Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Chief Executive Andrew Crisp has today confirmed the resignation of Stephen Barclay as head of KiwiBuild, which took effect on Friday 18 January.

The resignation came amid an employment investigation which was triggered by complaints received from employees, contractors and stakeholders about Mr Barclay's leadership behaviour.

"The allegations reflected behaviours that are not consistent with standards expected of senior public servants," said Mr Crisp.

Mr Crisp said the alleged conduct related to Mr Barclay's treatment of employees, contractors and stakeholders. They were not linked to the implementation of the KiwiBuild programme.

"I commenced an employment investigation into those allegations. While the investigation was ongoing, Mr Barclay resigned.

"There was no exit payment or confidential deal reached with Mr Barclay. Mr Barclay resigned with immediate effect and received no payment in lieu of notice."

Because it is an employment matter, Mr Crisp said it would not be appropriate to comment further.

Since mid-November last year, the KiwiBuild team has been under the oversight of Head of Office of the Chief Executive, Brad Ward. The team has continued to work hard during this time alongside the Minister and with the developer community to meet the KiwiBuild programme objectives.

During this time, the government also announced the establishment of the Housing and Urban Development Authority (HUDA) which will bring together the market facing, delivery components of the government’s housing supply programmes - KiwiBuild, Housing New Zealand (HNZ), and HLC.

It is critical that an integrated approach across these delivery programmes is taken immediately, before the HUDA is officially up and running and work has begun on this.

ENDS

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