\u201cI note NZ Police policy for sensitive expenditure requires spending to be reasonable and able to withstand parliamentary and public scrutiny. It is my view that unless there are exceptional work-related circumstances, staff should not require hotel accommodation in the same centre as their normal residence and place of work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chambers wrote to McSkimming on March 4 asking him to pay back the funds.<\/p>\n
The request came after the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) released a summary of its investigation into McSkimming\u2019s decision to invite a woman he was having an affair with \u2013 Ms Z \u2013 to stay with him in hotel accommodation paid for by police, on numerous occasions, primarily in 2016.<\/p>\n
Chambers told RNZ last month he had written a second letter to McSkimming.<\/p>\n
In the letter, released to RNZ, Chambers said it was \u201cincredibly disappointing there has been no response to this request\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you are aware, NZ Police is required to ensure public funding is spent carefully and within relevant policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere those policies are breached, it is important steps are taken to rectify the matter and ensure funds are repaid. That is important both to reassure police staff that standards are being adhered to and for public trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is no response to this second request for reimbursement within four weeks (by May 8, 2026) then I will consider other options to secure reimbursement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chambers told RNZ that when public money was found to be \u201cmisspent\u201d, it was right that steps be taken to \u201censure repayment regardless of the amount, the circumstances, or the individual\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, I am very mindful that any path taken should not result in further expense to the taxpayer on this very unsatisfactory matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Chambers\u2019 earlier letter, obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act, he referred to the IPCA\u2019s report in relation to his \u201covernight stays in Wellington hotels with Ms Z\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have confirmed that eight-10 times you stayed with Ms Z in Wellington hotels at the expense of police, but ultimately the taxpayer. The IPCA made an adverse finding in this respect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is appropriate for you to reimburse police for these eight-10 hotel stays and you are asked to reimburse police as soon as possible. You have knowledge of the hotels in which you stayed and the approximate cost at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chambers said he welcomed McSkimming\u2019s response and \u201cswift reimbursement\u201d.<\/p>\n
The hotel stays<\/p>\n
The IPCA had not been able to review McSkimming\u2019s credit card expenditure, and relied on the evidence of the complainant, McSkimming, his former executive assistant and one of his supervisors at the time.<\/p>\n
The IPCA said that in 2016 and 2017, McSkimming\u2019s workplace was at Police National Headquarters in Wellington, while he lived about 60-70km away.<\/p>\n
McSkimming and his executive assistant at the time told the IPCA that he was regularly required to attend functions or late meetings in Wellington or catch early morning flights.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn those occasions, his executive assistant would book accommodation at a Wellington hotel, paid for by police. The rationale for these bookings was explained to us as being to avoid a long drive home after a work event, or where he was required to attend a social function to ensure he was not having a drink and then driving.\u201d<\/p>\n
McSkimming told the IPCA he thought Ms Z stayed with him eight to 10 times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is corroborated by Ms Z. Mr McSkimming breached policy by not informing his senior manager approving the travel that she would be staying with him. If he had done so, we consider it highly likely that approval would have been declined.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn any case, whether or not he informed his manager, he breached the Police Code of Conduct by staying in hotels at police expense and inviting the woman with whom he was having a sexual relationship to join him. If he had paid for the hotels himself, that would have been a different matter. However, the fact that the hotels were paid for by police gives rise to the perception that he was using taxpayer money to further a clandestine affair, thus bringing police into disrepute.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI note NZ Police policy for sensitive expenditure requires spending to be reasonable and able to withstand parliamentary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7615,62784,1975,1863,22970,6125,2837,2082,2740,20285,33093,33094,111,43,139,69,20442,15768,22858,93483,3010],"class_list":["post-410888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-7615","tag-affair","tag-at","tag-back","tag-cop","tag-disgraced","tag-during","tag-for","tag-former","tag-hotels","tag-jevon","tag-mcskimming","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pays","tag-sherwood","tag-stays","tag-taxpayerfunded","tag-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}