In each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association president. The following is from Councillor Bill McArthur, President of the Municipal Association of Victoria.
Local Government’s role in land use planning is being closely scrutinised by the Council of Australian Government (COAG) and several Ministerial Councils, while the Local Government Reform Fund is developing frameworks for asset and financial management, as well as data collection to monitor performance.
This follows the Prime Minister’s announcement in 2008 that future funding for Local Government would be contingent upon robust data, justification of need and demonstrated improvements.
Last year, the Victorian Government established a Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate to investigate alleged breaches of the Local Government Act, implement a rolling audit program and conduct spot audits of councils’ compliance with regulatory requirements.
The Premier also announced that the Essential Services Commission (ESC) would develop a new performance assessment and benchmarking regime for Local Government.
There is a growing trend towards increased scrutiny of Local Government.
While accountable and transparent performance reporting is crucial, the level of effort and cost to councils in complying with regulatory and reporting requirements has reached alarming levels.
The ESC identified more than 100 separate reporting demands on Victorian councils by some 17 different departments and agencies. Unsurprisingly, councils have expressed frustration at this onerous burden on their staff and financial resources.
The draft ESC performance monitoring framework proposes 65 indicators across 26 council service categories. This could add an additional layer of reporting, costing each council between $40,000 and $60,000 a year.
It won’t deliver more services or spread the rates dollar further, but will add financial pressures.
Any performance framework must be meaningful and relevant to councils and their communities.
It must add real value, not just report for reporting’s sake.
The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has called on the Victorian Government to halt its rollout of the ESC framework until a holistic review of the current regulatory reporting regime is done.
The ESC has confirmed there is a need and capacity to reduce and streamline the existing burden on Local Government, and the MAV wants this undertaken as a first step to offset any new performance framework.
With red tape reduction a strong focus of both Commonwealth and State Governments’ reforms in recent years, it is vital that Local Government ensures that its regulatory burden is also decreased.
The introduction of mandatory Regulatory Impact Statements would help to monitor and reduce the additional and cumulative burden imposed by new laws, regulations or reporting requirements.
If this is not addressed, Local Government could drown in regulations, and compliance will be at the expense of community services and infrastructure.
