Local Authorities (Members’ Interests) Act 1968 (LAMIA)
SPENCER JONES made this Official Information request to Waitomo District Council
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From: SPENCER JONES
April 24th, 2023
Dear New Waitomo District Council (WDC),
I am writing to request all information to which I am entitled under section 12 of the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) (The Act). This information is sought in the public interest of all New Zealanders.
Please find below my OIA request, which relates to WDC's Local Authorities (Members’ Interests) Act (LAMIA) and its employment obligations Re conflicts of interest that Councillors or planning officers may have with regard to membership of masonic lodges.
What is a conflict of interest? Taken from New Zealand Government (www.ssc.govt.nz and www.oag.govt.nz); A conflict of interest is where someone is comprised when their personal interests or obligations conflict with the responsibilities of their job or position. It means that their independence, objectivity or impartiality can be called into question.
A conflict of interest can be:
(1). Actual: where the conflict already exists.
(2). Potential: where the conflict is about to happen.
(3). Perceived: where other people might reasonably think that a person has been compromised.
A poorly managed ‘perceived’ conflict of interest can be just as damaging as a poorly managed ‘actual’ conflict of interest. Legislation (Statutory and common law) requires local government candidates to declare any known conflicts or likely conflicts of interest they would have if elected? Membership of professional /voluntary bodies & conflicts of interest – Individuals should declare membership of any professional body or organisation where their membership may appear to represent a conflict of interest or attract accusations of bias. This includes any private organisations whose membership is not totally open to the public. Any such membership must be recorded
Under the Council’s Code of Conduct for Employees, all staff have a personal responsibility to disclose any financial or other interests they have outside work that could bring about conflict with the Council’s interests.
Information which should be declared includes financial interests in organizations with whom the council has dealings e.g. contractors, consultancies; secondary employment; involvement with an organization that has dealings with the council e.g. pressure groups, organizations grant funded by the council, school governing bodies; relationships to Officers/Members or others which may cause conflict; membership of closed organizations/secret societies.
1. I request a current list of all WDC local government staff who hold membership with any Freemasonic Lodge or society.
(a). To hold membership in a secret society is a conflict of interest and also lacks public transparency and should be made a matter of public interest. Please provide copies of the WDC ‘conflict of interest questionnaire’ (Declaration of interests) for the past 9 years.
(b). WDC register of interests, registers should be located within each council’s governance statement. Making these registers public contribute to public confidence and to the accountability of the member and the local authority.
The primary reason for creating such registers is to strengthen public confidence in public bodies like local government. Please confirm by year (for the past 9 years) how many members of WDC have not filed or completed this requirement (by numbers and department).
2. Under what circumstances (if any) can public servants avoid declaring potential conflicts of interest.
The State Services Commissioner is responsible for setting standards of integrity and conduct across the State Services. Standards of integrity and conduct for the State Services are established in a code of conduct which in its current form came into force on 20th November 2007.
The core values in the code of conduct relevant to conflicts of interest are the requirements to act with fairness and with impartiality, In addition, the guidance that supports the current code of conduct notes organizations may prohibit the continued holding of certain types of interest as a condition of appointment to a position, or promote transparency by requiring this type of interest to be registered.
Membership of such organizations fits exactly into the category outlined above, and given the council's our commitment to openness and transparency, there is no reason to withhold this information.
Kind regards,
Spencer Jones
From: Adrian Lindsay
Waitomo District Council
Dear Spencer
We acknowledge receipt of your request.
This request has been treated as a request for official information under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the Act) and has been referred to Council's Manager – Governance Support for action.
Please note: Section 13(1A) of the Act provides that a local authority may charge for the supply of official information. The Ministry of Justice charging guidelines state that time spent by staff searching for relevant material, abstracting, collating, copying, transcribing and supervision access where the total time involved is more than one hour, should be charged out at an initial charge of $38 for the first chargeable half hour or part thereof; and then $38 for each additional half hour or part thereof.
Should there be any cost associated with the provision of the information you have requested, you will be notified of the amount and payment will be required prior to release of the information, otherwise, you will receive a response within 20 working days of receipt of your request.
Regards
Adrian Lindsay | Legal Officer
Waitomo District Council | Kaunihera ā-rohe
15 Queen Street, Te Kuiti 3910
PO Box 404, Te Kuiti 3941
Phone 07 878 0800 | Fax: 07 878 7771 |[mobile number]|DDI: 07 878 0853
www.waitomo.govt.nz
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From: Adrian Lindsay
Waitomo District Council
Dear Spencer
As regards this LGOIMA request please clarify whether your request relates
to –
* WDC staff, or
* WDC elected members, or
* Both
We await to hear from you.
Please also note that in respect of all the LGOIMA requests you made on 26
April 2023, we will be determining the time/costs involved in extracting
the information called for.
Yours sincerely
Adrian Lindsay | Legal Officer
Waitomo District Council | Kaunihera ā‑rohe
15 Queen Street, Te Kuiti 3910
PO Box 404, Te Kuiti 3941
Phone 07 878 0800 | Fax: 07 878 7771 | Mobile: 027 278 7139 | DDI: 07 878 0853
[1]www.waitomo.govt.nz | [2]Follow us on Facebook
Waitomo ‑ a vibrant district
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From: SPENCER JONES
Dear Adrian Lindsay,
In reply to your latest question, that would be Both (WDC staff and WDC elected members).
Kind regards,
Spencer Jones
From: Adrian Lindsay
Waitomo District Council
Dear Spencer
Further to your request detailed below please advise whether your request relates to:
* WDC staff, or
* WDC elected members, or
* Both
We await to hear from you.
Yours sincerely
Adrian Lindsay | Legal Officer
Waitomo District Council | Kaunihera ā-rohe
15 Queen Street, Te Kuiti 3910
PO Box 404, Te Kuiti 3941
Phone 07 878 0800 | Fax: 07 878 7771 |[mobile number]|DDI: 07 878 0853
www.waitomo.govt.nz
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Waitomo - a vibrant district
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From: SPENCER JONES
Dear Adrian Lindsay,
As stated in my 28th April reply to this very question as raised by you on the 28th April. That would be Both (WDC staff and WDC elected members).
Kind regards,
Spencer Jones
From: Adrian Lindsay
Waitomo District Council
Dear Spencer
We refer to our email below sent to you on 11 May 20223 at 9.26am. We note that we have had no response.
To enable Council to respond to your original request please would you furnish Council with the information called for in our email dated 11 May 2023.
Pending your response and in terms of Section 14 of LGOIMA, Council has extended the period by 10 days (i.e. to 7 June 2023). The reason for the extensions arises from the lack of response to Council's request detailed in the email dated 11 May 2023.
In terms of Section 27(3) you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman about the extension.
Once Council receives an appropriate response to our email requesting clarity (email dated 11 May 2023) , Council will respond to your original request forthwith.
Regards
Adrian Lindsay | Legal Officer
Waitomo District Council | Kaunihera ā-rohe
15 Queen Street, Te Kuiti 3910
PO Box 404, Te Kuiti 3941
Phone 07 878 0800 | Fax: 07 878 7771 |[mobile number]|DDI: 07 878 0853
www.waitomo.govt.nz
|Follow us on Facebook
Waitomo - a vibrant district
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From: Adrian Lindsay
Waitomo District Council
Dear Spencer
We refer to the trailing emails and note that we have had no response. We accordingly have once again extended the period by a further 10 days (i.e. to 21 June 2023). The reason is the same as the reason detailed in our email to you dared 23 May 2023.
Please note you have the same rights as detailed in our email referred to above .
We await to hear from you.
Yours sincerely
Adrian Lindsay | Legal Officer
Waitomo District Council | Kaunihera ā-rohe
15 Queen Street, Te Kuiti 3910
PO Box 404, Te Kuiti 3941
Phone 07 878 0800 | Fax: 07 878 7771 |[mobile number]|DDI: 07 878 0853
www.waitomo.govt.nz
|Follow us on Facebook
Waitomo - a vibrant district
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From: Adrian Lindsay
Waitomo District Council
Dear spencer
We refer to our emails to you dated 11 May, 23 May and 7 June 2023 wherein we requested additional information to enable us to respond to your request.
As we have not heard from you, notwithstanding the follow up remails above, we are closing this LGOIMA request.
Please note that once we receive the addition information requested, we will treat same as a new LGOIMA request and respond accordingly.
Regards
Adrian Lindsay | Legal Officer
Waitomo District Council | Kaunihera ā-rohe
15 Queen Street, Te Kuiti 3910
PO Box 404, Te Kuiti 3941
Phone 07 878 0800 |[mobile number]|DDI: 07 878 0853
www.waitomo.govt.nz
|Follow us on Facebook
Waitomo - a vibrant district
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