Southland District Council has been ordered by the Ombudsman to overhaul its record keeping after refusing to release information about mayoral spending.

The controversy began in August 2025 when media requested mayoral and chair spending records from all four Southland councils covering the previous term to July 31.

While three councils provided the information, Southland District Council refused. The council said mayoral expenses were combined with other elected members' records, requiring staff to sort through 665 documents or invoices - a task they estimated would take up to 55 hours.

The matter was escalated to the Ombudsman, who released his final decision this week.

Chief Ombudsman John Allen found the council could legally refuse the request under the Local Government Official Information Act because it required extensive collation and research.

However, Allen said the council's approach was "otherwise unreasonable" and has recommended major changes to how it stores elected member spending records.

"There is a clear public interest in the information being stored in a way that it can be readily retrieved and made available," Allen wrote.

"This would be in line with the normal business practice of other councils who have provided this information to the requester, and the purposes of the Public Records Act 2005."

Allen noted he didn't necessarily agree with the council's 55-hour estimate but accepted the task would require "substantial collation and research".

The council must now report back to the Ombudsman on what changes it will implement.

A council spokesperson said the organisation was looking to implement the requested changes and would provide an update to the Ombudsman.

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