This is a set of guides and other resources designed to lift the standard of Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) in 2009 and subsequent years. These developed and produced by SOLGM in association with NAMS and Local Government New Zealand. These Guides are being developed in close consultation with the Office of the Auditor-General.
From the 2009/10 Annual Reports, all auditors will be applying a revised standard to the assessment of non-financial performance. The main difference is one of emphasis – whereas before the emphasis was on determining that a claim that a local authority produced x widgets was supported by evidence that x widgets were produced, now the emphasis will be on whether the number of widgets was a fair measure of actual performance.
Relevant documents for download:
Download Initial Proposal for the Review of LTCCP Guidance (PDF 438 kb)
February 2010 - As signalled at the December TAFM Forums, SOLGM has been giving thought to the revision of the 2009 and Beyond suite of guidance on preparing the documents formerly known as LTCCPs. SOLGM's initial views on how the suite of guidance needs to change to reflect TAFM and other developments since 2007 are discussed in this document for comment.
On page 2 you will find a list of 16 questions – while we particularly welcome comments on those, comments on any aspect of the document are welcome (and indeed the last question is a catchall).
Some may ask – why are there no timelines in the document – the main reason is that substantial portions of the guidance are reliant on having a well advanced version of the TAFM legislation, which at the present time we don’t have.
We encourage everyone involved in long-term planning to consider what guidance they need and/or would find useful and make your views known. A substantial portion of SOLGM’s time and budget will be devoted to the preparation of this guidance – especially later in 2010. This is your opportunity to influence the direction we take.
Comments received during this process will be considered as SOLGM begins its annual budget round later in March. To ensure your comments can be considered please forward these to me by close of play on Wednesday 17 March.
Download LTCCP 2009: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (PDF 353 kb)
In April 2009, SOLGM decided to conduct a survey that investigated local authority experiences with the 2009-19 Long-term Council Community Plan (LTCCP), and attitudes to the LTCCP and the planning, decision making and accountability framework of Part Six of the Local Government Act 2002 (the LGA).
SOLGM’s objectives for the survey were to:
The results of this survey is summarised in this document.
Download Not Just Hot Air (PDF 710 kb)
Not Just Hot Air - The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme. The Emissions Trading Scheme passed into law on 26 September 2008. It has both direct and indirect effects on the services that local authorities provide – and therefore cannot be assumed away in your 2009-19 LTCCP. Not Just Hot Air explains what your direct obligations are, how to take the impact on the cost of your services into account, and some other things to think about. This guide is late addition to the set. It comes about as a result of the enactment during September 2008 of the legislation for the ETS.
Download Living Through the LTCCP (PDF 863 MB)
A Guide to Managing a Long-term Planning Process under the Local Government Act. Successful long-term planning under the Local Government Act requires the marriage of a set of current and known, information with future expectations and intentions and inputs covering the entire range of activity of the local authority including asset management, finance, planning, policy and service delivery.
In this guide you can expect to find hints and tools to help you resource and manage a long-term planning process under the Local Government Act. The contents of this guide includes:
- Part 1 - Introduction
- Part 2 - Culture
- Tool A - 2009-19 Health Check
- Part 3 - Processes and Timeframes
- Tool B - A Three Year Process
- Tool C - A Template Project Plan
- Part D - People and Resourses
- Tool D - Job Description for Key Roles
- Part 5 - Tools
Download Performance Management Frameworks (PDF 1.7 MB)
This is the Guide to Performance Management under the Local Government Act 2002 developed by SOLGM and NAMS in association with Local Government New Zealand. The contents of this guide include:
Download Piecing it Together (PDF 2.4 MB)
The SOLGM/NAMS Guide to producing an integrated Long-term Council Community Plan (LTCCP). The Piecing it Together replaces the 'LTCCP Jigsaw' that was developed for the 2006-16 LTCCP. The online version of Jigsaw is not available anymore as it no longer represents agreed best practice for LTCCP preparation. We recommend that paper copies of the 'LTCCP Jigsaw' be consigned to the recycling box and replaced with the Piecing it Together Document. This document includes:
Process Pieces
Content Pieces
Dollars and Sense (PDF 1.89 MB)
The Guide to Financial Management under the Local Government Act 2002 is the fourth in the series of guides to assist local authorities with the development of the 2006 LTCCP. This version of Dollars and Sense (September 2008) incorporates several changes to the section on revenue and financing policies made on legal advice. The most significant of these relates to figure 4.2 where an additional column has been included to allow for discussion of the costs and benefits of separate funding. This version supercedes all previous versions of this Guide.
Telling our Stories (PDF 395 kb)
Telling Our Stories is another guide that supports your conduct of the right debate with your community (the first of the four cardinal virtues). In this guide you can expect to find handy hints for preparing an LTCCP summary that engages your community in the LTCCP process and meets the requirements of the Act. Also on this site are three of the five finalists from the 2006 SOLGM LTCCP Summary Competition from Tauranga (the winner), Papakura and Auckland Regional Council.
Our thanks to the following for putting the guide together:
Our thanks also to Diane Brandish, Christchurch City Council and the members of the Strategic Planning Working Party who acted as peer reviewers.
Fit for the future (PDF 1.23 MB)
Fit for the Future - Reflecting Your Approach to Sustainable Development in Your 2009-19 LTCCP. The purpose of this Guide is to help local authorities better reflect a sustainable development approach in the planning, systems, and documentation underpinning their 2009-19 Long-term Council Community Plans (LTCCPs).
SOLGM wishes to thank the following for their contributions to the guide:
The development of these guides is based on the following four principles known as the four cardinal virtues of long-term planning: