Extract from the Introduction:

Auckland Council was formed out of the merger of eight councils in November 2010. At the same
time, about 40 CCOs were merged into seven. The five substantive CCOs that remain today are
the subject of our review. They are: Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development
(ATEED), Auckland Transport, Panuku Development Auckland, Regional Facilities Auckland and
Watercare Services. The council initiated this review in response to public disquiet about the
performance and accountability of CCOs, but also because the CCO model has been operating for
more than a decade now and warrants an examination of what is working, what is not, and what
can be done to improve it.

The role of CCOs in relation to other parts of the city’s local government structure was a subject
the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance devoted some time to and its view is worth
repeating. The royal commission envisaged that any reforms to make local government “more
efficient and less fragmented” demanded:

• a mayor who was inclusive, inspirational and decisive
• local councils (what were to be local boards) that were better at engaging with communities, used new ways to connect with people, and simplified consultation, thereby improving community access to councils
• a council that would set policy to achieve growth and economic and social development, and that would provide strategic direction for CCOs
• CCOs that adopted a commercial focus, employed economies of scale, had a streamlined bureaucracy and allowed the council to concentrate on its main role of devising policy and strategy to ensure Auckland’s prosperity and orderly growth.

Our terms of reference focus on the last of these four strands of good local government, but we found it necessary sometimes to comment on the other three as well because they are so
entwined. ...