The Taxpayers’ Union slams Wellington Water after a recently released report by Roy Baker and Kevin Jenkins highlighted a failure to report a significant capital budgeting error to their Board in a timely manner.

The report notes that the budget accuracy was not checked, with one paragraph stating: ‘In our view the critical over-riding factors impacting the detection of a reporting abnormality is the organisation’s loose control environment (see Section c.), the absence of clear and publicised responsibilities (canvassed throughout this Report), and inaction, quite probably due to the organisational climate and a culture that is not aligned with its core values. This does suggest Wellington Water continues to profile symptoms of “learned helplessness” (see Section c.).’

Commenting on this, Taxpayers' Union economist, Ray Deacon, said “it is a basic function of a senior leadership team to ensure that the control environment (financial, process, procedures, accountabilities and risk) is adequately managed. It is one of the most basic functions of a Board to make sufficient enquiries to satisfy themselves that this is so.

”Baker and Jenkins report a culture in a state of ‘learned helplessness’ of not wanting to hear or present bad news. Deacon says “clearly, such a culture works to prevent effective and timely corrective actions and will ultimately corrode all aspects of the organisation’s performance. It must be a paramount action of the Board and senior leadership to correct this.”

“What is so totally damning is that this appears to be a repeat of the fiasco surrounding the lack of fluoridation in parts of the network in 2021. The Martin Jenkins consultancy reported on this in June of 2022. The Baker and Jenkins report has identified the same problems in this new report. Clearly, very little corrective action has been taken. Why is this?”

“It is no wonder that Councils and local ratepayers (who fund this dysfunctional organisation) have so little confidence in Wellington Water. But who is going to be held accountable for their abject failures?”

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