Terms of Reference for Review of Voco Contracts
17 December 2008

The State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie, today issued the terms of reference for the inquiry into the history of the procurement and contracting arrangements between the State Services Commission and Voco for the Government Shared Network.

"It is of critical importance that this inquiry is conducted in a transparent and fair manner, particularly around how contracts were managed, whether any potential conflicts of interest arose and if so how these were handled.

"I have engaged Neil Walter as the independent inquirer. Mr Walter has a wide range of experience as a senior public servant, with particular expertise around governance and a sound understanding of public service guidelines and values.

"The review is a high priority and the intention is to complete it and make it public as soon as possible," Iain Rennie said.

Terms of Reference
The State Services Commissioner will appoint an inquirer to review the history of the procurement and contracting arrangements between the Commission and Voco and the performance of the Commission in the following matters:
1 Whether there were any potential or perceived conflicts of interest arising out of the procurement and contracting of Voco’s services and if so, were these appropriately managed;
2 Whether the contracting arrangements with Voco were undertaken in accordance with the rules, policies and expectations that applied at the relevant times to the contracting arrangements (including contract variations) that were entered into;
3 Whether managers, appropriate to their level, exercised adequate direction, judgement and governance to ensure that Voco delivered its services within -
* the allocated budget
* the agreed timeframes
* the agreed scope
4 Whether the Commission had in place at the relevant times appropriate administrative and management systems, processes, policies and controls for contracts of the kind entered into with Voco; and
5 Will report on any other matter concerning the procurement and contracting practices of the Commission that the reviewer considers relevant.

ENDS

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