Regional Council policy advice rates well

Policy advice from Bay of Plenty Regional Council staff to its councillors rates well, according to an independent assessment – but policy staff want to do better.

Councillors have just had a report from assessor Fiona Johnson of Wellington consultant Johnson McSweeney Ltd. The report found that 55 percent of policy advice given in the past year was rated as ‘high quality’ on a series of key indicators, while the rest rated as ‘quality’.

‘High quality advice’ is rated as a good report with a clear purpose, which sets out the decision to be made, covers the issues, options, evaluation and provides information councillors need to made a decision. It gives a clear recommendation, has a logical structure and is readable and concise.

A key performance indicator in the council’s Te Year Plan was that 80 percent of policy advice should be independently assessed as high quality.

Eleven reports for the Sustainable Development team were assessed, and found to be clear and concise. They covered a single issue with a clear purpose, used little jargon, had a good logical structure and presented a range of options. The reports provided benefits and disadvantages of the options, argued well for a position, used external expertise or research where it was needed and identified limitations of knowledge, with a conclusion.

Ms Johnson said some areas for improvement included better alignment of recommendations to the reports’ conclusions, and providing stronger contextual information and more information in the main body of the reports instead of in appendices.

In future policy advice could also consider including other experience in New Zealand with similar issues, explicit identification of criteria used for evaluation and broader strategic implications.

Suggested improvements will be considered by the incoming Council.

ENDS

© Scoop Media