After two attempts at undertaking public research with Councils across the country, Council Watch staff have finally given in and started lodging formal complaints with the Office of the Ombudsmen. This week the last batch of 47 complaints were lodged.

The first batch related to the non-response of 16 Councils (see list here).  The second batch related to the refusal by 17 Councils, all of whom claimed that the release of the information would breach the privacy of their staff. This is despite Chatham Islands Council (who only have two staff in total) releasing the information as requested and within the timeframe allowed by law.

The most recent batch to be delivered to the Ombudsmen relates to 14 Councils who provided information that was not in keeping with the original request (for example, in bands of $25,000 or $50,000).

In the past Council Watch have discussed non-compliance of LGOIMA requests with the Ombudsmen's staff, however this has not produced the desired outcome of receiving the information asked for. Initially we were reluctant to lodge official complaints due to a concern this would hamper the operation of the Office of the Ombudsmen.