Category: Hot Discussion

An issue causing hot discussion either here in the blog or in the wider community

Reaction to the EY Report

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Government needs to tighten up the “rules”

 

This is a rare piece of commentary from me personally into the entire “Len Brown affair.” Since the story broke I have been more or less silent on the “affair” aspect while constantly keeping an eye on the “conduct” side of the matter. From Day One when the story broke (while returning from a Council briefing on I believe it was on the Unitary Plan heading for notification) I have always said for me to no longer give “support” to the Mayor, he would have to conduct a criminal act (and be convicted) or conduct serious misconduct (an affair is not misconduct) through misuse of resources or power, and/or other serious nature.

I have the EY report that was commissioned by Council CEO Doug McKay after it landed (with an accompanying release) in my email box this afternoon. You can read the report over at this post here: The EY Report Commissioned by Auckland Council CEO. That said I was NOT at the Press Conference in Town Hall this afternoon over the release of the report.

 

After receiving and reading the report I have come to three conclusions:

  1. The “rules” set by the Council Code of Conduct,  that by the Remuneration Authority, and the Local Government (Auckland Amendment) Act 2009 are too loose with little measures provided if something does go wrong/breached
  2. Government must tighten up the regulations set about by the Remuneration Authority for issuing rules around use of ratepayers resources – e.g the mayoral car and when it can be used or not. In the same regard the Local Government Act needs tightening up so the Governing Body have available a wide range of measures to deal with errant elected members. This can range from a Censure motion to something more punitive (whatever one decides that might be short of sacking a mayor)
  3. Owing to this error in regards to several matters pointed out in the EY report (cell phone, mayoral car, and not declaring the hotels on the register)(and rather than the actual affair) my confidence in the mayor is shaken with support moving from positive to negative. That said I still have confidence and positive support in the wider main Council (although a particular CCO is an exception at the moment) and the rest of the elected members (regardless of whether I agree with them or not (Dick Quax and Cameron Brewer)). In being honest it has weighed on my mind on what else has the mayor not declared outside of the “affair” and could have this affected any other mayoral decision-making

 

I stress again to make it crystal clear that yes confidence in the mayor is shaken with support switching from positive to negative. HOWEVER, confidence and support remains with the Deputy Mayor and the rest of the Councillors despite disagreements from time to time. 

 

One thing I do ask of the Governing Body after the elected members have had time to review the EY report is that an extraordinary meeting be called of the GB ASAP! In that extraordinary meeting a motion of censure is called and voted for against the mayor immediately. Whether the vote passes or fails is beside the point in my opinion. The point being is that the Governing Body has now been damaged and in the eyes of the City the censure motion needs to occur to help restore confidence towards the Council. Failure to move the censure motion quickly could paralyse worthwhile projects before the Council – and that would be a true detriment to Auckland. It is risky

 

For the rest of it Parliament is going to need to haul backside and tighten up rules around Local Government to prevent this kind of mess from happening again. And to me that is going to be the main point coming out of this entire mess! 

 

The EY report

 

The EY Report Commissioned by Auckland Council CEO

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The Release and Report as Is

[No Commentary]

 

Below is the Release and subsequent EY report that was commissioned by Council CEO Doug McKay. I will not be running any commentary in this post on the report and all comments will be disabled.

 

From Auckland Council:

Chief Executive statement: EY Independent Review

 

Doug McKay

Chief Executive, Auckland Council

13 December 2013 

 

The EY report released today summarises the findings of their review into the use of council resources and any improper preferential employment treatment, as it relates to the Mayor’s relationship with Ms Bevan Chuang. I commissioned EY to undertake the review to address concerns that had been raised.

This has been an exhaustive and comprehensive review. It addresses the issues that had been raised and I am satisfied that EY has delivered a robust and thorough report.

EY was asked to examine:

 

  • any use of council resources within the Office of the Mayor, in respect of the Mayor’s relationship with Ms Chuang, that contravenes council policies;
  • any improper preferential treatment in relation to Ms Chuang’s engagement as an employee, contractor or an advisor within the Auckland Council Group; and
  • any other issues that the reviewers or Chief Executive considers relate to, or arise out of, the above matters.

 

The review covered the period from the council’s amalgamation on 1 November 2010 to the commissioning of the review on 21 October 2013. EY’s findings are based on a factual and evidence-based review of the Mayor’s use of council resources as it relates to council policies and processes and, where appropriate, external obligations. EY has conclusively addressed the terms of reference of the review.

 

EY found that the Mayor did not inappropriately use council resources to support the relationship with Ms Chuang. EY examined the use of council phones, credit cards, expense claims, gifts, mayoral car use and travel. Any use, where it existed, was generally within the permitted guidelines and policies. EY did not find any expense claims funded by council to purchase gifts, accommodation, meals or entertainment as they relate to Ms Chuang.

Arising out of the review, EY found that there were some instances where the relevant council policies were not fully met, or the use of resources raised questions. These include, the amount the Mayor reimbursed to council for costs incurred for personal mobile usage, the Mayoral driver used for private family transportation when the Mayor was overseas, and the payment by council of a portion of a modest overseas dinner that was arguably private.

EY found the Mayor received nine complimentary hotel rooms that have not been registered as gifts or disclosed in his completed annual Declaration of Interests. EY reports the value of the complimentary rooms based on rates provided by the hotels is $6,130. They also found the Mayor received hotel upgrades which have not been registered as gifts or disclosed in the Declaration of Interests. There were 64 instances valued by the hotels at $32,888.50.

EY did not identify any improper preferential treatment in relation to Ms Chuang’s employment, contracting or advisory roles within the council group.

During the course of EY’s review, I was asked about the Mayor’s trip to Hong Kong undertaken in January 2013. The Mayor was a guest of the Hong Kong Government and all costs for flights, accommodation and hotel meal expenses were funded by the Hong Kong Government. The Mayor did not claim any expenses. No staff or support services, such as a translator, accompanied the Mayor.

 

I am now satisfied that the EY’s report has addressed the concerns raised with me. I would like to thank EY for completing this review and all the parties that assisted them.

—ends—

 

The EY Report in Full

 

 

Council Looking at Business Friendly City

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Council Urges Businesses to Submit on Unitary Plan

 

From Auckland Council on shaping a business friendly Auckland:

Business urged to submit on plans for ‘Shaping a business-friendly city’

 

A new guide on what the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan does to support longer-term economic growth has been released to help businesses understand and submit on the rules that will affect them the most. 

The guide, titled ‘Shaping a business-friendly city’, identifies strong centres, new business land and better transport links as essential for Auckland’s growth.

 

Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse says it is important businesses have their say on the proposed plan. 

“This document summarises the key aspects relevant to businesses. That includes enabling business clustering, and the innovation that comes with it, safeguarding existing business land and securing new land for business growth.  It also looks at how more compact and high-quality centres across Auckland will help to create public transport and infrastructure investment more viable, make businesses more accessible to staff and customers and help create a city where skilled young people choose to live and work ahead of competitor cities overseas,” she says.

 

Economic growth is a major part of Auckland’s vision to become the world’s most liveable city. The Unitary Plan, as the rulebook that will shape how Auckland grows, has an important role to play in enabling that growth. 

The plan proposes more consistent planning rules across Auckland, providing businesses and developers with greater certainty as well as smarter digital tools that are faster to use. 

The report also highlights the range of ways that creating a more compact, vibrant, efficient and attractive Auckland can enable economic growth, such as:

 

  • –       Productivity and innovation driven by clustering and agglomeration
  • –       A place where talented young people choose to stay, live and work
  • –       Hubs that make public transport and other infrastructure investment more viable
  • –       Coordinated infrastructure investment to support areas of growth
  • –       Safeguarding environment and heritage as part of Auckland’s point of difference in the world
  • –       Safeguarding existing business land and opening up new areas
  • –       Businesses closer or more accessible to their customers and employees
  • –       Transport links that help supply chain efficiency
  • –       Centres and business areas that attract new and continued investment

 

Submissions on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan are open until 28 February 2014. The council is urging businesses to have their say on the parts of the plan they support as well as those they want to change.

—ends—

 

Some reference material

SHAPING A BUSINESS-FRIENDLY AUCKLAND – Council Blog Post

 

The Diagram from that blog post:

BC3080-A vibrant, efficient and attractive Auckland

 

The Shaping a business-friendly city pdf file

 

More on this tomorrow