Making the Auckland City Council less bureaucratic and more user-friendly is the challenge that has been handed to management consultant Doug Martin.
He will carry out his review of the council's culture next month for a fee of $200 an hour.
Research last year into people's perceptions of
the council's performance came up with a score of 5.6, regarded as "mediocre" by public-sector standards.
Since then, chief executive David Rankin and the executive team have been working to improve the organisation, with mixed results.
The fiasco over the new council logo is an example of how some things have gone horribly wrong. Such events led the new John Banks-led council to bring in an outsider.
Mr Martin is a leading adviser on governance and accountability issues.
A former deputy state services commissioner and chief-of-staff to former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, he has handled a number of beefy reviews. Among them were a review of the Accident Compensation Corporation's fraud unit and the 2005 furore over the New Zealand Qualifications Authority's handling of scholarship exams.
Finance committee chairman Doug Armstrong said the review was aimed at making the council less bureaucratic and less risk averse, and ensuring Aucklanders received prompt and hassle-free service. One area where the council could be less risk averse was in seeking legal advice, he said.
The council spends about $8.4 million a year on outside lawyers and another $1.4 million on in-house legal services. It hopes to bring more legal work in-house to save about $1 million a year.
Mr Armstrong said the review was not a "slash and burn" exercise, but was expected to lead to savings.
The cost of the review has not been confirmed, but Mr Armstrong said it would be about $20,000 based on Mr Martin's rate of $200 an hour.
The review will be made public.
