Report praises Bay Venues revamp as way to go

The restructuring of Tauranga's council-controlled organisation Bay Venues has been cited as an example of best practice in a report on the governance and accountability of CCOs by the Office of the Auditor-General.

Tauranga City Council's CCO specialist Tracy Plane said the Bay Venues experience would inform a similar process with the Tauranga Art Gallery Trust and Tourism Bay of Plenty (Western Bay of Plenty Visitor and Tourism Trust). The Art Gallery process is underway and expected to be completed by Christmas. Tourism BOP's review will begin next month and is expected to be completed by the end of January.

"Good governance relationships lead to better outcomes for the community and more efficiency," said Ms Plane.

The council commissioned a review in 2012 of its then CCO structure, which resulted in the consolidation of Tauranga City Venues and Tauranga City Aquatics into a new entity, Bay Venues in 2013. Bay Venues was amalgamated with the council holding company, Tauranga City Investments in July last year.

The Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) report noted that issues driving the restructuring included a lack of financial sustainability and poor relationships between the council and the CCOs.

"This was the first time you had board members and elected council members sitting in a room working out the strategic direction for the CCO," said Ms Plane. "The process was really led by the elected members and the Bay Venues board."

The OAG report noted the process had provided a forum for the main parties to reach a shared view on a comprehensive set of issues, and had enabled councillors and some board members of the CCO to develop good working relationships.

Outcomes included an enduring statement of expectations setting out governing principles and procedures on the roles of the council and the CCO, as well as an annual letter of expectations to ensure strategic alignment with the council.

"In trying to establish a better working relationship with its CCOs, elected members and board members have been actively involved in preparing these two documents," the report said. "This should ensure that the documents are regarded as authoritative and meaningful governance documents."

Ms Plane said the two documents would provide a model for the Art Gallery and Tourism BOP reviews.