Over the next few months, public attention is likely to be drawn to squabbling candidates and snap social media announcements in the lead-up to the September 2024 NSW local government elections.
However, behind the scenes, a huge amount of staff activity will need to take place to help prepare for the strategy and reporting requirements for newly-elected councils.
Here’s a summary of what’s required under the NSW Integrated Planning and Reporting Framework in the financial year 2024/25.
Annual Report
As is the case every year, the Annual Report must be prepared before 30 November.
State Of Our City report
Being an election year, a State Of Our City Report (formerly referred to as the End of Term Report) must be attached to the Annual Report.
This report should be presented to the second meeting of a newly elected council for noting.
The report will cover the four-year term of the previous council and objectively track council’s progress against the Community Strategic Plan (CSP).
The report also needs to be forward-looking and provide information that sets the scene for the new council, including future work to be undertaken.
In other words, this report needs to be more than a brag sheet and also needs to analyse and highlight upcoming challenges, to assist the new council to undertake a review of the Community Strategic Plan (see below).
Community Engagement Strategy review
Within three months of the election, that is by the end of December, councils should have completed a review of their existing statutory Community Engagement Strategy.
This review should consider how councils will go about engaging on their updated Community Strategic Plan (see below).
Updated Community Strategic Plan
Before 30 June 2025, councils must have reviewed and updated their arguably most important corporate planning document - the Community Strategic Plan (CSP).
The CSP must address four questions:
Where are we now?
Where do we want to be in 10 years’ time?
How will we get there?
How will we know we have arrived?
The CSP informs all other corporate planning documents, including four-year Delivery Programs, ten-year Long-Term Financial Plans and single-year Operational Plans.
This is an important and tricky year for reviewing CSPs, given that this will be the first time councils have looked at their CSP in the post-COVID period.
This means councils will need to consider all the things the post-COVID period has brought us, including the housing crisis, population growth, worsening climate change, community division and strife and inflation and cost-of-living issues. Local councils, along with other levels of government, will be expected to address these issues.
The CSP will need to be exhibited for at least 28 days but before this time the document’s development should ideally also be informed by early and broad-based engagement.
Updated Delivery Program
Delivery Programs are documents with a four-year horizon, which are meant to translate the community’s longer-term strategic goals, as outlined in the CSP, into clear actions.
Councils typically adopted their last CSPs and Delivery Programs in mid-2022.
Just like the CSP, the Delivery Program also needs to be reviewed, exhibited and updated, before 30 June next year. The Local Government Act says this should be considered as a “new” Delivery Program.
Workforce Management Strategy
The NSW Government’s Integrated Planning and Reporting Handbook also states that the Workforce Management Strategy should be reviewed and updated every four years, along with the Delivery Program.
Conclusion
This will be a busy time for councils, with a need for meaningful but orderly community engagement, clear writing and strong project management, to meet the above deadlines.
StoryPower has extensive experience in local government engagement and corporate reporting and can assist, as a consultant or contractor, with the above activities. To reach our to StoryPower, please email mark@storypowercomms.com.au
Also download StoryPower’s Local Government Capability Statement below.
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