What does this event cover

The Systems Improvement Act did a lot more than change the purpose of local government and introduce a definition of core services.

This practical webinar will unpack some of the other significant changes and help you understand what they mean for your council – and what you should be thinking about now.

We’ll cover:

  • what’s left to do – including regulation-making powers, codes of conduct and standing orders
  • appointed members on council committees and subcommittees – how to make these arrangements work in the absence of voting rights for independent members, ensure independent advice reaches the council, and navigate the exemptions process
  • development contributions on fast-track properties – what is in and out of scope of the amendment, and what this means for your policy and practice
  • Chief Executive appointments – when the changes commence, whether mandatory readvertising applies at the end of current CE contracts, and how this sits alongside other requirements such as the review of employment
  • the links between the governance aspects of this Act and the Management of Local Authorities Bill
  • what you will need to do to implement the ‘access to information’ provisions.

You’ll leave with a clearer picture of the less-talked-about changes and the practical steps your organisation should be considering as the reforms progress

Who should attend?

This is a webinar for anyone working in a local authority who wants to understand how changes in the System Improvements Act work. 

We’re not covering the purpose and core service provisions in this webinar – they will be covered in the Decision-making Under the New Purpose and Core Services webinar.

The webinar will be of particular interest to senior leaders in all local authorities, finance staff, corporate planners, policy and legal staff.

Elected members are welcome.

Programme overview

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Your facilitators and guest speakers

Jonathan Salter

Jonathan is widely regarded as New Zealand’s leading expert on the structures, powers, processes, and funding of local authorities, advocating for the sector’s interests through periods of dramatic reform and on specific major projects for over 35 years. Jonathan primarily acts for local authorities and their organisations, but also for those dealing with, or regulating for, local government. He is sought out by private sector and governmental bodies looking to work with local authorities.

From a deep understanding of statutory and political contexts, Jonathan advises on local authority major projects, litigation, and reforms; lobbying, drafting, and promoting legislation, and judicial review proceedings. He regularly advises, and, as required mediates, in governance and restructuring matters, and provides new council inductions and governance training.

Jonathan frequently leads legal teams dealing with complex commercial initiatives within a local government context.

Jonathan was a legal adviser and peer reviewer for SGS Reports to the Ministry for the Environment on “Mechanisms for managing urban change”, and a legal adviser on Local Government Know How projects on rating and local authority decision making. He was the principal legal adviser to Local Government New Zealand and Taituarā (the Society of Local Government Managers).

Jonathan was the principal author of Brookers Guide to the Local Government Act 2002 and Thomsons Local Government Law in New Zealand. He also authored several papers on the National Transition Committee for Local Government Reform – A New Century for Local Government.

Raymond Horan

Raymond re-joined Taituarā in June 2014 as Sector Improvement Manager, before commencing his current role as Chief Advisor at Taituarā. He has spent most of the last 20 years in local government related roles, most recently with the Department of Internal Affairs.

He describes his job as two-thirds providing assistance to the local government sector and one-third providing advice to central government on local government matters. His ambition is to help develop a Local Government Act that doesn’t require changes every 18 months. He asks that you wish him well with this task.