Groups ‘suspicious’ of education pay contracts

Press, 7 September 1989, Page 7

Groups ‘suspicious’ of education pay contracts

By

MARITA VANDENBERG

Three bidders for two $3 million

education payroll contracts — ih Canterbury and Wellington — are alleging irregularities in the awarding of the contracts. One of the failed bidders, the Christchurch Secondary Schools’ Council (S.S.C.), which has handled secondary and tertiary salaries for 17 years, this week called for a Ministerial review.

In Wellington and Christchurch, the payroll contracts were won nine days ago by the education service centres rising out of the Education Department — Education New Zealand, in Wellington, and Pro-Ed Services, in Canterbury. In both cases Education Department staff head the two groups. The contracts were awarded by a group within the Education Department. ’

The other two failed bidders alleging irregularities are service groups rising out of the education boards — CEBUS Services in Canterbury, and Edtec Services in Wellington. Both handled primary payrolls. The general manager of Edtec Services, Mr Dave Hewitt, said he was “highly suspicious” about pos-

sible inside knowledge from a member of the contracts committee who had links with Education New Zealand. His group is now taking legal advice. Mr Hewitt said his group was unsatisfied after corresponding with the director-general of education, Dr Russell Ballard, on the matter. Dr Ballard told Edtec the opposition tender was accepted because it was cheapest. When informed possible irregularities had occurred, Dr Ballard said he believed this was not the case, said Mr Hewitt. While some payroll staff from the Wellington Education Board have been recruited to Education New Zealand, it is believed no Canterbury Education Board (C.E.8.) or S.S.C. payroll staff have taken jobs offered to them by Pro-Ed since Friday. Pro-Ed had until Tuesday to nominate its payroll staff to ensure it could meet its contractual obligations.

The general managers of the S.S.C. and CEBUS are predicting big disruptions in the payment of Canterbury’s 8500 school teacher salaries, due to lack of experience, when Pro-Ed takes over the payroll

in three weeks. Pro-Ed will take over expensive computer equipment wired into the C.E.B. and S.S.C. salary units last month. In the Picot report on education, the Christchurch S.S.C. was described as a model of efficiency on which proposed education service centres might be based. The S.S.C. general manager, Mr John Masters, said he still wanted an answer to why his council had not been initially accepted and funded as an education service centre.

“The Education Department has taken selective action over a period of time. The appearance, in Canterbury, is that the Government has allowed three education service centres to flourish — in keeping with Tomorrow’s Schools and free enterprise. The reality is that virtually all departmental-controlled funding and contracts have been passed to the department,” he said. The CEBUS general manager, Mr Garron Dowell, a former senior salaries officer with the education board, said last evening a Ministerial review would take too long to sort out the situation, which was getting critical.