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3/03/2026
Phil ip Fry
[FYI request #33185 email]
Tēnā koe Phil ip
OIA: GEMS-46227 – conflicts of interest and transparency in SMART procurement process
Thank you for your email of 8 December 2025 to the Ministry of Education (the Ministry)
requesting the following information:
1. All conflict-of-interest declarations, probity declarations, and conflict management plans
completed by Ministry staff, contractors, or advisors involved in the SMART procurement
process, including any declarations relating to Janison or its subcontractors.
2. The names, roles, and organisational units of all members of the SMART procurement
evaluation panel, including external advisors or contractors.
3. Al internal communications (emails, Teams messages, meeting notes) relating to potential,
perceived, or actual conflicts of interest declared or identified in relation to the SMART
procurement or Janison’s involvement.
4. The probity file and audit trail for the SMART procurement, including all probity advice,
conflict-of-interest checks, and compliance sign-offs.
5. Al communications (emails, meeting notes, Teams messages, agendas) between Ministry
staff and Janison representatives between 27 November 2023 and the awarding of the
SMART contract.
6. Al communications between the Ministry and Learning Matters relating to assessment,
data, PLD, or the SMART procurement.
7. A list of all contributors, reviewers, and sign-off authorities for the SMART business case.
8. Al gift, hospitality, or benefit declarations made by Ministry staff in relation to Janison,
Learning Matters, or any contractors involved in SMART development or PLD.
9.
Employment or secondment history (limited to dates and organisations only) of any Ministry
staff involved in the SMART procurement who were previously employed by, contracted to,
or associated with Janison or Learning Matters.
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
In a letter dated 27 January 2025, we advised you of our decision in relation to
parts two and
five to seven of your request. This letter comprises the Ministry’s response to the remaining parts
of your request.
1. All conflict of interest declarations, probity declarations, and conflict management
plans completed by Ministry staff, contractors, or advisors involved in the SMART
Wellington National Office, 1 The Terrace, Levels 5 to 14, Wellington 6011
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140, DX SR51201 Phone: +64 4 463 8000
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procurement process, including any declarations relating to Janison or its
subcontractors.
I am withholding all individual conflict of interest/probity declarations in full under sections 9(2)(a)
and 9(2)(ba)(i) of the Act, to protect both the privacy of the individuals concerned and the
continued supply of complete and candid conflict of interest (COI)/probity information, which is
essential to the integrity of the Ministry’s procurement processes.
As required under section 9(1) of the Act, we have considered the public interest in releasing the
information withheld. We recognise the strong public interest in transparency around the probity
and COI processes for SMART and in the public being assured that any identified conflicts are
properly managed.
Throughout the procurement process, the Ministry undertook COI checks for all relevant people
involved in the Procurement. Where a completed COI form required individual COI Management
Plans, such plans were implemented. There were no COI identified that could not be mitigated by
COI Management Plans.
The Ministry identified 37 individuals who were required to complete the COI process, with
59 forms being completed. The COI process was repeated with Evaluation Panel Members at
different stages of the procurement to reassess any potential changes in circumstances. No
changes were identified through this process.
From the completed COI forms, the Ministry identified 10 COI Management Plans that were
required, all of which were agreed and put in place. These plans followed the templated approach,
which is attached as
Appendix A. This is
a copy of the COI Management Plan template which sets
outs the options applied for managing actual or potential conflicts of interest.
3. All internal communications (emails, Teams messages, meeting notes) relating to
potential, perceived, or actual conflicts of interest declared or identified in relation to
the SMART procurement or Janison’s involvement.
Attempting to locate and collate all internal communications (including Teams messages and
emails) in relation to actual or perceived conflicts in the SMART procurement process over an
indeterminate timeframe would be a significant administrative exercise to undertake and would
detract from the Procurement team’s ability to carry out its core functions. The information
requested in this part of your request is not held in a way that allows for easy retrieval by subject
and identifying, assessing and collating all relevant material would require a substantial manual
search across a very large volume of records. I am therefore refusing this part of your request
under section 18(f) of the Act, as the information cannot be made available without substantial
collation and research.
We have considered whether inviting you to clarify or fixing a charge for this part of the request
would enable a substantive response to be provided. However, after careful consideration, we
have concluded that it is difficult to conceive of a way to search our record-keeping systems that
would make this task feasible, even with a refined scope. We also note that, even were your
request to be refined, much of the information potentially in scope would likely need to be withheld
for the reasons set out in our response to
part one of your request.
OIA: [GEMS-46227]
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As noted above, we recognise the public interest in the Ministry being transparent about its COI
processes and its management of any identified conflicts in the SMART procurement process.
However, we consider this to have been met by the information provided in response to part one of
your request.
4. The probity file and audit trail for the SMART procurement, including all probity
advice, conflict-of-interest checks, and compliance sign-offs.
As at the date of your request, the final probity report had yet to be provided to the Ministry. This
has now been received, but only very recently. We are currently finalising the consultations
necessary to release this information to you, and wil do so without undue delay.
Some information wil be withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, as above. As required under
section 9(1) of the Act, we have considered the public interest in releasing the information withheld.
We do not consider that the public interest considerations favouring the release of this information
are sufficient to outweigh the need to withhold it at this time.
8. All gift, hospitality, or benefit declarations made by Ministry staff in relation to
Janison, Learning Matters, or any contractors involved in SMART development or
PLD.
We have undertaken a thorough search of the Ministry’s gift register and no
gift, hospitality or
benefit declarations made by Ministry staff in relation to Janison, Learning Matters, or any
contractors involved in SMART development or PLD have been made. I am therefore refusing this
part of your request under section 18(e) of the Act, as the request information does not exist.
9. Employment or secondment history (limited to dates and organisations only) of any
Ministry staff involved in the SMART procurement who were previously employed by,
contracted to, or associated with Janison or Learning Matters.
No Ministry staff involved in the SMART procurement have declared previous employment or
contracts with Janison or Learning Matters. We are therefore also refusing this part of your request
under section 18(e) of the Act, as the requested information does not exist.
Please note, we may publish this response on our website after five working days. Your name and
contact details wil be removed.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision
on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Aditi Cook
Chief Procurement Officer
Te Pou Rangatōpū | Corporate
OIA: [GEMS-46227]
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