Source: Radio New Zealand
The Public Service Commission has published its investigation into the Teaching Council’s procurement and conflicts of interest management. RNZ / Richard Tindiller
The Public Service Commission says the Teaching Council fell well short of public sector standards in its management of procurement and conflicts of interest.
The commission has published its investigation into procurement and conflict of interest management involving the advertising firm Clemenger, digital engagement services, and te reo Māori instruction, translation, and Māori cultural advice.
“Our investigation found that on multiple occasions between late 2018 and early 2025, the Teaching Council conducted procurement activities which did not comply with its internal policies and fell short of relevant system guidance. Some of these procurement activities also involved a conflict of interest which, in our view, was not appropriately identified or managed,” it said.
“This was not an issue of technical non-compliance. Key steps in the requisite processes did not occur, creating significant organisational and reputational risks. The Teaching Council’s management of these activities fell short (and sometimes well short) of the standards expected in the public sector. This has the potential to undermine public trust in the organisation.”
The report said the council’s chief executive, Lesley Hoskin, had a conflict of interest with regard to Clemenger because her husband is the company’s managing director and has shares in the company.
It said the council engaged Clemenger for three projects, and though Hoskin declared the conflict and was not involved in awarding the contracts there was “varying compliance” with the council’s procurement policy.
“Many of the contracts linked to these initiatives were not procured through competitive processes, and the grounds for exemption from this requirement in the Teaching
Council’s procurement policy were not thoroughly considered, documented or approved. We have particularly serious concerns about a contract related to the communications strategy initiative, which was finalised for a value of $570,000 (later varied to $530,000) following a Request for Proposal (RFP) indicating a value of $75,000. The description of services provided under this contract also differed significantly from the workstreams identified in the RFP.”
The report said the council engaged two contractors for “digital engagement” without a competitive process, creating a risk of perceived bias or favouritism, though there was no evidence of conflicts of interest.
It said multiple contracts for te reo Māori instruction, translation and cultural advice did not comply with internal procurement policy but there was no evidence that the deputy chief executive sponsoring the projects had a conflict of interest.
The report said the council had “low maturity” in conflict management because it relied on annual declarations of conflicts of interest rather than actively managing them.
“The Teaching Council’s sole approach to managing the Chief Executive’s conflict in relation to Clemenger was to exclude her from any procurement and contract management process. This was an overly simplistic approach and not sufficient to manage the Chief Executive’s conflict of interest. In particular, very little was done to manage the considerable perception risks arising from the conflict. To the contrary those risks were exacerbated markedly by poor procurement practices as
set out below,” the report said.
It said Hoskin did not declare her husband’s shareholding in Clemenger which created a financial interest in a company that benefited from contracts with the council.
“The Chief Executive did not disclose her husband’s shareholding to the Chair of the Governing Council, or to senior leaders managing contracts with Clemenger beyond the verbal declaration to Deputy Chief Executive A in 2018. While the Chief Executive reliably disclosed the conflict created by her husband’s position, her omission of the shareholding interest showed a lack of understanding of the nature of conflicts.”
RNZ has approached the Teaching Council for comment.
Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche said the report painted a concerning picture about the council.
“The Council is responsible for upholding high professional standards for teachers,” he said.
“It must also meet the highest standards itself. In this case, basic public sector expectations were not met, and in some areas the Council fell well short.
“These shortcomings created avoidable organisational and reputational risks and have the potential to undermine trust in the Teaching Council.”
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
