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Concerns about the process of approving grants were raised at an Auckland Council Planning, Environment and Parks Committee on April 11.
Although the Regional Arts and Culture grants and the Ngā Hapori Momoho Thriving Communities grants were approved, several councillors expressed concerns at the way the grants were being allocated.
The grants totalled $1,034,551 and $318,863 respectively, and are normally approved without much debate.
However, Cr Andy Baker said there was an accountability issue with the way grants were allocated and approved at council.
“It is a reasonable chunk of money and we are throwing all of the accountability back to staff. All we are doing is saying, ‘Yeah we are trusting exactly what you say’,” Baker said.
He said he struggled to understand why some grant applications were approved and others were not.
Cr Chris Darby said approving the grants at a committee level was not a good use of time.
Chair Richard Hills said other councillors had given similar feedback that the process could be improved, streamlined and not come back to councillors for approval.
“Last year, these grants were wiped out and then the Mayor put them back in. We have not had a chance to refocus yet,” Hills said.
He said other grants did not come back to councillors for approval and it was a policy anomaly that these particular grants needed to get councillors’ stamp of approval. He added that there was policy work underway to change the way council navigated grants.
