Local government's roles, responsibilities, powers and accountabilities are defined by legislation. In 2001 and 2002 three new local government Acts were passed:
- the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA);
- the Local Electoral Act 2001 (LEA); and
- the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 (LGRA).
The LGA is the main statute for local government and replaced the Local Government Act 1974. The 1974 Act contained complex and detailed prescription of the powers and functions of local authorities. The new Act is simpler and more empowering. The other two Acts provide local government with electoral and rating powers and responsibilities.
Together, the three pieces of legislation provide a framework that allows local authorities to be responsive to the diverse needs of the communities they represent, and provides greater scope for those communities to make choices about what their local authorities do and how they do it. To balance the broad empowerment, the legislative framework also provides for clear and open decision-making and accountability processes.
The LGA provides more opportunities for local communities to have a say in local governance. As well as general provisions, the Act includes specific provisions for Maori participation in local governance. The LGA also provides a way for communities to say what they want their community to be like in the future by requiring local authorities to identify community outcomes and use these to inform their planning.
The Department of Internal Affairs’ (DIA) Local Government and Community Branch (LG&C) and Research and Evaluation Services (R&ES) are evaluating the new legislation over the next ten years. The evaluation aims to assess the extent to which the new legislative framework is operating as intended and achieving the results expected for local government and communities.
This strategy describes the overall approach for the evaluation. The results will be used to:
- inform policy advice to Ministers about the operation of the local government system and sustainable community development;
- provide information for local and central government on how well the legislative framework is working and what, if any, changes or improvements are required;
- provide information about what, if any, further information and advice is required to support the implementation of the legislative framework and who should provide it;
- provide information to the public on the activities of local authorities; and
- support the Local Government Commission (LGC), which is required by the LGA to review the operation of the LGA and the LEA and report to the Minister of Local Government as soon as practicable after the 2007 local elections. The LEA also makes provision for the LGC to issue an interim report by July 2005 on any amendments it considers should be made to the LGA or the LEA before the 2007 local elections. The LGC has exercised this option and issued an interim report in July. More details about the LGC's review are in section 4.2.
The following sections of the strategy describe:
- the scope of the evaluation (section 2);
- the purposes and key provisions of the three new Acts, with a focus on the main changes the legislation has introduced and how these changes affect local government and communities (section 3);
- the main objectives of the evaluation and the proposed approach (section 4);
- the key evaluation questions (section 5); and
- the timetable for the evaluation (section 6).