The Auditor-general's inquiry into the Ministry of Education's 2008 school transport tender has found no fault in the ministry's tender process, but many bus companies in the Otago region still have reservations about its robustness.
Several Otago bus companies raised concerns with the Ministry of Education and the Office of the Auditor-general last year because they felt the process was run in an unfair and illegal manner, and believed they had evidence to back up their claims.
They were among many bus companies around the country that were worried about the process.
An independent inquiry was recently completed by the Office of the Auditor-general and it was satisfied the ministry had followed good business practice in tendering for and awarding school bus routes.
However, the Auditor-general's report also said no process was perfect, and a number of areas needed improvement.
It said the ministry must strengthen the quality assurance arrangements it has in place and ensure it communicates well with the tenderers at all stages in subsequent bus tender processes.
"The errors and inconsistencies we found do not, in our view, undermine the overall outcome of the 2008 bus tender process.
"Price was an important determining factor in the 2008 bus tender process.
The influence of price in the 2008 bus tender process does not cause us concern, given the ministry's stated value-for-money objectives.
"There is no suggestion that safety was compromised as a result of this emphasis on price."
The report said it was inevitable that some businesses would be unsuccessful in an open tender process.
Many of the businesses involved in the 2008 bus tender process were small, rurally located, and the tender was about transporting school children in small tight-knit communities, which seemed to amplify the dissatisfaction that was expressed about the outcomes of the 2008 bus tender process.
Education Minister Anne Tolley was delighted with the overall outcome of the inquiry, and said she would discuss the recommendations in the report with the Secretary for Education.
However, an Otago bus company manager was not convinced the tender process was robust.
He was one of several bus operators in the region who declined to be named for fear of breaching Ministry of Education school bus tender contracts.
"I don't think they [the Ministry of Education] looked at enough of the information in enough depth. They only looked at what they thought was necessary.
"Even the [Auditor-general's] report - they only took a small cross-section of the issues. They didn't look at all the issues that were raised.
"I still have reservations about the robustness of the tender process," he said.
