The General Manager’s performance review is conducted annually by Eurobodalla Council’s performance review panel that comprises all councillors with the Mayor as panel chair. Therefore all councillors participate in the performance review outcome. 1. Key duties of all general managers: (in part) The general manager is generally responsible for the effective and efficient operation of the council’s organisation and for ensuring the implementation of the council’s decisions without undue delay. The general manager is responsible for ensuring councillors are provided with information and the advice they require in order to make informed decisions and to carry out their civic duties. The general manager should ensure that the council meeting business papers are sufficient to enable the council to make informed decisions, as well as to allow councillors to properly monitor and review the operations of the council. This will assist councils in ensuring that they are complying with any relevant statutory obligations, keeping within the budget approved by the council and achieving the strategic goals set by the council in its Delivery Program and Operational Plan. Councillors should receive a number of financial reports during the year, including the Quarterly Budget Review Statements included in the Code of Accounting Practice and Financial Reporting and which are referred to in the draft Quarterly Budget Review Statements Guidelines, reports required by the Regulation and any legislation. In addition, the council should receive at least quarterly a report about any significant litigation affecting the council. *************** From: Guidelines for the Appointment and Oversight of General Managers A governing body of council may delegate certain functions to the general manager. A delegation of a council function must be made by a council resolution (Chapter 12 Part 3 ss 377-381 of the Act). It should be noted that the general manager may sub-delegate a function delegated to him/her by the governing body of council (s378). However, the general manager still retains responsibility to ensure that any sub-delegated function is carried out appropriately. It is important that council’s governing body ensure that proper records are kept of applications that are determined under delegation and that there is regular reporting on the implementation of delegated functions. This is essential so that council’s governing body can be provided with assurance that the delegated function is being undertaken in accordance with any relevant council policies and regulatory framework, eg, development application decisions. The council’s internal audit function is another important internal control to ensure that delegated functions are complying with relevant policy and legislation. A well designed internal audit program should give council independent assurance that council’s internal controls are working effectively. Timelines: Eurobodalla Shire Councillors gave Dr Catherine Dale a resounding endorsement at the Tuesday 13th June 2017 Council meeting when the results of her annual performance review and an extension of her contract were voted on. Council advised then that Dr Dale’s contract as General Manager had been extended for five years, commencing from 1 July 2017 with Mayor Liz Innes saying the vote "acknowledged Dr Dale’s outstanding achievements against the nine key performance indicators she was assessed on." Within 3 months of the commencement date of the contract a performance agreement setting out agreed performance criteria must be signed between the general manager and the council - The GM's contract was renewed July 1st 2017. Within 2 months of the signing of the performance agreement the general manager must prepare and submit to council an action plan which sets out how the performance criteria are to be met By July each year, there after, the general manager is required to give the council 21 days written notice that an annual performance review is due. Counter to that the council must give the general manager 10 days written notice that any performance review is to be conducted All being well around July each year all councillors on the Review Panel will have been trained/retrained in performance management of general managers The general manager may submit to council a self assessment of his/her performance ,however, the general manager’s performance must be reviewed having regard to the performance criteria in the agreement Within 6 weeks of the conclusion of the performance review Council are required to prepare and send to the general manager a written statement with council’s conclusions on the general manager’s performance during the performance review period and, as soon as possible after receipt of the statement, the general manager and the council need to agree on any variation to the performance agreement for the next period of review The performance management report of any council staff member, including the general manager, should not be released to the public and should be retained on the appropriate confidential council employment file. Release of such personal information to other than the Performance Review Panel, the general manager and the councillors in confidence may be a breach of privacy legislation. Section 2 Establishing the framework for performance management – guidelines for the appointment and oversights of General Manager states: “The panel should report back to the governing body of council in a closed session the findings and recommendations of its performance review as soon as practicable following any performance review.”
A Council spokesperson has advised "There is no legislative requirement to report back to the governing body of council since these are guidelines and because the governing body of council comprises the same members as the performance review panel."
So to those who might ask "When is the General Manager's Annual review; how is she assessed and what will the community be told of her performance?" the answer are:
- July,
-assessed by councillors as a panel and
- no, the public are not advised of her performance
- nor do they have access to the nine key performance indicators she is assessed on.
