SuperCity Change Revealed

in RWC 2011 by Jon C — May 24, 2010 at 1:57 pm | 1 comment

The  new Auckland Council can now require the new Auckland Transport holds its meetings in public and can appoint the Chair and Deputy of each CCO including Auckland Transport ( not the CCO board).

Local government minister Rodney Hide announced this afternoon changes to the SuperCity legislaiton, after widespread criticism .

He said  that to ensure accountability the Auckland Council now must have a stated and public CCO accountability policy which clearly establishes that the Council has control over its CCOs.

• CCOs, including Auckland Transport, are now made subject to the Council’s long-term and other strategic plans;
• The Auckland Council can now require CCOs to report quarterly rather than half-yearly, and can also require them to have their meetings open to the public;
• Auckland Council will be responsible and democratically accountable for decision-making regarding transport objectives and funding. Auckland Council can modify Auckland Transport’s constitution; replace members of its board; set operating objectives and receive quarterly reports.

The roles of Local Boards have been changed.

Before the Local Government election in October the Auckland Transition Agency will publish the Local Board’s baseline list of responsibilities and functions, and their baseline funding.

Any minor changes will be negotiated and agreed between the Auckland Council and the local boards at the time of developing the 2012 Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP). In future the number of Local Board members can be increased to a range of 5- 12 members, from the current range of 4-9 members. This can occur at the next representation review after the 2013 elections.

This is the third and final bill that will complete the legislative framework for the reform of Auckland governance. The Bill will go through its remaining Parliamentary stages over the next couple of weeks.

MORE: Read the committee’s report

Labour criticism

Greens criticism

Tags: Auckland supercity Auckland Transport CCOs Rodney Hide