Councils won’t be fixed with more bureaucracy

Former Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier told to the governance select committee that creating a new department for local government would solve many issues facing councils.

“Boshier is right in his assessment, that local government is not working well enough, but creating more bureaucracy is certainly not the solution.” said Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union.

“The role of the Ombudsman is to make sure things run smoothly by empowering elected officials in charge, which most will agree has not been done effectively in recent years.”

“As the sector anticipates reforms through the Minister’s ‘Systems Improvements Bill’, there’s real concern that it does not go far enough to see meaningful outcomes.”

“As the Bill takes shape, now is the time to get stuck in and make sure it’s everything it needs to be. Until then, calls from the former Chief Ombudsman to solve a problem with another problem should be seen for what they are; unhelpful.”