LAURA HARDCASTLE FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE MINISTER: MINISTERIAL INTERVENTIONS IN SUBNATIONAL, ELECTED BODIES AND A PRINCIPLED APPROACH TO THEIR FUTURE APPLICATION LAWS 505: Public Law Faculty of Law Victoria University of Wellington 2015 2 For the people, by the minister: ministerial interventions in subnational, elected bodies and a principled approach to their future application Contents I Introduction ..................................................................................................... 5 II Local Government .......................................................................................... 5 A The statutory regime ...................................................................................................... 6 B Interventions in practice ............................................................................................... 11 1 Christchurch City Council ......................................................................................... 12 2 Kaipara District Council ............................................................................................ 13 3 Environment Canterbury (Canterbury Regional Council, ECan) ................................ 14 4 Rodney District Council ............................................................................................ 16 5 Waitomo District Council ......................................................................................... 17 6 Critiquing the intervention regime’s application ........................................................ 17 C Other accountability mechanisms ................................................................................. 19 D Summary ..................................................................................................................... 20 III District Health Boards ................................................................................. 20 A The statutory regime .................................................................................................... 21 B Interventions in practice ............................................................................................... 23 1 Commissions ............................................................................................................ 24 2 Crown monitors ........................................................................................................ 26 3 Sacking DHB chairs .................................................................................................. 27 4 Critiquing the regime’s application ........................................................................... 27 C Other accountability mechanisms ................................................................................. 29 D Summary ..................................................................................................................... 30 IV Boards of Trustees ...................................................................................... 30 A The statutory regime .................................................................................................... 31 B Interventions in practice ............................................................................................... 34 1 Commissions ............................................................................................................ 35 2 Limited statutory managers ....................................................................................... 36 3 Critiquing the regime’s application ........................................................................... 37 C Other accountability mechanisms ................................................................................. 41 D Summary ..................................................................................................................... 42 V Tertiary Institutions ...................................................................................... 42 A The statutory regime .................................................................................................... 42 B Interventions in practice ............................................................................................... 45 1 Critiquing the regime’s application ........................................................................... 46 C Other accountability mechanisms ................................................................................. 47 D Summary ..................................................................................................................... 47 VI Suggested Intervention Principles ............................................................... 48 A Democracy................................................................................................................... 50 B Subsidiarity .................................................................................................................. 52 3 For the people, by the minister: ministerial interventions in subnational, elected bodies and a principled approach to their future application C Scale of the problem..................................................................................................... 53 D Importance/centrality of the function............................................................................ 55 E Timing ......................................................................................................................... 56 F Complexity ................................................................................................................... 56 G Evidence/Transparency ................................................................................................ 56 H Consultation ................................................................................................................. 57 I Bipartisan support/Apolitical decision-making .............................................................. 58 J Minimising interventions............................................................................................... 59 K Summary ..................................................................................................................... 60 VI Conclusion .................................................................................................. 60 VII Bibliography .............................................................................................. 63 VIII Word Count.............................................................................................. 73 Diagrams Diagram 1: Ministerial intervention powers for local government ...................................... 8 Diagram 2: Ministerial intervention powers for DHBs ..................................................... 22 Diagram 3: Ministerial intervention powers for boards of trustees .................................... 32 Diagram 4: “Statutory intervention process” .................................................................... 32 Diagram 5: Ministry of Education “support, collaboration and intervention framework” .. 39 Diagram 6: Ministerial intervention powers for tertiary institution councils ..................... 44 Tables Table 1: “Number of statutory interventions, by region as at 31/10/2014” ........................ 34 Table 2: Summary of intervention regimes discussed ....................................................... 48 Table 3: Comparison of requirements for Crown observers and commissions .................. 51 4 For the people, by the minister: ministerial interventions in subnational, elected bodies and a principled approach to their future application Abstract Although frequently ignored, New Zealand’s democratically-elected, subnational bodies provide many of the day-to-day services we rely upon, from water and sewerage to healthcare and education. However, the broad discretion enjoyed by ministers responsible for local government, District Health Boards, school boards of trustees and tertiary institution councils means elected representatives could easily be removed with little justification. This paper reviews the ministerial intervention regimes for each of these bodies and concludes that a principled approach to their use is needed to protect democratic values and prevent a concentration of power with the ministers. It suggests democracy, subsidiarity, the scale of the problem, the importance/centrality of the function, timing, complexity, transparency, consultation, apolitical decision-making and minimising interventions as principles upon which to critically analyse past interventions and ensure these powers are used more effectively in future. 5 For the people, by the minister: ministerial interventions in subnational, elected bodies and a principled approach to their future application I Introduction Democracy is traditionally considered “government of the people, by the people, for the people”.1 This apparent unity of purpose and membership belies the tension between elected ministers and other entities whose democratic legitimacy comes from subsets of the wider populace. Such democratic subnational bodies provide indispensable day-to-day services. Eighty-six local authorities control our water and sewerage.2 Twenty District Health Boards (DHBs) manage our hospitals.3 Over 2500 boards of trustees govern our primary and secondary schools, while partially-elected councils control eight universities, eighteen polytechnics and other tertiary education providers.4 These bodies