Independent assessment for Council coming soon

An independent assessment as part of Local Government New Zealand's (LGNZ) Excellence Programme will be conducted in February at South Waikato District Council.

"Our council is one of 21 Foundation Councils signed up to the programme aimed at lifting and demonstrating the value of local government," said Craig Hobbs, Council's Chief Executive.

The programme is aimed at demonstrating and improving the value and services of councils by measuring indicators across four key areas - leadership, finance, service delivery and community engagement.

Participating councils are assessed by independent experts every three years, given an overall rating on a nine point scale from AAA to C, and the results publicised. Councils will discuss results with communities and use the assessments to plan improvements. The system will give communities a clear and independent picture of how well their council is performing in serving the community, and to give councils information on where they can improve.

South Waikato Mayor Jenny Shattock says the South Waikato District Council was keen to be involved.

"There is an expectation that we deliver best practice to our customers, our ratepayers, and we need to perform at the level that's required," said Mayor Shattock. "We pride ourselves on being transparent and keen to identify potential improvements, which is one of the reasons we were one of the first councils to sign up."

"This programme will help us to help communities and we will be a stronger organisation for going through an independent assessment like this."

The Excellence Programme will highlight both the good performance and the areas for improvement. Council will then take the results and consult with their community to develop an action plan for improvement, partnering up with other councils to share best practice.

"South Waikato is committed to lifting and demonstrating our performance so that the community we serve can have greater confidence in what we do and how we do it," said Mayor Shattock. "We are looking forward to working through the journey that this independent assessment provides us."

As part of the process Council has completed a self-assessment and external assessors will be onsite for a two day visit on Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 February.

Visit www.councilmark.co.nz for more information on the Excellence Programme.

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