2015-03-03 Planning & Organisation Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                  3 MARCH 2015


Governance

10    COUNCILLOR REQUEST GUIDELINES
Author            Chief Executive Officer, Brett de Chastel
                  Executive Office

Index             ECM/ Subject/ Council Policies

Attachments       1.   Council Policy – Councillor Request Guidelines


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Not applicable.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Chief Executive Officer to the Planning & Organisation
Committee Meeting dated 3 March 2015 and
A.    Repeal the Councillor Acceptable Request Guidelines that transferred to the Noosa
      Council from the Sunshine Coast Regional Council under the Local Government (De-
      amalgamation Implementation) Regulation 2013; and
B.    Adopt the Councillor Request Guidelines (provided at Attachment 1 to the report).



REPORT
This is one of the last outstanding policies to be completed as part of the de-amalgamation
transition process. It has not been a priority because there have been no issues. We do
however, need to have our own formal policy to comply with the Local Government Act
2009.
Section 170A of the Local Government Act 2009 provides that a Local Government must
adopt, by Council resolution, acceptable request guidelines that outline:
(a)   the way in which a councillor may ask a local government employee for advice to help
      the councillor carry out his or her responsibilities under this Act; and
(b)   reasonable limits on requests that a councillor may make.
Other provisions of the Local Government Act also set out statutory requirements such as
which Councillors can or cannot provide directions to staff. These statutory provisions have
been addressed in the draft policy.

A draft set of guidelines has been provided at Attachment 1 for Council’s consideration. The
guidelines reflect Council’s existing practice of open communication and information flow
between Councillors and Council employees. It also reflects the practical consideration that
the more complex an issue, the more important it is that a Councillor request would go to a
more senior staff member.

The guidelines are intended to reflect the practices that have been applied since 1 January
2014. This is working well in practice now. All being well, this policy, once adopted will not
need to be referred to by Councillors and staff as we will just continue to operate in
accordance with current practices. The adoption of these guidelines will ensure that we
comply with the Local Government Act requirements.


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