Her leave was announced in a message on Wednesday from council chairman David Ferguson and deputy chairman David Gott.
“An independent investigation is being conducted into allegations about Lesley’s conduct,” the message said.
“The process is being undertaken in good faith and Lesley is fully co-operating with the investigation.
“The Teaching Council has made no decision in relation to the allegations, pending the outcome of the investigation.
“Lesley has agreed to take a leave of absence for the duration of the independent investigation.”
The message said Gott was stepping in as interim chief executive and would be in the office “on a daily basis” from next week.
Attempts to reach Hoskin for comment were unsuccessful.
The Herald put detailed questions to the council about what investigations were under way and what they related to.
In a statement, Ferguson confirmed Hoskin was on “agreed leave”.
The move comes as a high level probe by the Public Service Commission (PSC) investigates claims of procurement and conflict of interest allegations involving the council.
Education Minister Erica Stanford received a protected disclosure complaint and forwarded it for investigation to the Public Service Commission. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The PSC investigation was launched in September after a protected disclosure complaint was made to Education Minister Erica Stanford.
Stanford this week would not say if the protected disclosure related to Hoskin. And the Teaching Council has refused to confirm if the independent conduct investigation is separate to the PSC probe.
Ferguson said the PSC was investigating a complaint regarding procurement and conflicts of interest at the Teaching Council. The probe is expected to be completed by early December.
Meanwhile, the Herald has confirmed that expert consultant Debbie Francis is undertaking an unrelated review into the council’s operational performance.
Teaching Council chairman David Ferguson.
“Separate to the Public Service Commission’s investigation, the new board is undertaking an independent strategic review looking into our direction, operating model and organisational culture for the next five years,” Ferguson said.
The review, led by Francis, was “focused on ensuring we have the right settings to continue to provide services to New Zealand teachers”.
The Teaching Council is a professional body with oversight for vetting and registering teachers, and ensuring they are competent and fit to practise.
A Herald investigation this year revealed the council had certified a teacher with historical indecency convictions, despite a “red flag” from police warning he should not be allowed unsupervised access to children.
Timothy Fisher at Manukau District Court for sentencing on 14 charges including committing indecent acts on children. Fisher offended against young students while working as an English tutor. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
The man, Timothy Fisher – who was able to hide his convictions under the Clean Slate Act – went on to indecently assault several young girls at a private after-school education provider and is now in prison.
Hoskin has defended the council’s vetting and registration practices, saying no mistakes were made and its actions were consistent with legislation and information available at the time.
The PSC told the Herald its investigation was focused on the Teaching Council’s management of conflicts of interest and procurement processes.
The matter was referred to the commission by Stanford, who requested an independent investigation, a spokesman said.
“It is standard practice for the commission to release a report at the conclusion of an investigation, subject to privacy considerations.”
The Francis “Performance Improvement Review” was independent of, and unrelated to, the commission’s investigation.
Lane Nichols is Auckland desk editor for the NZ Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
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