CBHS Board Leak: Refutes Concern Over Supplier Backhanders
A leaked 2023 board minute discusses the risk of backhander payments as suppliers were being sought, as the school approached the backend of its multi-million dollar rebuild programme.
Christchurch Boys’ High School’s board of trustees denies it has concerns over supplier kickbacks, after a draft board minute surfaced discussing the school’s lack of control over payments going into ‘personal bank accounts’.
This leak has emerged as Boys’ High’s multi-million-dollar Canterbury Rebuild Programme grinds to completion. It includes the construction of a multisport turf complex.
“CBHS has in place strong policies and procedures in place to deal with procurement and the support of a Board with extensive experience in the area. The comments you refer to come from brief notes taken at a meeting rather than finalised minutes, but reinforce CBHS has a Board that is willing to monitor and seek ongoing assurances from management. That is what good governance looks like and does not imply concern with procurement activity at CBHS.”
In a leaked board minute dated 20 June 2023, the board’s Resources and Property Committee discussed the controls the school had in place to stop backhanders being paid during negotiations with suppliers.
The school was seeking a second quote for the “painting of the old science block scheduled for the end of summer, progress on dust extraction unit for technology block”.
Other quotes were being gathered for “driving units” although it is not clear to what this refers.
Discussions ensued regarding the financial risks the school could be exposed to during the procurement process.
“What level of comfort do we have around backhanders etc with negotiations with suppliers re [name redacted] - trust is not an internal control.”
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