Governance Review

Working on Working Together

Invercargill City Council adopted an Action Plan in late 2020 to address governance concerns initially raised in a letter from the Department of Internal Affairs and later outlined in a report by Richard Thomson into governance matters at the council.

The independent “Thomson Report” includes an overview of the key themes affecting governance at the Council and sets out a range of recommendations to make improvements for the future. The Action Plan captures all of the recommendations and sets a clear path to address the issues raised.

The Action Plan focuses on three key areas:

  1. Addressing the foundations through the appointment of two External Appointees to Council and developing a clear set of delegations for the Deputy Mayor
  2. Strengthening the team through a review of strategic projects, mentoring support, training for elected members and the development of media protocols
  3. Measuring progress through workshops and annual evaluations to make sure the council stays on track.

External Appointees

Jeff Grant

Jeff has strong governance and director experience across a range of roles with a focus on primary industries. A former Chairman of AgResearch, Jeff was appointed in 2018 by Beef + Lamb NZ and the Meat Industry Association to manage the sector’s response to Brexit and has held a range of chair or director roles across the agriculture and primary industries. For eight years until 2018, Jeff was the Independent Chair of Southland Shared Services.

Lindsay McKenzie

Lindsay is an experienced executive and director with a history of working in the public and more recently the private sector. Lindsay is a former Chief Executive of Environment Southland, Gisborne District Council and Tasman District Council. Skilled in Non-profit Organisations, Government, Environment, Health and Safety, Corporate Governance, and Strategic Planning. Strong professional with a natural resource science background and Post Grad. Cert. in Business/Commerce, General from Monash University, Melbourne.

Links

Council Reports