13 February 2018

Seventeenth CouncilMARK™ assessment report released

Local Government New Zealand congratulates Taupō District Council on its completion of the local government excellence programme, CouncilMARK™.

Following assessment Taupo District Council received a BBB rating in what is the first report released in 2018.

Seventeen councils from around New Zealand have now had reports released by the CouncilMARK™ Independent Assessment Board. The reports are designed to give councils and communities an informed and independent view on how they are carrying out their role as councils, including on where they are excelling and areas for improvement.

The reports and more information on CouncilMARK™ can be found here.

LGNZ President Dave Cull says the release of the first report for 2018 is another milestone for the programme and will be followed by further reports as they are completed throughout the year.

“I congratulate all councils that have been through the programme for getting involved and taking the lead to show and grow the value of local government in New Zealand,” Mr Cull says. “I am pleased to see another 12 councils have registered their interest to participate in the programme this year.”

Mr Cull says CouncilMARK™ is the gold standard assessment system for councils and communities, designed to achieve measurable change over time. Councils that have gone through the programme often report they gain as much benefit from the process as from the resulting mark.

“Local government is committed to providing the best possible outcomes for our communities and doing this requires the sector to focus on delivering best performance and value for communities. In light of this LGNZ’s National Council strongly encourages all councils to put themselves forward to be assessed by 2020,” he says.

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CouncilMARK™ releases Taupō District Council’s report

The Independent Assessment Board which oversees the local government excellence programme CouncilMARK™ has today released the Taupō District Council assessment report. Taupō received a BBB rating.

IAB Chair Toby Stevenson says the reports measure indicators across leadership, finance, asset management, service delivery and community engagement.

The programme was launched in August 2016 with 18 councils signed up for the inaugural year. To-date 17 reports have been released. A further 12 councils have registered their interest to take part in the programme in 2018.

Reports and more information on CouncilMARK™ can be found here.

Mr Stevenson says the reports are designed to give councils and communities an informed and independent view on how they are carrying out their role as Councils, including on where they are excelling and areas for improvement.

“The reports have been completed by independent assessors under the direction of the Board, and offer an independent assessment of each council’s performance in key areas,” Mr Stevenson says.

“These reports will provide valuable information to councils and communities. Measuring performance means both can assess how to better deliver ongoing and increased value to communities.”

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