A no-bid contract with a company to process parking meter payments in New South Wales has been criticized for lacking transparency and proof of value for money.
The ParknPay app, launched by the former state coalition government, was the subject of an audit to assess whether New South Wales authorities complied with the law when negotiating contracts directly with Duncan Solutions.
The app allows people to pay for parking via their mobile phone rather than at a parking machine on the street, and the company has signed a deal to provide the backend services.
But a report by the NSW Audit Office found the Customer Services Authority was unable to establish a basis for direct negotiations without a competitive bidding process and rushed the decision to pilot the app at Sydney’s The Rocks. did.
“There is no evidence that the procurement achieved value for money,” the company said.
“Despite being required to do so by law and mandatory NSW Government policy, the department has not considered how to ensure value for money We didn’t have a good understanding of what it meant.”
Originally offered a one-year contract worth $400,000, the station signed him to a three-year contract worth $1.26 million in July 2019.
The program ultimately cost $1.93 million after being extended for a second year in July 2023.
The audit found that the department did not effectively manage conflicts of interest and did not document important decisions.
“The department lacked accountability and transparency in its interactions with ministers and ministerial offices, resulting in an unfair blurring of the line between public administration and the public service,” the report said.
The Minns Labor government cut funding for the app in its September 2023 budget, citing a budget black hole and the need to cut unfunded programs to make ends meet.
The Audit Office made several recommendations to improve the contract procurement process, including improved record-keeping practices and procedures for interaction between departmental staff and the Minister’s Office.
In response to the audit, outgoing department chief Emma Hogan acknowledged the findings and accepted the recommendations.
She noted that the events investigated in the report occurred three years ago and that since then the department had undergone three external reviews of its procurement practices.
“Throughout my four years in this position, (the department) has continued to strive to improve processes and compliance,” Hogan said.
“As part of the handover to[Secretary-elect Graham Head]I…suggested that it might be timely to assess the extent to which[the department]had implemented the recommendations from previous reviews. .”