458. Performance information for councils is currently limited, inconsistent and not widely available. Local authorities play a large role in the implementation of the RMA. Issuing resource consents, drafting and reviewing plans, controlling discharges to the environment, monitoring compliance and enforcement are examples of local authority responsibilities under the RMA. Monitoring of council performance in carrying out these functions is currently done through the National Monitoring System, and previously the Biennial Survey of Local Authorities, or ad hoc research. Although valuable information is obtained from these initiatives, it has been unclear to councils what is expected of them in terms of performing their functions under the RMA and how council performance is measured by means of the survey.
459. The RMA has now been in place for 24 years but fundamental issues around consistently implementing the RMA from council to council still remain. No framework exists to work towards aligning council objectives with the Government’s strategic resource management objectives. This will eventually result in a fragmented approach to resource management that has both economic and environmentalimpacts.
460. The proposal isto:
· clearly prescribe how local authorities monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of processes adopted in the course of exercising powers and functions under the RMA (including timeliness, costs, and customersatisfaction)
· require monitoring to be undertaken in accordance with anyregulations
· enable new regulations to prescribe how councils must carry out their monitoring obligations, including what information must be collected, what methodologies must be used, and how and when the information is to bereported.
461. The intent of these changes is to ensure that councils understand that implementation of their powers and functions under the RMA should be in a way that meets the expectations of their community and central government. Requirements to monitor timeliness, costs and customer satisfaction and report on this will assist in driving continuous and incremental performanceimprovements.
462. The key benefit of improved performance reporting is that councils will have a clear understanding of what they are expected to achieve and how their performance will be measured. They will be able to quickly identify areas of underperformance within their regions.
463. These new monitoring proposals also enable regulations to be made to prescribe how councils undertake monitoring, including what information must be collected, what methodologies must be used and how these would be reported. This would lead to standardised information collation, facilitate council comparisons and improve the quality and consistency of information received from councils for initiatives such as the National MonitoringSystem.
464. Costs of implementing these monitoring requirements will be variable across councils depending on the nature of the systems that they already have in place. At this point in time, it is not possible to quantify what these costs would be. The Ministry, in defining the information required to be reported by councils will assess the ability of councils to collect information, and the effects (including costs) on councils as a result of these requirements. There will be low costs for local authorities (variable across local authorities) to implement these monitoring requirements, although there is a risk that system changes could see costs balloon.
465. No alternative options were considered for thisproposal.
466. On its own, this proposal is a relatively minor initiative. However, enhanced council monitoring underpins much of the package and provides means of addressing information gaps for futureuse.
467. This proposal goes towards achieving the objective of ensuring that decision makers have the evidence, capability, and capacity to make high quality decisions and accountabilities are clear.
