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10/06/2013
Housing Executive Overpays £18m
The Housing Executive has overpaid planned maintenance contractors a total of £18m, it has been revealed.
The news came as Housing Minister Nelson McCausland was updating the Assembly on the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s management of maintenance contracts.
The Minister told the Assembly that he had addressed Assembly colleagues in relation to such concerns a year ago.
"Last year, I advised that I believed that the Housing Executive had failed to address these matters with the necessary pace and urgency that anyone would rightly expect," he said.
"I then took the unusual step of introducing special accountability measures to significantly enhance the current oversight arrangements between my Department and the Housing Executive.
"I also advised then that I had to assume that the types of problems evident in the management of response maintenance contracts could also be evident in the way the Housing Executive manage their other contracts."
The Minister questioned how such overcharging could occur and asked if there could also be problems in other areas of contract management such as heating or grounds maintenance.
Minister McCausland continued: "In view of the continuing accountability issues, I and my Permanent Secretary consider that the time is ripe to re-think the whole process of obtaining assurance on contract management and other landlord functions.
"He concluded that moving forward, an inspection regime would be introduced: “The position that the Housing Executive finds itself in now, in relation to its management of contracts, is totally indefensible and this will not be tolerated any further. Change must happen and happen quickly and correctly."
(IT)
The news came as Housing Minister Nelson McCausland was updating the Assembly on the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s management of maintenance contracts.
The Minister told the Assembly that he had addressed Assembly colleagues in relation to such concerns a year ago.
"Last year, I advised that I believed that the Housing Executive had failed to address these matters with the necessary pace and urgency that anyone would rightly expect," he said.
"I then took the unusual step of introducing special accountability measures to significantly enhance the current oversight arrangements between my Department and the Housing Executive.
"I also advised then that I had to assume that the types of problems evident in the management of response maintenance contracts could also be evident in the way the Housing Executive manage their other contracts."
The Minister questioned how such overcharging could occur and asked if there could also be problems in other areas of contract management such as heating or grounds maintenance.
Minister McCausland continued: "In view of the continuing accountability issues, I and my Permanent Secretary consider that the time is ripe to re-think the whole process of obtaining assurance on contract management and other landlord functions.
"He concluded that moving forward, an inspection regime would be introduced: “The position that the Housing Executive finds itself in now, in relation to its management of contracts, is totally indefensible and this will not be tolerated any further. Change must happen and happen quickly and correctly."
(IT)
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