20 Mar 2018

MBIE hires back ex-CEO as a contractor

From Morning Report, 6:41 am on 20 March 2018

The government's super-ministry which is under fire for high spending on contractors, has hired back its former chief executive - as a contractor. David Smol has joined the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment on a five-week contract to help set up the government's new Provincial Growth Fund, just nine months after he left the top job. The ministry says he has vast experience that will help the new fund 'hit the ground running'. During Mr Smol's five-year tenure, MBIE's spending on contractors and consultants jumped at least 60 percent. It started trying to cut that back last year. The ministry's employee numbers have also been rising, within the official cap on the core public service of 36,475 staff. The Public Service Association's national secretary Glenn Barclay told RNZ's Phil Pennington it's the cap that's driven overspending on contractors