businesses seeking to do more with less, the Council has some explaining to do.

"Original projections led us to hope and expect that Auckland Council should be able to run the city comfortably with 6500 staff; total staff numbers of well over 8000 as alerted today is alarming.

"Ratepayers have footed the bill for an extra $40 to $50 million in the one year alone.

"The reasons EMA backed the single city were three fold. We saw the urgency to:

* Fix our transport issues

* Facilitate economic growth

* Keep a tight lid on the city's administrative costs

"Auckland Council has no mandate for blowing out its staff wages and we will be seeking the reasons why the Council has taken on the extra 840 staff."

ENDS

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