Part 5Part 5 Inquiries, reviews and surcharging
Division 1 Inquiries and reviews
429 Minister or Director-General may require councils to provide information
(1) The Minister or the Director-General may at any time require a council to provide such information concerning the council or its work and activities as the Minister or the Director-General may determine.(2) A council must provide the information within such period as is specified by the Minister or Director-General.(3) The information that a council may be required to provide under this section includes:(a) information concerning any auditor’s report, and(b) information concerning any other report provided to the council with respect to the council or its work and activities, and(c) information as to any factors (of the kind referred to in section 263 (3)) that are relevant to a proposal referred to in Division 2 or 2B of Part 1 of Chapter 9.
429A Complaints about councils, councillors, delegates and staff
(1) A public official within the meaning of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 1994 may complain to the Director-General about the conduct of any one or more of the following:(a) a council,(b) a delegate of a council,(c) a councillor,(d) a member of staff of a council.(2) A complaint may be made orally or in writing.(3) The Director-General may deal with a complaint made under this section:(a) by means of an investigation authorised under section 430, or(b) in such other manner as the Director-General considers appropriate.
430 Director-General may authorise investigation of councils etc
(1) The Director-General may, at the request of the Minister or on the Director-General’s own initiative, authorise any person (referred to in this Part as a Departmental representative) to investigate any aspect of a council or of its work and activities.(2) An authority may be given generally or in respect of a particular matter.(3) The functions of a Departmental representative are as set out in the authority.(4) The Director-General is, by virtue of holding office as Director-General, a Departmental representative with power to investigate all matters.
431 Powers of Departmental representatives—generally
(1) For the purpose of exercising his or her functions, a Departmental representative may direct a person to do any one or more of the following:(a) to appear personally before the Departmental representative at a time and place specified in the direction,(b) to give evidence (including evidence on oath),(c) to produce to the Departmental representative any document that is in that person’s custody or under that person’s control,(d) to grant to the Departmental representative such authorities as may be necessary to enable the Departmental representative to gain access to any document that is in the custody or under the control of any bank, building society, credit union or other person.(2) For the purposes of this section, a Departmental representative may administer an oath.(3) A Departmental representative may take copies of or extracts from any document to which the Departmental representative gains access under this section.
Part 2 of Chapter 8 applies, in relation to the functions of a Departmental representative, to the Director-General and a Departmental representative in the same way as it applies to a council and a council employee (or other person) authorised by the council.
(1) A Departmental representative must report to the Minister and the Director-General on the results of the investigation and must send a copy of the report to the council.(2) The report may comment on any matter which, in the Departmental representative’s opinion, warrants special mention and may contain such recommendations as the Departmental representative considers appropriate.(3) A report furnished to the council under this section must be presented at the next meeting of the council after the report is received.(4) Section 14B of the Royal Commissions Act 1923 applies in relation to any report that the Minister wishes to lay before both Houses of Parliament in the same way as it applies to a report made by a commission under that Act.
434 Council’s response to report
(1) A council must, within 40 days after presentation to it of a Departmental representative’s report, give written notice to the Minister of the things done or proposed to be done to give effect to any recommendations contained in the report.(2) The Minister may:(a) after receiving the council’s notice, or(b) after the 40-day period,whichever is the earlier, order the council to do such things or to refrain from doing such things arising from the recommendations contained in the report as are specified in the order.(3) A council must comply with the Minister’s order.(4) An order under this section may state that a failure to comply with the order may lead to legal proceedings being taken to enforce compliance.
434A Council’s response to Ombudsman’s report
(1) The Minister may order a council to present a copy of a report made by the Ombudsman under section 26 of the Ombudsman Act 1974 concerning the conduct of the council (together with a copy of the Minister’s order) at the next meeting of the council occurring after the order is made.(2) The council must, within 40 days after the presentation of the Ombudsman’s report and the Minister’s order, give written notice to the Minister of the things done or proposed to be done to give effect to any recommendations contained in the report.(3) At any time after receiving the council’s notice or the expiration of the 40-day period (whichever is the earlier) the Minister may order the council to do such things or to refrain from doing such things arising from the recommendations contained in the Ombudsman’s report as are specified in the order.(4) The council must comply with any order made by the Minister under this section.(5) An order under this section may state that a failure to comply with the order may lead to legal proceedings being taken to enforce compliance.(6) Nothing in this section affects any other obligation of the council in respect of the Ombudsman’s report under the Ombudsman Act 1974.
434B Expenses to be borne by council
(1) The Director-General may recover the reasonable expenses incurred by the Director-General in, or in respect of, the preparation of a Departmental representative’s report under this Division that relates to the administration of an election by a general manager, including investigation expenses of the Director-General or the Departmental representative.(2) The Director-General may make a determination of the amount of the expenses referred to in subsection (1) and serve a notice on the council requiring the amount so determined be paid in recovery of the expenses.(3) An amount equal to the expenses as so determined is payable to the Director-General as a debt by the council concerned, except as determined by the Director-General.(4) The council may apply to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal for a review of whether any part of the expenses so determined are not reasonable expenses.(5) The Director-General must give effect to any decision of the Tribunal on a review of the determination of the amount of the expenses.(6) A reference in this section to expenses incurred includes a reference to remuneration paid to departmental staff.
435 Surcharging by Departmental representative
(1) If satisfied that any expenditure or transfer, or any entry in a council’s accounts, has been incurred or made in contravention of this or any other Act or of any regulation in force under this or any other Act, a Departmental representative may:(a) disallow the expenditure, transfer or entry, and(b) surcharge the amount of the disallowance on the councillor, the general manager or any other member of staff of the council by whom the expenditure, transfer or entry was incurred or made or ordered to be incurred or made.(2) A Departmental representative may also surcharge on a councillor, the general manager or any other member of staff of the council the amount of:(a) any deficiency or loss incurred by the council as a consequence of the negligence or misconduct of the councillor, general manager or member of staff, or(b) any money which ought to have been, but has not been, brought into account by the councillor, general manager or member of staff.(3) A Departmental representative may not exercise the powers conferred by this section unless expressly authorised to do so by the Director-General.
(1) Before surcharging a person, the Departmental representative:(a) must cause notice of the proposed surcharge, and of the reasons for the proposed surcharge, to be given to the person, and(b) must allow the person a reasonable opportunity to make submissions to the Departmental representative with respect to the proposed surcharge, and(c) must take into consideration any submissions duly made by the person with respect to the proposed surcharge.(2) The Departmental representative must certify in the council’s accounts the amount by which the Departmental representative has surcharged any person.(3) Immediately on surcharging an amount on any person, the Departmental representative must give notice of that fact to the person.
437 Applications for review by Administrative Decisions Tribunal
(1) A person who is surcharged under this Division may apply to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal for a review of the decision to surcharge.(2) The council must give effect to any decision of the Tribunal on a review of the decision to surcharge.
438 Recovery of amount surcharged
(1) The amount of a surcharge becomes payable to the council as a debt when the time within which an appeal may be made against the surcharge expires or, if such an appeal is made and the surcharge is not annulled, when that appeal is finally determined.(2) Any money recovered in connection with a surcharge relating to a particular account is to be paid into the fund in which money in that account is held.