Statement by the State Services Commissioner on Neil Walter’s report into contracting between SSC and Voco
2 April 2009

The State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie, announced today that he had accepted the resignation of the Deputy Commissioner, Information and Communication Technologies and Government CIO, Laurence Millar, as a result of the findings of Mr Neil Walter’s report into the State Services Commission’s procurement and contracting arrangements around the Government Shared Network.

"Mr Walter’s report makes it clear that he found no evidence of deliberate wrongdoing on the part of Commission staff or Voco employees in relation to these contracts, however, the report does detail a number of areas where the contracts were not managed to the standard that New Zealanders’ would expect for a project of this size.

"Laurence Millar has decided, in light of Mr Walter’s findings, that the ultimate accountability for these issues is his. This was a difficult decision and I respect Laurence for taking it.

"Mr Walter’s report confirms the rationale for moving these large scale ICT operational projects out of the State Services Commission to the Department of Internal Affairs where there is the existing expertise and support to effectively manage them.

"The report also finds deficiencies in the State Services Commission’s systems and processes and, as Mr Walter notes, I have already taken a number of steps to rectify this situation.

"Laurence Millar and I have agreed that his last day of work will be May 1, 2009," Iain Rennie said.

A statement from the Deputy Commissioner ICT and Government CIO Laurence Millar, the Walter Report and the two PriceWaterhouseCoopers reports are on the SSC website:

http://www.ssc.govt.nz/walter

ENDS

© Scoop Media