Getting it Together: Working Smarter for Stronger Local Government

1. Getting it Together: Working Smarter for Stronger Local Government Graham Sansom UTS Centre for Local Government

2. The opportunity Fiction? Reality? Commonwealth Commonwealth State Local State Local UTS Centre for Local Government

3. The vision… • Local government that: • is influential, credible and respected • generates community involvement • reflects the needs of diverse communities • communicates well and establishes partnerships • offers accountable, transparent governance • attracts high calibre people • is financially sustainable UTS Centre for Local Government

4. The dangers… • Lack of strategic direction: • Growing competition with the States for resources • Increasing State dominance and encroachment • A retreat to a narrow role in service delivery • Financial weakness • Grant dependence leads to ‘agency’ status • Infrastructure problems intensify • Many smaller councils become unviable • Loss of community confidence and support • Failure to engage effectively with communities • Dissatisfaction with ‘inadequate’ performance • Councils seen as irrelevant on ‘issues that matter’ UTS Centre for Local Government

5. Asserting a local interest UTS Centre for Local Government

6. Core business and place focus Informed localism and regionalism Larger councils and creative diversity Community support Financial autonomy Scattergun wish-lists Fragmented parochialism Whingers and basket cases Disengaged communities Mendicant mentality Strengths and weaknesses UTS Centre for Local Government

7. Autonomy or mendicant? • Financial strength is fundamental to policy influence • Australian LG on average >80% self-sufficient (much better than States) • But: • Growth in functions has outstripped revenue: unsustainable • Rates have failed to keep pace with State and federal taxes: the ‘$3bn gap’ • Infrastructure backlog severe • Problems of rural and remote councils • Constant calls for increased grants UTS Centre for Local Government

8. Bad news from NSW • NSW councils under-fund infrastructure renewal by $400-600m pa: current backlog is $6.3bn • Projected backlog by 2020 is $21bn: more than 6 times current annual rates revenue • Only 1 in 5 NSW councils have an adequate asset management plan • Most NSW councils will continue to run large operating deficits (>8% of own source revenue), even with increased rates and charges • 1 in 4 are unsustainable without major policy changes UTS Centre for Local Government

9. A Fair Share for Responsible Local Government • Cost Shifting Inquiry recommended: • Improved financial governance and investigate Australian equivalent of IDeA • Infrastructure audits and reduced FAGs in cases of negligent management • Assessment of the potential efficiencies of amalgamations and adjustment of FAGs for the benefit of the sector at large • Federal response emphasised examination of local government’s own revenue sources • Proposed Productivity Commission Inquiry UTS Centre for Local Government

10. Sproats inquiry • Review of local government in inner Sydney • Recommended mergers – but not primarily for efficiency • Key drivers for reform: • address revenue and infrastructure problems • better strategic planning • regional cooperation and whole-of-government approaches • experimentation and innovation in service delivery • enhancing local governance and leadership UTS Centre for Local Government

11. UTS: CENTRE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT Community governance • “The process by which we collectively solve our problems and meet our society's needs” • Government is one of the instruments we use for governance • Importance of leadership, partnerships and cooperative planning (‘associational governance’) UTS Centre for Local Government

12. AREA MANAGEMENT Corporate governance Customers and clients Administration and regulation Public opinion Financial and physical capital (* Based on Sproats, 1997) + Community engagement + Citizens + Leadership and partnerships + Public judgement + Social capital = LOCAL GOVERNANCE Management and governance* UTS Centre for Local Government

13. MANAGEMENT Plans and budgets Organising and staffing Controlling and problem-solving Minimising risk promotes ORDER and PREDICTABILITY LEADERSHIP Vision and strategy Communicating and aligning Motivating and inspiring Taking risks promotes CHANGE (* Based on Stace and Dunphy, 1994) Management and leadership* UTS Centre for Local Government

14. Consultation debate • Consultation reviews across NSW councils • Drivers: • Community demands for bigger say and ideas about ‘engagement’ • Legislative requirements plus voluntary processes generate big workload • Information and opinion overload • Lack of effective policy frameworks and decision-making procedures to make best use of input • Councillors feel bypassed – need more support in their role • Need to explore new techniques (eg residents panels) to reach ‘silent majority’ UTS Centre for Local Government

15. Just Communities project Decision-making (political) processes Better local democracy Management frameworks Consultation and engagement UTS Centre for Local Government

16. Need for ‘political renewal’ • Is managerialism a dead end?: • Community engagement, leadership and a broad ‘well-being’ agenda are fundamental • Time to strengthen the political arm: • Blurring of roles is inevitable • (Semi) Executive Mayors? • ‘Cabinet’ structures? • But equally a need to strengthen political skills: • Partnerships, intergovernment relations • Balancing representative and participatory democracy – consultation • ‘Mutual obligation’ (accountability with respect) UTS Centre for Local Government

17. “There were meetings I attended as Chief Executive Officer where Councillors, Council employees, community representatives and professional consultants contributed to the discussion with such equal openness, candour and participation, you couldn’t tell who was who.” Jude Munro UTS Centre for Local Government

18. “The underlying strength of local government lies in its potential to enrich democracy by enabling the engagement of voters and by demonstrating the responsiveness of public institutions at a time of significant cynicism about representative government.” Cheryl Saunders UTS Centre for Local Government