Snapshot of future local government efficiencies

The prospect of councils gaining efficiencies and saving significant dollars was explored at today’s Local Government New Zealand conference in Hamilton.

Greg Hallam, Chief Executive Officer of the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ), spoke to delegates about how they saved Queensland councils and residents in excess of one hundred million dollars per annum through shared services.

LGAQ is a membership organisation for the councils in Queensland, Australia, and its membership is similar to Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ).

Their menu of services includes insurance, procurement of goods and services, cloud computing, out of hours call centres and rate arrears collection, among others.

LGNZ has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with LGAQ and is now exploring ways to roll out shared services in the hope to save money for New Zealand councils and residents.

LGNZ President Lawrence Yule said this is an exciting opportunity to work with an organisation that has spent 20 years perfecting this approach. “We look forward to leveraging shared service opportunities to increase efficiency and effectiveness in the local government sector.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media