From September, workshops of Auckland Council’s Governing Body will be set to ‘open by default’. This means that the public will be able to see where many decisions made by the Mayor and Councillors start, what informs them and how they work with council staff to provide direction.
Mayor Wayne Brown advocates strongly for as much council business being conducted in public or accessible to the public as possible, and welcomes this change.
“There’s often a lot of fuss made about meetings and workshops held ‘in secret’ or behind closed doors, so this is a great way to show Aucklanders how our workshop process actually works,” he says.
Changing to an ‘open by default’ approach to workshops means that when a workshop is proposed, it will be assumed to be open at the outset. If changes need to be made to close a workshop, special consideration will be given.
General Manager Governance and Engagement Lou-Ann Ballantyne says as a public organisation, the council is committed to transparency – showing Aucklanders what we do, how we make decisions on their behalf and giving them the opportunity to participate in our democratic processes.
“This is an exciting turnaround for us – our staff have a real passion for local democracy and community-driven policy development and decision making.
“Any opportunity taken to shine a brighter light on the process that leads to a decision around the Governing Body table and increase Aucklanders’ interest in public participation is a win for Tāmaki Makaurau,” she says.
Some workshops will still be closed if there is a good reason to do so. This might be where there is commercial sensitivity, or where personal or legally privileged information is discussed. However, a closed workshop will be notified to the public, and consideration will also be given to releasing workshop materials from closed workshops.
The workshop format is typically more relaxed than a formal council meeting and lends itself to being more flexible – organised or adjusted at short notice to fit in with other priorities.
“The slightly more flexible nature of workshops means that the sheer logistics of having in-person attendance from the public cannot be easily managed,” says Lou-Ann.
“Instead, we will record all open workshops and make them available, with the workshop materials, shortly after the meeting.”
This change stems from a recommendation to the Governing Body in June and also supports the outcomes in the Chief Ombudsman’s report on local council meetings and workshops.
“As a council group we are committed to increasing transparency and engagement with our democratic processes, and changing the way we deliver workshops is an important next step,” says Lou-Ann.
What does ‘open by default’ mean’?
From 1 September, the council’s ‘default’ setting for holding workshops of the Governing Body and its committees, will switch to open. (Some of our local boards are already holding open workshops and others are considering whether they do the same.)
Each time a workshop is proposed, council staff and the committee chair will assume that it will be an open workshop, unless there is a good reason to close the workshop.
Open workshops will be recorded, and recordings and workshop documents will be made publicly available on one of the council’s digital platforms after the meeting.
Open or closed?
If the open setting needs to be changed to a closed workshop, special consideration will be made.
To close a workshop, some of the considerations might include commercial sensitivity; whether personal or legally privileged information is being discussed. Closed workshops are not recorded but consideration will be given to releasing workshop materials and may be published afterwards.
