Hamilton City Council Changes Committee Structure

29 JUNE 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hamilton City Council has reconfigured its committee structure to increase focus on setting strategy and policy and to deal with Council business more efficiently.

At its meeting today, Council unanimously agreed to the formation of four committees: Strategy and Policy, Finance and Monitoring, Operations and Activity Performance, and Statutory Management.

The revised Committee structure will come into effect in August, and will ensure more visibility relating to Council’s complex $285 million business, as well as more accurate and timely reporting of decisions and operational activity.

Several Council subcommittees will be dissolved, with work undertaken by those subcommittees absorbed into either working groups, or the four committees. The working groups will operate within defined timeframes, dependent on their scope of work.

Mayor Julie Hardaker said the new committee structure moved away from traditional Council governance models that aligned to activities, to a more acountable system aligned with Council functions. It would also mean new reporting methods relating to financial matters, projects and organisational risks will be provided to Council, along with a new overall reporting template. The review of reporting mechanisms was already underway and would be finalised in the coming month.

“This is a new level of governance for us. The new committee structure takes a pragmatic, modern and foward-thinking approach to the function of Council by focussing on the governance role of Council. It is Council’s role to set direction through strategy and policy and hold the organisation accountable for delivery of the decisions Council makes,” said Mayor Hardaker. “I am very pleased Council has unanimously endorsed my recommendations and I am excited by how it will function. ”

The new committees will be chaired by Councillor Marijke Westphal (Strategy and Policy), Councillor Dave Macpherson (Finance and Monitoring), Councillor Martin Gallagher (Operations and Performance Activity) and Councillor John Gower (Statutory Management).

Ends

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