Setting the Record Straight - The Davidson Report

The Davidson Report was undertaken in response to broad public disquiet with the operations of City of Newcastle (CN). Councillors unanimously supported the review, with the aim of providing the public with independent assurance of CN’s performance, compliance and transparency. As Davidson Business Advisory were already engaged in a performance benchmarking project with CN they were asked to undertake the Review as it would help minimise the cost of a review.

A massive 800 public submissions and associated attachments were received. This was a clear demonstration of the public’s dissatisfaction with council. However, only 7 interviews were held with “community members” – who these were, how they were selected and why so few were undertaken is unknown. There were 27 interviews held with CN’s corporate staff. The Lord Mayor and Councillors were interviewed, and 3 consultations were conducted with independent members of CN’s Risk and Audit Committee. 260 Internal council documents were reviewed and all submissions were read.

Those making submissions no doubt hoped for an investigation into how CN engaged with the community. Instead, they got a review of council’s stated policies. As noted in the report (p2, para 2)

“Importantly, the process for assessing a matter or issue (regardless as to whether it originated via a community submission, an interview or it was identified in a sourced document) was to assess the matter against adopted policy, process and procedures and to identify where there was evidence of best practice and /or opportunities for better practice.”

Nevertheless, the Davidson Report did record what they termed the community’s “perceptions“ as areas that need action by CN to build greater community trust. Our Newcastle encourages the community to use these themes to hold CN accountable in the future.

General Governance

- Review and reinforce Council meeting procedures, scheduling, and governance

- Councillors are encouraged to be clear if they are speaking for or against a motion

 - Proactively release key project and operational details including financial information on their website in a timely manner

 - Review procedures for complaint handling, including anonymous correspondence being treated as a complaint when legitimate information is included

 - Review the Customer Complaints Handling Policy to include decisions made by the elected Council as a valid customer complaint

- Introduce a parking fine review process prior to referral of fines to Revenue NSW

Financial Governance

- Reinstatement of more detailed Financial Reporting, including individual project listings and budget performance

- Increase diligence to ensure Contracts Register maintained with clear detail regarding variations.

- ARIC to include in their annual business calendar a briefing from Newcastle Airport which includes information on the assets, liabilities and operations of the Newcastle Airport

- Christmas Parties - there is recognition that the potential for perception concerns warrants consideration.

- Conduct service reviews of maintenance contracts and contract management practices as well as internal service arrangements where services are provided directly by City of Newcastle

- Require Business Improvement Associations (BIA’s) undertake research with membership and the community annually at agreed regular intervals to assess satisfaction and impact

Compliance

- Enhance monitoring and enforcement of regulations to ensure consistent compliance and address community concerns regarding regulatory leniency

- Continue education and awareness for councillors, the Lord Mayor and the community on how COI are declared and managed.

- Enhance transparency in project reporting to the public by providing information on total project costs and breakdowns, including any cost variations. Additionally, ensure regular, transparent updates on project progress and any key changes to scope, schedule or costs

- Ensure adequate contingency planning, where the initial price estimates for capital projects include a ‘cost range’ and larger contingency

Engagement

- Ensure community feedback is sought early in key Council decisions, and that community members who made submissions receive a relevant response on the outcomes of the consultation process

- Strengthen attention to PDPs by managers and team leaders and also completion rates of PDPs by staff and officers.

Organisation culture

- Strengthen executive preparedness for transitions associated with elections.

- Ensure the alignment of the Lord Mayor, Councillors and CEO on strategic priorities to foster a high-performing council.

It is to be expected that this review has not met community expectations. Davidson reviewers generally maintained their scope to the Terms of Reference where policy was the specific focus. It was not the comprehensive investigation the community voted for, but it was a small step in the right direction with numerous recommendations to build public trust. This trust can only be built if councillors take ownership, acknowledge these recommendations and enact them rather than pointing fingers, demanding apologies or saying the review wasn’t needed.

Our Newcastle will continue to monitor council and speak up on behalf of the community. We invite any and all members of the public to contact us if they have concerns relating to council.

Link to the report in full: https://newcastle.nsw.gov.au/.../City-of-Newcastle...