Ministry of Education responds to Ministerial Inquiry

4 June 2013

Ministry responds to Ministerial Inquiry

The acting Secretary for Education, Peter Hughes, says he accepts in full all of the findings and recommendations of the Ministerial Inquiry that relate to the Ministry.

Mr Hughes says he is already acting on the issues identified in the report.

“The report has identified a number of failures over the course of the project, from the requirements stage through to post Go-Live.

“A team of dedicated people worked hard on delivering a modern online payroll system for schools.

“In the end those efforts fell well short. The Ministry did not have the capacity – skills, processes and governance – for a project of this scale and complexity. There was not enough oversight from the leadership.

“Government Ministers were not served well by some of the advice and reporting they received, and that is unacceptable. I have apologised to them.

“Schools and their staff were badly let down and I deeply regret that. They deserved much better. I have written to all school principals, board chairs and all schools’ staff today to apologise personally to them.

“There were also errors of judgement and wrong decisions. There is accountability for individuals and there will be an employment investigation with regard to two staff. This will be carried out by a panel of two people independent of the Ministry. They will report to me and I will make final decisions.”

Mr Hughes says following the problems that emerged last year, post Go-Live, the immediate focus was appropriately on fixing Novopay and making sure school staff were paid.

“Payroll staff in schools have worked incredibly hard to help us get this right and I’m enormously grateful for their professionalism and perseverance.

“I made further changes when I came to the Ministry, including establishing a dedicated payroll business unit which is well resourced and led by a new Deputy Secretary to help manage Novopay.

“We’re seeing steady progress and increased stability in the fortnightly pay runs and will continue to work with Talent2 to make sure this is maintained.

“Novopay has cost more than was originally agreed. In part this has been necessary to fix the system and make sure schools’ staff get paid. But we are keeping a close eye on costs and value for taxpayers’ money.

“We are looking forward and I am determined we will have best practice in place across all processes, governance and management in the Ministry.

“The leadership team is in no doubt about what is required. I will be driving the change and the leadership team will collectively own it.

“I know we need to work hard to restore damaged relationships in the sector and that is a key focus.

“This has been a very regrettable chapter for the Ministry, but does not derail the tremendous amount of really good work done by staff throughout the country.

“There are many dedicated people across the Ministry who care deeply about the difference they can make. I want to ensure we’ve got everything in place that allows them to do their very best.

“I am fully committed to making sure the Ministry is strongly positioned to support this work to achieve the very best education outcomes for New Zealand’s young people.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media