Policy On Council Workshops and Briefings

Sent: Monday, 21 October 2024 11:19 am
Subject: LGOIMA request: Policy on council workshops and briefings

I refer to your LGOIMA request of 11 October 2024 regarding Council’s policy on workshops and briefings, and provide the following responses to your specific questions:

• What is your council's current policy in relation to whether elected member workshops and briefings are open to the public?
  Between August 2022 and June 2023 the Chief Ombudsman initiated a review of 8 councils’ practice regarding meetings and workshops. The subsequent report on Rotorua Lakes Council by the Ombudsman helped to inform an internal review of the Governance and Democracy portfolio that was already underway at that time.
  As a result of the Ombudsman’s report and the review, improvements were made to Council’s governance practices in regard to workshops.
  Council’s policy following the review, is that it is intended that all workshops are open to the public in accordance with requirements of the Local Government Act 2002, that ‘….a local authority should conduct its business in an open, transparent and democratically accountable manner….’
  The practice now is that, unless there is a specific reason for a workshop to be confidential, workshops are open to the public to attend in person, via live-streaming or can be watched on demand. Whether confidential or not, all workshops are advertised using Council’s digital platforms.
• Did your council open up, or is it in the process of opening up, these workshops and briefings to be "open to the public by default" in line with the Ombudsman's recommendations in his "Open for Business" report of October 2023?
  Yes, Council’s new practices in regard to workshops, as described above, have been in place since July 2023.
  If a workshop is public-excluded, the reasons why are documented and published on the Council website using Section 48 of the Local Government Official Information & Meetings Act (LGOIMA) which states that Council’s may exclude the public from meetings where good reasons exists under sections 6 and 7 of the Act. It is also noted that Council must also consider the extent of any public interest in the release of the information
• If you have opened up, or are intending to open up, these workshops and briefings to the public, how are you doing so? (e.g. internet livestreaming, public attendance in person, after the fact video or audio recordings" etc)
  As noted above most workshops are open to the public to attend in person, via live-streaming or can be watched on demand.
  In addition to workshops being advertised on Council’s digital platforms, there is a new web page for workshops on Council’s website that advertises the purpose, date and time of workshop along with the workshop attendance by elected members and for workshops held in public, a record of the objectives of the workshop/key points of discussion. The webpage can be viewed on the Workshops page on councils website.