The Ministry of Education

Vernon Small reports at the Dom Post:

Associate Education Minister Craig Foss has slated the Education Ministry for plans to sack nine of the staff dealing with the Novopay debacle once the troubled teachers’ payroll system is working well.

“I am utterly flabbergasted by this decision,” Mr Foss said.

“Any plan to cut payroll staff numbers is totally out of sync with what the ministry is trying to achieve with the Novopay rollout. It’s pretty clear that the ministry’s payroll team needs more resources, not fewer.”

It is rare, but sometimes necessary, for a Minister to directly criticise their own Department or Ministry. This is definitely one of those times. Staffing issues are the sole preserve of the CEO, or Secretary of Education in this case. But there is an obligation to have a no surprises policy and it is clear that the decision to reduce the number of payroll staff was not run via the Minister. It is almost incomprehensible that the Ministry did not think to do so, and calls into question their overall level of competence.