Stories by Phil Pennington

An under-staffed social work agency has been turning away applicants because it can't afford to pay them enough.

New Zealand's defence force spent $125k on a contractor to handle public relations around its foam contamination problems.

The cost to maintain facilities at most of the country's prisons has risen due to a 10-year half-a-billion dollar contract.

The mayor of Lower Hutt has pulled back from his earlier demands for an investigation into plumbing at a retirement village that's still waiting for repairs to be approved, 18 months after warnings of…

Swimmers are at least two days away from being able to safely swim in Wellington harbour near the point where sewage flooded into it.

Lobby groups believe officials are looking at a 10km/h limit for e-scooters - but they want that at least halved, or no scooters on paths at all.

New figures show that in more and more fatal road crashes, something is found to be wrong with the vehicle.

The Justice Ministry has finally made its holding cells in courts safer for suicidal detainees, four years after a man killed himself in one.

Large government departments have reported increased spending on consultants and contractors, a year after the government promised to reduce it.

Building plans accepted by Christchurch City Council show one of its own structural engineers designed a new multi-storey office block that is unstable, but the council says the document are wrong.

Newly released documents show major ructions at the country's most high-powered building products quality approval scheme, CodeMark.

Motorists are being warned to expect a "huge amount" of roadworks this summer, as the Transport Agency plans to do double its usual road maintenance and renewal.

A building developer is asking the Christchurch City Council to cordon off his defective multi-storey block in the main shopping zone after earthquake risk concerns.

A man who narrowly avoided the CTV building collapse in the 2011 earthquake says a new case of poor seismic design shows building consent failings.

A property developer says he rejected the developers who went on to build a substandard multistorey in Christchurch's central mall.

The Waitematā District Health Board admits it's dealt with several cases of inadequate patient consent for gynaecological procedures last year, but none in the past six months.

Christchurch City Council is refusing to sign off on a new and unoccupied central city multi-storey building after a final ruling faulted its design.

North Shore Hospital is being accused of breaching patients' rights by allowing vaginal and uterine examinations without their knowledge or consent.

Councils estimate they have yet to identify 10,000 buildings nationwide that are earthquake-prone and need upgrading or demolition.

Central Auckland's tallest apartment block is yet to get out of the ground because of flawed concrete in its foundations.

Structural engineers are looking into a whistleblowing scheme encouraging alarms to be raised about dodgy work.

Repairs and monitoring of water damage to parts of the near-new Waikato Expressway are expected to cost almost $60 million, even before a long-term fix is found.

A union has expressed "grave concern" after the Ministry of Education rebuffed its concerns over school bus safety, saying it was disappointed parents had been "unduly alarmed".

The Ministry of Education had previously said single routes - like one run by a community at Rere on the East Coast - would no longer be available.

A national system of paying for public transport tickets virtually anywhere - using cellphones, credit card or paywave - is beset by delays and uncertainty