Auditor-General's reports published this afternoon

This afternoon the New Zealand Auditor-General’s report Matters arising from the 2015-25 local authority long-term plans was presented to the House of Representatives.

This report sets out the main findings and observations from our audits of local authorities’ 2015-25 long-term plans (LTPs). It follows on from our report Consulting the community about local authorities’ 10-year plans, which included our observations from our audits of local authorities’ consultation documents.

The 2015-25 LTPs are the fourth set that we have audited since 2006. Although the preparation and audit of LTPs is not new, the content required in each LTP has evolved with successive changes to the governing legislation. The LTP is an important tool for the community to hold its local authority to account. Its primary purpose is to outline the financial and service delivery circumstances that the local authority faces and the proposed response to those circumstances.

Our report looks at:
• local authorities’ infrastructure strategies;
• financial trends and affordability;
• the effect of demographic changes, including economic development; and
• our audit reports issued on the LTPs.

Local authorities attempt to strike a careful balance between the need to fund services while maintaining debt levels and rates rises at acceptable and prudent levels. It is clear that the significant tension between providing services to the standard expected by the community while maintaining rates and debt at an acceptable level remains for local government and the communities they serve.

Our previously published report Delivering scheduled services to patients – Progress in responding to the Auditor-General’s recommendation was also presented to the House this afternoon.

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