What an extraordinary 17 months or so it has been. As we head into Local Government Week, I thought it was time to get back to my IP&R blog.
Obviously the whole world has been thrown into a spin with the global COVID-19 pandemic, but my focus for this blog article is the particular challenges thrown at local councils in NSW as a result of not one, but two postponements of the local government elections.
In many conversations with local government practitioners, particularly over the last week since the most recent postponement was announced, it has become clear that there are many unanswered questions in relation to the impact of this postponement on the next cycle of Integrated Planning & Reporting and IP&R practitioners are feeling the pressure.
The purpose of this article is to provide some reassurance and guidance about the approach councils can take to ensure they comply with the legislated requirements, meet the intent of the IP&R framework, and stay somewhat sane while they’re at it!
Q: What happens now with the end of term report?
A: Well, let’s start with ditching the ‘end of term’ moniker, and call it a CSP progress report (which is its function). Most councils will have almost had that report done and dusted, and would have been close to ready to table it at what they thought was to be the final Council meeting, in August. It is the ‘final meeting’ bit that’s important here, so that will now likely be in November for most councils.
If your report was prepared (as intended by the IP&R framework) as an update on the progress of achievement of community objectives, then these additional three months’ worth of data are unlikely to significantly change your report of community outcomes, for example:
- Have our obesity rates gone down?
- Have more of our kids completed Year 12?
- Are there less motor vehicle accidents on our roads?
- Do more people in our community feel socially connected?
- Has the health of our waterways improved?
- Has the provision of shade in our parks and reserves increased?
- Has our unemployment rate decreased?
- etc etc
If your drafted report has not addressed progress towards achieving community objectives and instead is a summary of what your Council has done over the last few years, then perhaps use these three extra months to collate and include some information that will enhance the report and assist it to achieve what is intended: that is to provide a review of the current CSP to inform the next cycle of IP&R and the next iteration of the CSP.
As well as reporting on the implementation and effectiveness of the current CSP in achieving its social, environmental, economic and civic leadership objectives (EE1.11) using the assessment methods identified in the CSP for determining whether its objectives are being achieved (EE1.8), the review of the CSP should also review the information that informed it originally (EE 1.11). This means now is a good time to identify contemporary sources of data and other information that will inform your community’s next CSP.
Q: Can we get started on our community engagement program without our newly elected councillors?
A: Yes! Much of the focus of early community engagement is likely to be on informing the development of the next CSP. As this is a community plan, not a council plan, the information yielded by the community engagement activities should be unaffected by the elected council status.
The CSP community engagement is seeking to identify community priorities (beyond just what the council may have responsibility for) and engage the community in agreeing how those priorities might best be achieved, what success will look like for the community, and who in the community might contribute to implementing identified strategies.
Many councils are well progressed with their community engagement activities, intending to provide a summary of themes arising from that engagement to the incoming council to help shape the new council’s Delivery Program (which is as it should be). This is the point at which councillors need to get involved.
Q: How will we fit in the development of the Delivery Program, Resourcing Strategy and Operational Plan in just six months?
A: In the same way you’ve always done! In my discussions with many councils it is clear that the rubber doesn’t usually hit the road for many of these documents until after the Christmas break anyway.
However, to succeed, and reduce stress levels, the preparation of rough first drafts of these documents can be well underway ahead of the elections as soon as sufficient information becomes available to inform their development, for example:
- community engagement has begun to yield clear themes for the next CSP’s structure
- community engagement has identified where your Council’s current service levels are and are not meeting community expectations (important information to inform the preparation of the Resourcing Strategy)
- the audited financial statements are available to provide a basis for the development of updated long-term forecasts in the next Long-Term Financial Plan
- updates to the Asset Management Plans for each asset class reveal when particular peaks in investment will be required, and the workforce implications of this work (to inform the Workforce Strategy and Long-Term Financial Plan).
- Council’s Annual Report has been prepared, identifying its achievements in implementing the current Delivery Program, which will identify which commitments may need consideration in the incoming council’s Delivery Program.
Q: How will we be able to get the incoming councillors up to speed and involved in shaping the next suite of IP&R documents?
A: The primary documents to be developed with councillors’ input are the Delivery Program and Resourcing Strategy. As discussed above, the CSP can be largely drafted as it is the councillors’ role only to endorse it on behalf of the community.
It will be important to timetable early in the new council’s term one or two workshops that will specifically focus on the councillor’s role in relation to this next IP&R cycle. This might include:
- Mid- January – An IP&R introduction or refresher session as part of their overall induction program (don’t assume only new councillors will benefit; some returning councillors may be surprised to learn what IP&R is really about!)
- Late January – A councillor workshop that provides an opportunity for each councillor to articulate what they want to achieve during their term in office, so that these can be considered in the Delivery Program’s development, and (with the agreement of the whole elected council) be prioritised and resourced accordingly. This workshop should also provide the incoming council with clarity about what your council already delivers (its principal activities and functions, and the cost of delivering these services), as well as the challenges and opportunities that exist for the incoming council to address.
- Late February – A councillor workshop that presents the draft Delivery Program content (doesn’t have to be a pretty document at this stage) along with the draft Resourcing Strategy content. This workshop would include any identified resourcing challenges in light of all the commitments proposed in the draft Delivery Program, and will be the opportunity for the councillors to prioritise what they want to commit to during their term and identify how that will be best resourced. This should include discussion about service levels (including identifying where community feedback suggests change needs to be considered). If big gaps are identified here between what the elected council wants to do, and the resources that will be available to do it, this will be the trigger for a further community engagement program that will involve the councillors.
This should mean that by late March there is general agreement about what is to be committed to in the next Delivery Program and how that will be enabled through the refreshed Resourcing Strategy. By this stage it should also be clear which program and activities the councillors want to see delivered and when, which will shape the timing and allocation of these to relevant Operational Plans.
Q: Where does the 2020-21 Annual Report fit in to all of this?
A: There should be no real change in relation to the Annual Report. It will continue (unless the Government advises otherwise) to be required to be published by 30 November. The CSP progress report (or ‘end of term’ report) will be appended to it as is usual. In practice, this is likely to mean that both reports will be attachments to the business paper of the final meeting of the current council in November.
There will no doubt be additional guidance soon from the Government about how to avoid the issue of using council resources to promote the current council during the lead-up to the election, and it may well be that to avoid any concerns in this regard that the 2020-21 Annual Report publication date is moved to be after the election (say, to the end of December instead)… watch for an official Circular in this regard.
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I trust that this information has helped to answer some of your questions, but I have no doubt that there will be others I haven’t provided a response for. Feel free to leave other questions in the comments box, and share your ideas about how we can all get through this challenging time.