Sydney Metro has hired multiple senior executives on six-figure rolling contracts and then awarded work to the consulting firms they run, an inquiry has heard.

The revelations were made on Tuesday, as part of an upper house inquiry into the NSW government’s use and management of consulting services.

The inquiry heard some of these contractors run consulting companies which have won millions of dollars worth of contracts at the same government agency where they hold positions.

Inquiry chair Greens MP Abigail Boyd gave several examples, including Sydney Metro’s Director of Interface Management, Barry McGratton.

Mr McGratton has been appointed on rolling contracts to various roles in the agency for the past nine years and 11 months.

He is also the managing director of Bellgrove Advisory, which has won at least 10 contracts for different positions at Sydney Metro in the past year.

Ms Boyd grilled Sydney Metro’s Chief Financial and Commercial Officer Fiona Trussell about how the agency has managed the issue.

“Given that you had this Barry McGratton sitting within Sydney Metro for … almost ten years and he is also the Managing Director of Bellgrove Advisory, what steps did Metro take to make sure the information he was privy to at Sydney Metro was not then used to benefit Bellgrove Advisory in relation to these contracts?” she asked.

Ms Trussell replied that contractors and professional service providers were not decision makers on such issues.

“So their ability to hire and recruit people is not an authority that they have,” she said.

“Those decisions sit with government employees.”

But Ms Boyd persisted, asking if the issue raised any “red flags”.

“If I’d been sitting within Sydney Metro for 10 years, even if I am there as a secondee or a contractor for another company, presumably I am in a better position than someone else in terms of working out what Metro would want, when pitching for further work for Metro,” she said.

“What steps does Metro take to ensure the information obtained by these consultants or contractors sitting within Metro is not then taken and misused in order to benefit their company by getting more work out of Metro?”

Ms Trussell replied there were rigorous processes in place for managing conflicts of interest.

Consulting firm linked to director gets $13m contracts

Ms Boyd then asked about another Sydney Metro acting director James Hayward, who she said was contracted on more than $600,000 a year and has been continuously employed on contracts on Metro Northwest and similar projects since 2014.

“Does that strike you as unusual?” Ms Boyd asked.

“There are a variety of different ways in which we procure our services,” Ms Trussell replied.

“It is very much about the outcome of the delivery of the service that we are looking for.”

Ms Boyd then asked if Ms Trussell was surprised that there were professional services contractors employed on Metro on more than half a million dollars a year.

“So we have people sitting at director level within Metro who are earning more than the Secretary of Transport, does that strike you as problematic?” she asked.

“I’m not going to comment on the specifics of what we pay on a daily rate,” Ms Trussell replied.

Ms Boyd said it was “very easy” to find examples of this type of arrangement, and went on to cite another case involving Sydney Metro Utilities Director Paul Rogers.

Mr Rogers is also the sole director of PRO Consultants, which had won contracts worth $13.3 million since August 2021.

“At least six people have been hired to work at Sydney Metro on contracts equating to a $500,000 a year salary and six of those people have then report directly to Paul Rogers,” Ms Boyd said.

“So again we have someone who has their own company, he’s been sitting within Metro, he wins contracts for some people that he employs in his other company to be hired to sit beneath him in Metro — does that strike you as unusual?”

“Again, it’s no different to the response I provided previously, chair,” Ms Trussell replied.

“Professional service providers, skill hires do not have … the ability to hire people into our business, “she said.

The inquiry resumes on Wednesday.