1. Introduction
1.1 The Local Government Act 2002
The Local Government Act 2002 is the primary piece of legislation that governs Local Authorities. Section 40 of the Local Government Act 2002 (“the Act”) requires each Local Authority to prepare and make publicly available a Local Governance Statement within six months of each triennial election.
The Local Governance Statement must contain information on the following subjects:
- the functions, responsibilities and activities of the local authority;
- any local legislation that confers powers on the local authority;
- the bylaws of the local authority including for each bylaw, its title, a general description, when it was made and when it was last reviewed;
- the electoral system and how to change it;
- representation arrangements including the option of establishing Maori wards or constituencies, and how to change them;
- members roles and conduct (with specific reference to the applicable statutory requirements and the Code of Conduct);
- governance structures, processes, membership and delegations;
- meeting processes (with specific reference to the applicable provisions of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and Standing Orders);
- consultation policies;
- policies for liaising with, memoranda or agreements with Maori;
- the management structure and the relationship between management and Elected Members;
- Council’s Equal Employment Opportunities Policy;
- key approved planning and policy documents and the process for their development and review;
- systems for public access to the Local Authority and its Elected Representatives;
- processes for requesting official information from the Local Authority.
