The Ministry of Education has been cleared by the Auditor-General of wrongdoing over a 2008 tender for school bus contracts.
Many operators lost their contracts last year and about 70 tenderers were rebuffed in the selection process, leading to complaints that new rules adopted by the ministry favoured bigger companies.
The Auditor-General began an inquiry in February, and found there were inconsistencies in the way the ministry dealt with various applicants and factual errors relating to particular applicants.
However, the Auditor-General concluded the errors and inconsistencies did not undermine the overall process and the ministry's ministry's procurement methods were sound.
