The council bodies that run about 75 per cent of Super City services have been told to front up in person to give an account of their performance.
The seven council-controlled organisations (CCOs) appear before the council's accountability and performance committee four times a year - the main public platform to hold the commercially-focused bodies accountable for their actions.
A Herald report last month found that the unelected stewards have largely ignored a plea from Mayor Len Brown for openness and transparency and lock the public out of most meaty decisions. When officers suggested that the CCOs be let off the hook from presenting their annual reports in person on the grounds they had been audited and no decisions were required, the committee voted this down by 8 votes to 6.
Councillor Cameron Brewer said the idea of posting the annual reports to councillors was an outrageous case of the CCOs preferring to operate without political scrutiny.
"Given the growing public concern at the cost and power of the seven unelected council-controlled organisations, their performance needs to be scrutinised by councillors at every opportunity."
