Northland council moves up local government scorecard

Far North District Council has improved its overall rating in a local government excellence programme.

Far North District Council has improved its overall rating in a local government excellence programme that assesses the performance of local authorities across key areas.

The CouncilMARK™ Independent Assessment Board awarded the council a BB rating, an improvement on the B that followed the first assessment in 2017, on a nine-point rating scale (AAA to C).

CouncilMARK™ assessors Peter Crow and Dave Brash spent two and a half days with the council in November, evaluating its performance in governance (competent), financial decision-making (better than competent), service delivery and community engagement (both competent). In 2017 it rated community engagement as better than competent, financial decision-making as competent, and governance and service delivery as 'variable'.

Mayor John Carter said the report was strong affirmation of the council's progressiveness, and a good result for a local authority that provided services to more than 40 towns and villages, as well as rural communities, scattered across a large and diverse district.

"I have been a staunch supporter of the CouncilMARK™ programme since its inception, because I wanted us to have a foundation on which to become a better council.

"Our improved rating is a good step forward for a council with significant infrastructure, affordability and socio-economic challenges," he said.

He thanked the elected members and staff for investing time and effort over the last three years in an organisation-wide business improvement programme that addressed feedback in the 2017 report through 34 transformation projects.

"Our focus has been on improving our capability, systems and service delivery, as well as our capacity to deliver infrastructure projects. It is gratifying to see independent assessors recognise these improvements," he added.

Chief executive Shaun Clarke said he was proud of his staff for the result they had helped to deliver.

"The way staff have dedicated themselves to improving our business practices has been inspirational," he said.

"This report, and the feedback we have received from assessors, proves we are on the
right track and that we will become an A-grade council if we maintain this upward trajectory.

"While we will continue to improve the customer experience across the spectrum of our activities, we also aim to be a council that listens and responds to the community and has strong relationships with strategic partners," Clarke said.