- By Laura Kvigstad, Auckland Council reporter funded by New Zealand on Air
The debate over the future of Auckland Council’s facility maintenance contracts has resurfaced, with local versus big contractors once again at the forefront of discussions.
At a recent meeting of the council’s revenue, expenditure and value committee, councillor members reviewed options for the future of the maintenance contracts, which cover the maintenance of parks, sports fields, and public facilities across the region.
The committee endorsed stopping work to explore fully insourcing or adopting a head contractor approach.
In 2017, the council shifted from 38 small contracts to five large contracts which had an ongoing cost avoidance of $30 million.
The council’s parks and community facilities general manager Taryn Crewe said the council is now considering a hybrid model that would involve both larger contractors and smaller local ones.
“We’ve been approached by some community groups and iwi groups to look at how they can help in the delivery of some specific maintenance,” Crewe said, noting the hybrid model would accommodate this.
She said the council would be looking to maintain the savings achieved by reducing the number of contractors in 2017, but contracts could be “tighter” to deliver better outcomes.
Councillor Kerrin Leoni raised concerns about the use of subcontractors by larger contractors, asking whether the council could scale down criteria to go straight to subcontractors.
“The preference of who the big contractors are is not always going down to who the local boards obviously want.”
Leoni also suggested that each local board could have a dedicated procurement officer to ensure community preferences are better addressed.
Crewe said that a hybrid model could work with local groups but noted that more contracts would mean increased monitoring and internal resources.
“We reduced internal resources significantly when we moved from 38 to five contracts in 2017,” Crewe said.
“More contracts would mean more people managing them, which increases the workload.”
On the suggestion of local procurement officers, Crewe said she would need to consult with her finance colleagues.
Councillor Ken Turner questioned whether the shift to five major contractors had truly benefited local procurement.
“Are you prepared to move back to 38 contracts, or at least increase the number in the primary pool?” he asked.
Crewe responded that while the council wasn’t committed to keeping just five contractors, there were advantages to using larger companies.
“The ability of large contractors to flex and respond to changes has been beneficial,” Crewe said.
“For example, last year we reduced $5m in spending because they could scale back without jeopardising the contractors’ ability to deliver.”
