A Public Service Commission (PSC) report released last week found the council \u201cdid not appropriately manage all aspects\u201d of a conflict of interest when awarding more than $1.1 million in contracts to a firm run by Hoskin\u2019s husband.<\/p>\n
It also found concerns around some of the procurement practices at the council. <\/p>\n
And a recent independent review by consultant Debbie Francis found the organisation had lost focus on its core responsibility of safeguarding children. <\/p>\n
Timothy Fisher in the dock at Manukau District Court for sentencing on 14 charges including committing indecent acts on children. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray <\/p>\n
The Francis review was commissioned after a Herald investigation revealed the case of Timothy Fisher<\/a>, who was granted registration and certification despite historic indecency convictions and a 2014 warning from police that he should not have unsupervised access to children.<\/p>\n Fisher went on to abuse nine young girls at an after-school tutoring company linked to Crimson Consulting in 2023 and 2024. He is now in prison.<\/p>\n As revealed by the <\/a>Herald<\/a>, Hoskin<\/a> went on \u201cagreed leave\u201d in October amid an independent investigation into her conduct after the PSC launched a separate probe into conflict of interest and procurement concerns. <\/p>\n The PSC probe was sparked by a whistle-blower\u2019s protected disclosure<\/a> sent to Education Minister Erica Stanford last year.<\/p>\n The report found \u201cserious and repeated failures\u201d in the Teaching Council\u2019s procurement and conflict of interest processes between late 2018 and early 2025.<\/p>\n A Clemenger advertising firm run by Hoskin\u2019s husband Brett Hoskin was awarded about $1.115m in Teaching Council contracts during that time. Hoskin was deputy chief executive at the council from 2016, before being appointed CEO from 2019.<\/p>\n Lesley Hoskin had \u201cconsistently declared the conflict arising from her husband\u2019s role, was not involved in awarding the contracts, and did not direct any person to award the contracts to Clemenger\u201d, the PSC report found.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did not, however, see evidence that the chief executive\u2019s husband\u2019s shareholding was appropriately declared.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also consider that the Teaching Council\u2019s approach of simply excluding the chief executive from key parts of procurement processes involving Clemenger did not appropriately manage all aspects of the conflict of interest, including any perception risks.\u201d<\/p>\n Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche said the failures were not matters of minor or technical non-compliance, but reflected poor oversight and controls, painting a \u201cconcerning picture\u201d around the use of public money.<\/p>\n \u201cThe council is responsible for upholding high professional standards for teachers,\u201d Roche said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt must also meet the highest standards itself. In this case, basic public sector expectations were not met, and in some areas the council fell well short.\u201d<\/p>\n Education Minister Erica Stanford told the Herald the \u201csignificant and serious\u201d findings of this and a separate report earlier this month highlighted the critical need for major change at the council.<\/p>\n \u201cThe findings … are some of the most serious that I have seen. The reports make it abundantly clear that there are various, highly concerning failures and problems that need to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n Responding last week, Ferguson said the newly appointed governing board had fully co-operated throughout the five-month PSC investigation.<\/p>\n He said it was clear from the PSC findings and other reviews that significant improvement was needed across the organisation.<\/p>\n The board was \u201cfully committed to immediate change to restore teachers\u2019 trust and confidence in their professional regulatory body\u201d.<\/p>\n He would not comment last week on the future of Lesley Hoskin as an employment investigation had been launched.<\/p>\n Hoskin\u2019s resignation was announced to staff in agency-wide email this morning by Ferguson. <\/p>\n \u201cOn behalf of the Governing Council, I\u2019d like to express our gratitude to Tom for stepping and serving throughout this period. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to thank you for continuing to carry out your work professionally during this time. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you receive any media enquiries, please forward them directly to Tom or me.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s development follows the release of last week\u2019s PSC report.<\/p>\n A week earlier, a scathing review into the Teaching Council<\/a> found the agency had lost focus on its core function of safeguarding children and needed transformative change.<\/p>\n And the weekend before last, the Herald revealed Stanford had requested an urgent independent probe<\/a> into the organisation to check if child protection failures at the agency had allowed potential sexual predators to gain access to classrooms.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Education has also launched a separate analysis of the council\u2019s legal framework to identify potential loopholes that may have allowed dangerous actors \u2013 such as disgraced teacher and now convicted child sex offender Timothy Fisher<\/a> \u2013 to slip through the cracks.<\/p>\n More to come<\/p>\n Lane Nichols is Auckland desk editor for the NZ Herald with more than 20 years\u2019 experience in the industry.<\/p>\nEducation Minister Erica Stanford has ordered a KC inquiry into vetting decisions at the Teaching Council. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n