Editorial: Council push for efficiency

OPINION: Hamilton City Council has challenged itself to be cost effective and efficient by committing to a review of how it delivers services every six years – starting with this one.

It means that going into election year, the council will be looking at ways to cut costs, which will ultimately impact on rates.

That's good news in any language. Council chief executive Michael Redman told staff about the new policy last week and said he could not rule out redundancies. That is no surprise and it would be wrong to disguise the possibility. Councillors have been subjected to similar efficiency reviews. In Hamilton the last one resulted in the number of councillors (the city elects its mayor separately) being cut from 13 to 12.

If anything, this review should have been launched a year ago as a recession became inevitable, rather than in the twilight of the present council's reign. If it results in the civic wage bill being lightened to such an extent it impacts on rates, voters may feel it was timed deliberately. In fact, some councillors raised concerns last week at the prospect of Hamilton seeking to improve services and costs by "outsourcing" work. Gordon Chesterman flew a warning flag that putting jobs into the pubic arena could result in the work costing more and jobs being lost. It is suggested a significant amount of work now carried out by council employed staff could be handed instead to private companies or council owned organisations.

The perceived advantage of moving some services out of house and adopting one of a variety of different delivery methods is that it will encourage a greater commercial drive. Mr Redman said Wellington, Manukau and Christchurch local authorities had moved some of their services and in most cases councils favoured council-controlled organisations where they kept between 70 per cent and 100 per cent ownership.

Councils are right to review their efficiencies regularly, and this latest move, the most significant in a decade, should be applauded. Voters made their views quite clear in 2007 when they elected a Rates Control team to power at Environment Waikato, and that ticket is likely to be vocal at city and Waikato district council level in the run-up to the 2009 elections. It will be no surprise to see city councillors looking to keep costs and rates down next year.

The proof will be in the pudding though. Mr Redman says nothing will be produced overnight, but the announcement of the review will leave some staff feeling in limbo. That is unavoidable, but also difficult. Transparency and regular communication are the keys here.

Any change in direction should also be made with the possibility of a far more significant revamp of council services in mind. Auckland is on the cusp of turning itself into a super city, and Mayor Bob Simcock has discussed his preferences for changes in the Waikato. If Hamilton invests time and money on streamlining a system which is then immediately dismantled, the ratepayers, and staff, will be losers, not winners.

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