1. Defining high performance Phil Wilson, Governance Director Auckland Council

2. We are not there yet, but we are on the right trajectory
Opening Remarks
We are not there yet, but we are on the right trajectory
Assessment of our performance is confused by:
Organisational complexity
Changing form
Transition matters
Rating changes
Poor understanding of our model and financial and governance literacy

3. A polemic exists in the reform debate
Opening Remarks
A polemic exists in the reform debate
Reality is somewhere between two extremes
Wider context here includes:
Strategic reason for change
Cynicism and disengagement
Subsidiarity tensions
I will return to these later on

4. Auckland’s Amalgamation1
Governing Body 30
Community Boards 21
Local Boards
$29bn
in ratepayer equity 7
Mayors
and 1 Chair 1
Mayor
Shared decision making
Governing body and local boards
CCOs
Independent Maori Statutory Board
Planning framework
Regional vision
Rating system 8
Regional
District and
City councils
261
Elected members
170
Elected members
Largest public sector merger in New Zealand history, and the largest amalgamation of councils in Australasia.
Compelling reasons for amalgamation:
Need for a unified regional vision
a single governance structure
a cohesive approach to planning and transport infrastructure
Strength and security in size; achieving economies of scale, etc.
We have a unique governance structure with decision making shared between the governing body (Mayor and 20 Councillors) and 21 Local Boards. Our Local Boards are of considerable size (many are bigger than other councils in NZ) and have significantly more decision making authority than community boards in other areas.
Mayors powers and role; Mayoral office
IMSB
CCOs (next slide)
$3bn
$1.7bn
opex annual budget
9,430
FTEs
9,154
FTEs
capex annual budget
2010
2016
(130, 000 in 5 years)
Pop 1,439,600
Pop 1,569,900

5. Network Organisation Structure
Six substantive CCOs delivering key services and managing significant assets as part of the Auckland Council group.
A range of operational and other activities deliberately put at arms length.
Multiple special purpose entities

6. 34% 3rd A snapshot of Auckland Urban Auckland Rural Auckland
At a glance, Auckland is NZ’s largest and fastest growing city –34% of New Zealand’s population.
We are the world’s 3rd most liveable city according to the Mercer Quality of Living Survey and have been for the last 4 years the survey has been conducted.
We govern 500,000 hectares; larger area than some countries
Approx. 90% live in the urban core which covers approximately 20% of the total land mass.
100,000 people live in approximately the 80% of the remaining area.
City Centre – Anticipates a gross average density of 50 – 200 dwellings per hectare through 9 or more storey buildings. As you move out to city fringes and beyond these begin to reduce – Eg Ponsonby 40 – 60 dwellings per hectare.
34%
Of New Zealand’s population
City Centre
Wellington
3rd
For the last 4 consecutive years in the
Mercer Quality of Living Survey

7. What we value
Our blue environment
Our green environment
Our built environment
Our diversity
Our people
Our democracy
What makes Auckland special: themes that emerged from consultation and the development of our 30 year plan.
Our arts and culture
Our heritage

8. 830 8 17 200 1 3.5 350 400 400 60 A typical week in Auckland last year
New residents 8
New teachers 17
Additional buses
200
Additional children 1
New doctor
3.5
Additional trains
350
New dwellings
400
New jobs required
400
Additional cars
on our roads
New street every three days
We are experiencing unprecedented growth. In an average week in Auckland last year, we had 830 new residents, who will have roughly 200 children. These new residents and their children need teachers, doctors, jobs, buses, places to live, roads for their cars, streets for these cars to drive on.
While our total FTEs have not gone down significantly, when pared with our population growth, we have achieved efficiencies and lowered the number of FTEs for every 1,000 residents from 6.55 to 5.83.
Workforce spend accounts for 21% of our total expenses from continuing operations– that’s less than 88% of respondents in the last PWC local government operational and management effectiveness report. (2015). 60
New offences

9. Urbanisation
We need to grow…
220+
Ethnicities in Auckland
400,000
Houses needed in the next 30 years
… and support it with the right infrastructure that meet our needs
50%
Of New Zealand’s
growth in the last year.
5 Years on:
With the tremendous growth we are experiencing and increased scrutiny to demonstrate the benefits and savings from amalgamation:
half of NZ’s population growth in the last year was in Auckland (The projected rate of growth of Auckland projects that in 2043, 40 out of every 100 Kiwis will be living in Auckland.)
Auckland is ahead of other world-class cities such as Sydney, Los Angeles and London in terms of diversity. 39% of Aucklanders were born overseas. There are more than 220 ethnicities (World Migration Report 2015).
A rapidly growing economy and population, more people who want to live here than we can cater for are “good” problems: indicates a city that is attractive and flourishing. Our challenge is with maintaining quality with size. Quality housing, a healthy environment, vibrant and safe neighbourhoods and citizens who feel that they are heard and empowered to do things for their communities.
This requires holistic and integrated thinking and planning. 4
Out of every 10 Kiwis will be
living in Auckland by 2043

10. 2019 2014 2010 The world’s leading council
Our journey
The world’s leading council
Future proofing
2019
Defining and building our vision
A high performance council
2014
Keep Auckland going
Getting the basics right
Started the journey in Nov 2010:
Ensure that we kept the city running
issued >1.3m library items, collected >15,000 tonnes of household waste, 9,000 tonnes of recycling, met 667 stormwater service requests, processed more than 2300 licenses, made 11,000 building inspections, and answered 144,000 calls from the public
Build on our core activities and set a direction: the world’s most liveable city.
A great city needs a great council. Develop a credible plan to take us there.
A leading council that is prepared for a future city that is at the forefront of cultural vibrancy, local democracy, economic growth and sustainability.
We are not here yet, but we know where we want to go and have a strategy for us to achieve our goal.
2010

11. Driving what council does: our vision and our plans
We have a robust planning framework to support us to achieve our vision of becoming the world’s most liveable city.
Our over-arching vision is to be the Worlds Most Liveable City. The Auckland Plan is a 30 year strategy to achieve that goal.
The Auckland Plan is supported by and implemented through our Long-term (10 year) plan; Unitary (land use) plan; Local Board plans and a suit of other strategies and plans.
We just recently launched our first comprehensive organisational strategy that sets out how, as a high performing organisation, we will achieve Auckland becoming the world’s most liveable city.
A 3-year roadmap of organisation-wide priorities to drive a high performing council

12. 1 Vision 6 Outcomes 4 Focus areas Our organisational strategy
1 overarching organisational goal
6 organisational outcomes that we are all working towards
Our citizens have a strong voice and are key in shaping Auckland
Elected members are better supported to make high quality decisions for Auckland
We get the job done faster, more conveniently and at lower cost than before for Customers, Community and Citizens
Our high performing, safe and inclusive workforce effectively serves a diverse and changing Auckland
General rates burden decreases as non-rates revenue share of total revenue grows
We do more with less without compromising service and the customer experience
4 focus areas that group our activities, including our high performance culture to underpin all of the above
Engage and enable communities
Customer centric services
Making our size work
High Performance Culture: 4 high performance behaviours – achieve, develop, collaborate, serve.

13. What we will hear in 3 years
“They are making the right decisions for Auckland and our voices are heard”
“They work with our business to achieve our goals”
“We get good value for our rates compared to other cities”
“Our community is stronger because of council’s support”
“Auckland Council is where I want to work”
We will hear about the difference we are making from our citizens, communities and elected members.
“We’ve experienced a huge improvement in how they support us”
“They are efficient & easy to deal with, I can do most things myself”

14. The digital future for ratepayers and customers
Customer centric not just property based
It will be clear for our ratepayers and customers where they need to go in order to get what they want.

15. Revisiting the value proposition Branding
How we are leading
Revisiting the value proposition
Branding
Leadership capacity and behaviours
Measurement
Transparency/reporting
Combatting the tyranny of distance
My time
Rigour around staff performance and numbers
Prioritisation and investment disciplines

16. Community-centred thinking, behaviour and design
Key shifts for better decisions for Auckland
We are an exemplary public sector organisation that supports our decision-makers to make choices reflecting citizen value
Efficient and effective processes that provide optimal service for our governance groups
Increased transparency and accessibility making it easy for our citizens and communities to be informed, hear back from us and participate
Resolve regional and local tensions to achieve the right balance
Community-centred thinking, behaviour and design
We are a leader in improving diversity outcomes in Auckland
One of our organisational goals is for our elected members to be better supported to make high quality decisions for Auckland.
Challenge: how do we determine what our citizens value when we have over 220 ethnicities in our city? How do we
We must be high performing according to our own assessment, but also in the eyes of our citizens and communities.
Online agendas and other support/development for our elected members.
Continue to look at the local board and governing body interface

17. Share common back-office services across the council family
Continuing to leverage our size
We take a leadership role with central government to progress revenue streams
We maximise opportunities for services that can be offered to others at a cost that leverage our scale
Teams actively seek ways to reduce the rates burden through innovative service design and delivery
Prudent financial stewardship and decision-making will deliver better value for money
Share common back-office services across the council family
Procurement: co-sourcing across council family
Continued process and systems efficiencies
Removing duplication where possible and spending responsibly

18. 1 2 3 4 5 10 challenges going forward
Diversity and inclusion – internal and external 2
Disengagement and cynicism 3
Fragmented community interaction 4
Opinion lead news and the paying constituency for media 5
Customising local service levels and engineering flexibility into procurement contract management

19. 6 7 8 9 10 10 challenges going forward
Organisational understanding of the model and responsiveness to it 7
Balancing regional/strategic imperatives with local needs and aspirations 8
Funding toolbox limitations 9
Aligning with government and others 10
Pace & bureaucracy

20. Our story
Phil: Video will play here