Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 1:19 PM
Subject: Official Information request - Taituarā/SOLGM
I refer to your Official Information request of27 March 2024 relating to funds paid to Taituarā, formally known as the NZ Society of Local Government Managers (SOLGM), for the 2023 calendar year.
The below information is provided in response to your requests.
- A list of all payments from the Council group (i.e. including any CCOs) to Taituarā
For each payment:
- the date, invoice number, and what the payment was for and
- whether it was recovered (or deducted from the pay) from the relevant employee enjoying the membership or services related to the same.
The below table shows the payments made to Taituarā. None of these costs were recovered from employees. No payments were made by CCOs.
| Due Date
| Reference
| Details
| Transaction Amount (inc GST)
|
|---|
| 20-Dec-23
| W1013482
| BOINZ membership renewals 2024
| 6,601.00
|
| 20-Nov-23
| W1013060
| BOINZ membership renewals 2024
| 1,533.32
|
| 20-Aug-23
| NZ486149
| Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand membership x 1
| 912.50
|
| 20-Jun-23
| INV-2036
| Local Government NZ - Annual subscription 2023/24
| 74,217.87
|
| 20-Apr-23
| INV-03622
| Association of Building Compliance Inc subscription x 2
| 287.50
|
| 20-Mar-23
| 6946
| NZ Institute of Landscape Architects Inc membership x 1
| 664.00
|
| 20-Mar-23
| 6726
| NZ Institute of Landscape Architects Inc membership x 1
| 664.00
|
| | | 84,880.19
|
If the Council considers that the membership
for Council officers is
as part of their role at
the Council
(and therefore not for private benefit) please
provide this information and explain how Taituarā is not therefore treated as a
CCO under s 6(1) of the Local Government Act 2002 for the purposes of
the Council group’s statutory reporting.
Taituarā is an incorporated society. It is the professional body for local government managers and staff. Membership is voluntary rather than a requirement as is the case for example with lawyers, accountants etc. Taituarā are not a union and play no role in the negotiation of employment contracts or employment relations for any individual or group within the sector.
Taituarā does not meet the legal definition of a CCO under the Local Government Act. It is the individual not the council that is a member of Taituarā. No local authority or group of local authorities own or control 50 percent or more of the voting rights at any meeting of Taituarā, nor does any local authority or group of local authorities have the right to appoint 50 percent or more of the members of the governing body.
Regarding payments to Taituarā we provide the below information:
The annual sector good levy funds the work Taituarā does on behalf of the sector including the development of guides and resources to help the sector implement legislation and, working with central government and its agencies to ensure legislation is workable (for example, making a submission on a Bill or discussion document), and so on. Taituarā submissions are matters of public record. The most recent submissions are on a publicly available page of Taituarā’s website (https://taituara.org.nz/advocacy).
Taituarā resources and guidance are put on a council-access-only webpage – largely to prevent the private sector from leveraging for private profit the intellectual property that the sector paid to develop. Any person may view the front page of what Taituarā call their toolkit at https://taituara.org.nz/lg-sectorgood-toolkit. Below is an overview of what is on that site:
- the electoral code of good practice and associated electoral resources ,
- our suite of long-term planning guidance,
- the annual cost adjustors report
- the suite of legal compliance modules – flowcharts that help the sector step through various legal processes (such as issuing a building consent)
- a suite of resources on financial management (rating reviews, fees and charges, we have a guide to the Rating Act in development)
- resources to support the Governance function.
With regard attendance at various Taituarā events. These are training and professional development opportunities:
- some cover particular skills (for example – leadership development)
- others might cover particular topics specific to local government (for example the LTP training we did in early 2023 or webinars on topics such as the upcoming webinars on voluntary buyouts, delegations, sovereign citizens etc)
- others are opportunities for particular occupational groups to meet and discuss topics of common interest or concern (the April 10/11 Finance Forum is a good example).
These are all undertaken on a user pays basis. Programmes are online – and, unless stated otherwise, are open to anyone who pays the fee.
