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Comment sought on Governance Protocols

Latrobe City Council has invited public comment on draft governance protocols that have been prepared as part of an overall good governance program for the City.

By Latrobe Shire Council - 23rd June 2004 - Back to News

Acting Chief Executive Officer, Paul Buckley, said that for some time the organisation has a had a focus on governance as a key issue for the City and this was reflected in the City’s corporate and strategic planning processes, with governance being one of the City’s five key strategic directions.

"The protocols which have now been released for public comment are the result of a good governance project undertaken by consultants, The Strategy Shop and Exintel Pty Ltd. Both consultants have worked on the project for over six months with the draft protocols representing the final stage," Mr Buckley said.

"The issues originally identified by the consultants have been grouped into three broad areas – roles, relationships and decision making processes and these now represent the three main areas of the draft protocols.

"The draft protocols clearly identify the roles of those people and structures, that make up the organisation. It discusses the roles of the Organisation, the Council itself, Councillors, the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and the CEO.

"Similarly, how those organisational aspects relate to one another is identified and discussed; for example the relationship between the Mayor and CEO, between Councillor and Councillor, and between Councillors and the organisation’s administration.

"The draft protocols also identify the use of briefing sessions and the conduct of council meetings, and the ways in which decisions should be made, such as through a planned approach, through community consultation, and the provision of advice," Mr Buckley said.

Mr Buckley said that the draft protocols represented the completion of the first stage of the good governance project.

"They are the result of significant input from Councillors, officers, and in the initial stages some community organisations. The protocols aim to identify how governance will be managed at Latrobe and once adopted will place Latrobe at the forefront in local government in respect to its approach to governance," Mr Buckley said.

"We have been extremely fortunate to have The Strategy Shop and Exintel Pty Ltd involved, given their past involvement in governance and local government. Both organisations participated in the State Government review of governance practices in local government and Exintel were responsible for the drafting of the industry wide Good Governance Guide. This certainly lends credibility to our process and the draft protocols.

"It is fair to say that throughout this project the consultants have found that there is no governance crisis at Latrobe City, that governance is seen as an important issue and that the administration has a good list of management systems and protocols in place. However, it must also be noted that the consultants identified a number of governance issues to be addressed so that Latrobe City could strive for continuous improvement and organisational excellence. These protocols aim to address these issues," Mr Buckley said.

"The good governance project has been a proactive innovation by the organisation to ensure that Latrobe is at the forefront of governance operations within the local government sector. The consultants engaged in the project have had extensive experience in governance related projects within local government and have acknowledged that Latrobe is one of the first Councils in Victoria to take a proactive role in seeking to implement good governance protocols," Mr Buckley added.

"The commitment of the Council and the organisation throughout what has been a very detailed and inclusive process, has been excellent. It has shown commitment to good governance and this has been reflected in the protocols. We look forward to placing the protocols back before Council in July, once comment has been received from the community," Mr Buckley concluded.

Copies of the draft governance protocols are available at all Council offices and via the web www.latrobe.vic.gov.au. Comment is invited and will be received up until Friday 9 July 2004.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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