Councillors voted four to three in favour of continuing to conduct workshops without formal public records at a council meeting on Thursday .
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier, in his Open for business: A report on the Chief Ombudsman’s investigation into local meeting and workshops report, addressed and proposed changes to the future management of council workshops, including briefings, forums, and networking days, with the introduction of frameworks to determine open or closed workshops.
It had been recommended councillors adopt in principle openness by default for all workshops, including briefings, networking, and forums, with a commitment to a clear basis for closure where justified, on a case-by-case basis.
Council staff recommended advertising workshops and introducing a framework to determine open or closed workshops.
However, the proposal was rebuffed by the majority, with Councillor John Morrissey raising his hand in favour of retaining the status quo and continuing to conduct workshops with no public in attendance and no formal public record.
Option three in the report was to “do nothing” but the disadvantages listed included “not open, transparent or accountable” while the advantages included no additional process changes or additional staff or costs.
Morrissey was critical of the proposal, saying it would add costs and potentially change the dynamics of workshops.
“I think it is helpful for the status quo to remain; workshops are a valuable space to discuss items, there is a chance they could be scripted.”
He said it was a matter of being able to speak freely and frankly in workshop spaces, questioning the democratic process, as a consequence of any decision the council might make.
“I suggest you think carefully,” he told the meeting.
“I hope enough of you think about what we could lose.”
Thames-Coromandel district councillor John Morrisey
Council staff recommended times, dates, venues, and subject matter of all workshops be publicised on the council’s website in advance, along with rationale for closing them where applicable.
It was also recommended they agree to in-person public attendance and keep records of workshop proceedings where closure was not justified, keep records of workshop proceedings, and publish them on the council’s website, ensuring they contribute to a clear audit trail of the workshops, including time, date, location, and duration of the workshop, people present, and general subject matter covered.
In his report, Boshier said local government could earn trust through transparent decision-making that was open to public involvement and scrutiny. Transparency supported accountability, encouraged high performance, and increased public confidence.
Local democracy was built on the premise that the closer that decision makers were to the population they served, the more people could, and should, participate directly in decisions that affected their daily lives.
It was an important task for councils to get right.
His report made several workshop recommendations, including adopting a principle of openness by default for all workshops, briefings and forums, with a commitment to record why they are closed, on a case-by-case basis.
Thames-Coromandel District Council chief executive Aileen Lawrie
It was also recommended that councils publish workshops in advance, along with reasons for closing them where applicable, ensuring there was internal guidance on workshop processes for audit purposes, record keeping, details of information presented, relevant debate and consideration of options.
He recommended publishing workshop records on council websites as soon as practicable after the events and formalising a process for considering release of information for closed workshops.
He asked that adding messages that complaints about workshops could be made to the Ombudsman, be considered, and for the consideration of live streaming and/or recording workshops on a case-by case basis.
At the council’s request, its governance team had reviewed the recommendations and concluded for the council to be open, transparent, and accountable, it would be important to offer open and closed workshops, and that changes to its processes around workshops would be required.
In her report to the meeting, council governance manager Ariana Hay noted the addition of public notices, recording meetings, minute taking and uploading documentation for public availability would increase workload.
There was a large amount of preparatory work that went into the meetings and workshops, and there would need to be a clear process put in place to be able to successfully implement open workshops with as much efficiency as possible.
Council chief executive Aileen Lawrie said she was worried about the proposal, saying she had to consider the Privacy Act before any information was released to the public.
“When we sign off, we go through it carefully; there are Privacy Act considerations and when it comes to workshops, we haven’t made those types of considerations.
“There is another layer of considerations for those meetings.”
Deputy mayor and meeting chairman Terry Walker said it was a matter of trying to find a procedure that worked.
“How are we going to bring it together and make it less costly is something to work on; I believe we should start off with notes.”
Walker said he accepted that transparency was something the council needed to focus on.
