Published on Thursday, 20 June 2024 at 4:12:53 PM
At its June meeting, the Council voted unanimously to support a suite of new governance initiatives aimed at better meeting community expectations.
A/Mayor Anne Ryan stated, “The Council has just supported a recommendation from the Audit and Risk Committee to request the CEO to implement a review of the City’s Complaints Management Policy. This is in addition to the City undertaking an audit on our complaints handling processes and developing a list of items to be put forward for inclusion in an internal audit plan.”
“This is a positive step forward to ensuring we are actively listening to the views and experiences of our community and that the City’s processes for management of complaints are being designed to meet community expectations into the future.”
“By expanding the membership of the Audit and Risk Committee to include all Elected Members, the Council will now ensure stronger oversight of complaints and how they are managed through regular auditing and review. The Councillors recognise the need to be open, to learn from constructive criticism and act on it, and we acknowledge that all types of complaints need to be responded to appropriately.”
The recently published MARKYT Community Scorecard is one way in which the City hears from the community about key priorities and concerns, and recent feedback received through this will be used in conjunction with a range of other tools to ensure strong performance into the future. The current Council is focused on development of new contractual Key Performance Indicators for the CEO, reforecasting the City’s Long Term Financial Plan and has just made a decision to establish a new District Sport and Recreation Reserve to accumulate funds for the provision of future district level sport and recreation facilities.
A/Mayor Ryan said, “We recognise the need to plan for improved sport and leisure facilities to meet our community’s future needs and this was reinforced as a priority in the feedback we received through the MARKYT Community Scorecard survey. In response to this feedback, Council has just resolved to allocate 1% of next year’s rates revenue plus any additional surplus funds over $500,000 (if available) at the end of the financial year into a new District Sport and Recreation Reserve for this purpose. Council has also resolved to include this same approach for future year allocations in its Long Term Financial Plan to ensure a year on year accumulation.”
“We have seen a number of new Councillors join Council since late last year and there is now a full complement of four City Directors to support the CEO in managing operational matters, so we are also moving forward with reviews of existing practices and delivery of a range of improvements. The Council has also adopted a range of motions put directly from elected members based on matters of community interest.”
To see the reports presented at the June 2024 Ordinary Council Meeting, please view the City’s Ordinary Council Meeting Agenda.
Objectives outlined in this statement are aligned with the City of Busselton’s Strategic Community Plan (2021 - 2031) Key Themes Leadership: A Council that connects with the community and is accountable in its decision making.
Ends. Media enquiries can be directed to pr@busselton.wa.gov.au
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