Staffing query baffles TP boss

The head of a Crown entity overseeing New Zealand’s 16 polytechs had a dressing down from MPs as he admitted he was uncertain of the number of staff employed in its head office.

Crown entity Te Pu¯ kenga paid staff $11 million in its first year, despite not being fully operational until April.

The organisation now employs 139 fulltime equivalent (FTE) staff, an increase from September 2020 when ‘‘fewer than 20 staff’’ were based at its Hamilton head office.

Chief executive Stephen Town and three of his deputies faced a grilling from MPs during the education and work force committee’s annual review of Te Pu¯ kenga.

Penny Simmonds, National’s tertiary education spokesperson, asked Town how many members of staff Te Pu¯ kenga had.

‘‘I would just invite Marina [Matthews] or Phillip [Jacques] to make any comments about the FTE number that we have in our head office because I don’t have that number close at hand,’’ Town said.

Simmonds replied: ‘‘Can I just clarify that, as the chief executive, you don’t know how many FTE there are in your head office?’’

‘‘Not off the top of my head, no,’’ Town said. Simmonds then pressed: ‘‘Is there somebody in amongst your staff who can tell us, given the minister wanted the head office to be a very modest-sized entity.’’

Marina Matthews, Town’s chief adviser, said there were 139 FTEs within Te Pu¯ kenga.