Sparks fly as MPs quiz Rennie on Corrections

State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie. Photo / Mark Mitchell

It will take more money and time to bring the Corrections Department up to scratch, says State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie.

During a sometimes heated appearance before Parliament's law and order select committee, Mr Rennie defended his report into who should be held accountable for failings within the department's parole service.

And he denied colluding the committee chairwoman over his answers to MPs on the committee.

His report followed one by Auditor-General Kevin Brady last month which sparked speculation that Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews or parole head Katrina Casey could lose their jobs.

Mr Brady looked at 100 parole cases, including 52 high risk offenders, and found that in most cases correct procedures were not followed.

Staff did not even carry out some of the provisions brought in after parolee Graeme Burton murdered Karl Kuchenbecker in January 2007.

Corrections Minister Judith Collins has refused to express confidence in Mr Matthews since Mr Brady's report and the follow-up report by the State Services Commission into accountability.

Mr Rennie found Mr Matthews was accountable for his department, but sacking him would not be justified.

Mr Rennie told MPs yesterday Mr Matthews had made improvements in the whole department and had made significant progress in the past two years with the probation service.

There were long-running institutional problems in the department - which also runs prisons - that took time to solve.

In the probation service, compliance with procedures had improved from 60 per cent in 2007 to 80 per cent in 2008 and was on target to reach 85 per cent by the end of this year.

Mr Rennie said many procedures were being reviewed as they added nothing to public safety.

The service had been responsible for dealing with new and complex sentencing orders and changes to procedures following the murder of Mr Kuchenbecker.

The service had received more funding but not enough to meet demand.

More resources would be needed considering the "magnitude of the task" and it would take years to reach the standards that everyone would expect, Mr Rennie said.

Labour MP Rick Barker told Mr Rennie that as Mr Matthews' employer the "failure of Corrections is your failure".

Mr Rennie disagreed and said problems in the department were known to ministers.

Mr Barker also implied that Mr Rennie had colluded with committee chairwoman Sandra Goudie before the meeting about questions and answers. The pair said this was not true.

- NZPA