Local government reform has turned into a numbers game. The government’s ‘Head Start’ asks how many councils we should have, and where the lines between their jurisdictions should be drawn. But a more important question is, what decisions should be made at each level of government?
 
My new research note, Head Start Done Right, argues that decisions should be made at the lowest level able to make them well. That approach is called subsidiarity.
 
A community can look after its own parks, its main street and its local rules. A function should move upwards only when scale demands it, as with river catchments or major water networks.
 
The presumption sits with the local, and the burden falls on anyone who wants to shift power toward the centre. In contrast, Head Start assumes bigger is better and requires communities to prove otherwise.
 
Pointing to the presence of community boards or local boards means little if they lack decision-making power. For example, Auckland's local boards have a democratic mandate but little authority. They cannot make local bylaws, set their own targeted rates or stop the governing body overriding them. Real power is not held at the pleasure of head office.
 
The same problem runs through the councils themselves. In most, the people who hold the real power are unelected officials.
 
Day-to-day control sits with the chief executive, who manages the staff, the flow of information and the agenda. Elected members who push too hard, or who push for the issue they campaigned on, can find a code of conduct or conflict of interest policy turned against them. Larger councils will magnify dysfunction rather than close it.
 
My note proposes solutions to these problems. Auckland's mayor already has powers and a dedicated office that no other mayor has. Those powers and resources should be extended to every council. Elected members should have the right to access information, to commission their own advice and to speak their minds. Genuine conflicts of interest should be policed. Charges of misconduct should not be used to stifle political disagreement. Local decisions, wherever possible, should be made locally.
 
New Zealand needs a structure of government councils under which decisions are as close as possible to the people affected by them and elected representatives hold the reins. This is harder than consolidation, but it is the only version of reform worth having.

Explore Nick’s research through our new research note and our podcast episode.