Auckland City Council
Media release

12 December 2007

Review of organisation development programme underway at city council

The leaders of the new council have requested that a review of Auckland City Council’s organisation development programme be undertaken.

This is part of a high-level value-for-money evaluation of council’s activities and culture.

“We have made a commitment to ensure that the operations of the council are efficient and effective, to ensure Aucklanders receive prompt and hassle free service from their council,” said Councillor Doug Armstrong, Chairperson, Finance and Strategy Committee.

“It is normal for any new governance entity to review the efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation and this new council is no exception.”

There is no explicit intention to reduce staff numbers.

Mr Doug Martin has been engaged to conduct this review in the second half of January 2008.

Mr Martin is one of New Zealand’s most experienced and respected advisers on approaches to improving the performance of public sector organisations.

During his tenure as Deputy State Services Commissioner, Doug was the principal adviser to Government on the State Sector Act, and the re-organisation of government organisations that flowed from the State Owned Enterprises Act and the State Sector Act.

The review of the organisation’s development programme will look at:

• culture and leadership
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• customer service
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• business planning and measurement
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• process and systems.
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Mr Martin will provide the council with feedback around areas where he sees progress has been made and where he sees opportunity for further development.

The review of the organisation development programme complements other work the new leadership of the council is conducting, such as looking at the approach to the leaky buildings issue, the provision of communications and marketing services and the size of the capital works programme.

A small steering group has been established to guide the review work, made up of the Mayor John Banks, Deputy Mayor David Hay, Chair and Deputy Chair of Finance and Strategy Councillor Doug Armstrong and Councillor Aaron Bhatnagar plus some external input from local government expert Grant Kirby.

At present the cost of the review is not confirmed as briefs are being finalised however it is intended that any costs will be modest and recovered through savings identified as part of the process.

Ends

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