‘No training’ behind meagre council spend
A business group is ‘‘ramping up efforts’’ after the region’s council failed to send staff members in for training for a year.
The Marlborough District Council spent $2200 with the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce last financial year, but gave another $2500 in sponsorship, clocking in under the national average of $23,600.
Council economic, community and support services manager Dean Heiford said the low figure was due in part to the council lodging ‘‘no staff training’’ with the chamber last year.
The figures were from the Taxpayers’ Union’s 2019 Ratepayers’ Report, from the start of July in 2017, to the end of June in 2018.
‘‘We have a number of different training providers and ways we train our staff, which are not necessarily with the chamber.’’
This included hiring organisations to provide in-house training, and attending training from providers on topics ‘‘from health and safety, to human resources, to accounting methods’’, he said.
Marlborough Chamber of Commerce had offered health and safety training, and contract and management training for years.
A Christchurch City Council spokeswoman said it spent $6600 with its chamber over the same year, with $4300 going towards its annual membership and $2300 towards a ‘‘VIP lunch’’.
A Wellington City Council spokesman said it paid $15,600 to its chamber, split into membership and events or seminars.
But the Timaru District Council, which managed a similar number of residents as Marlborough, spent ‘‘more than half’’ of its $18,000 Chamber of Commerce payment on staff training.
‘‘[Staff training] is usually more cost effective doing it as a mixed group, rather than the council organising itself,’’ he said.
Marlborough Chamber of Commerce chief executive Hans Neilson said this year it was making its courses ‘‘high-level’’ so it could better support businesses, and for ‘‘relationship building’’.
‘‘Previously, to get high-level training, people have to go outside of Marlborough. This year, we’re bringing in trainers from outside of Marlborough so businesses don’t have to do that,’’ Neilson said.
‘‘This is something no-one else in the region is doing. The reality is that most businesses spend more on stationery equipment than professional development, which is important.’’
The council had already signed up a few people to attend the courses, he said, the first of which started in March.
Heiford said of the council’s spending about $1800 covered the council’s membership with the Chamber of Commerce. Membership
was decided on the number of staff a business had, he said.
The Marlborough Chamber of Commerce website said membership gave businesses ‘‘exclusive’’ training opportunities, discounts, access to resources and toolkits, and publicity.
Heiford said the council also forked out $360 for events, such as lunches. These events were paid for on a case-by-case basis.
‘‘If a Minister of Finance comes, for example, they have lunch and you have to pay to go. Sometimes they will have an economist in for a briefing, which we sometimes attend,’’ Heiford said.
It sponsored the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce’s Business Awards, which recognised business excellence, for $2500.
Heiford said each of the payments were funded by ratepayers. ‘‘It’s one of the operational overheads at the council,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re a business in Marlborough. We support the Chamber of Commerce directly by paying the membership fee, and partner with them on other things. We just see it as paying our dues.’’