NZQA chief comes out fighting

New Zealand Qualifications Authority chief executive Karen Van Rooyen yesterday took the unusual step of publicly rejecting allegations of a conflict of interest between herself and a recruitment firm directed by her partner.

Ms Van Rooyen last night pre-empted an anticipated attack by putting out a media release protesting her innocence.

The Herald understands persistent rumours from other recruitment agencies led to the aggressive public relations stance.

Ms Van Rooyen's partner, Warren Tocker, is a director and shareholder of PowerHouse People. She said false claims had been made that the NZQA had an exclusive arrangement with the company.

The authority, in fact, used a number of recruitment providers to supply permanent and contract staff and, in this case, she had declared her interest to the chairman of the Qualifications Authority Board, Graham Fraser.

"There is no exclusivity arrangement in place for any recruitment provider and the authority has not used PowerHouse People in any exclusive arrangement," Ms Van Rooyen said.

"Recruitment providers are selected on a case-by-case basis and are chosen for their expertise in relation to a particular role."

The authority's human resources manager, Graham Huckstep, was responsible for determining which recruitment providers were used.

"I officially advised the board chairman of a declaration of interest in September last year.

"In response, he advised all NZQA management that Warren will not carry out any recruitment work for the authority," Ms Van Rooyen said.

PowerHouse People had been used for one appointment - a new chief financial officer, but she had no involvement in selecting the recruitment agency.

The authority and Ms Van Rooyen are awaiting the outcome of several inquiries over their performance in relation to last year's national secondary school exams.

It is also the chief executive's second fight to clear her name of conflict of interest charges. She faced scrutiny after revelations the NZQA was investigating an animation institute run by her neighbour at the same time as she was involved in a boundary dispute with him.

The neighbour, Geoff Vause, believed that relationship constituted a conflict of interest and that Ms Van Rooyen should have distanced herself from any dealings with the now liquidated Institute of Animation and Technology.

An investigation showed the allegations were without substance.

A spokesman for Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope said last night it appeared the latest allegations had been handled in a transparent fashion.