Neutral – Neither Trustees nor Hired Guns: The Experiences and Preferences of Local Government Councillors of NSW Australia

Abstract

This paper reports on the preferences and experiences of the councillor level of New South Wales (NSW, Australia) local government, concerning the public service values that guide the council staff working under a politicised employment relationship. The results of the study show that councillors perceive council staff to be as largely neutral in their behaviour as they expect them to be. The paper further reports that the council staff (in the view of councillors) do not politically respond to any unreasonable demands made by elected officials or act as the trustee of the public interest in competition with them. Data for this study were collected through interviews, a survey, and from secondary sources.

Performance Management Implementation in Local Government: Lessons from Recent International Literature

“…Since local governments are tasked with providing essential services to their constituents, performance management is seen as a contractual arrangement in which the principal relies on the services of the agent to fulfill predetermined obligations (Bjurstrøm, 2020). The quality of service delivery to communities is determined by the quality of the interaction between the political and administrative arms (Haidar & Spooner, 2017). Politics affects the breadth and quality of service delivery, but (Haidar & Spooner, 2017) does not prove that a poor working relationship between the two will result in lower service levels.…”

“…The quality of service delivery to communities is determined by the quality of the interaction between the political and administrative arms (Haidar & Spooner, 2017). Politics affects the breadth and quality of service delivery, but (Haidar & Spooner, 2017) does not prove that a poor working relationship between the two will result in lower service levels.…”