Posted 10.06.13
The Board of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive has commissioned an external independent review into how the organisation has been dealing with planned maintenance contracts over the last five years, following evidence of substantial overcharging.
The Chairman of the Housing Executive has advised the Social Development Minister, Nelson McCausland, that an internal investigation has indicated an estimated £18 million has been overpaid to planned maintenance contractors. As a result, the Housing Executive has commenced appropriate action - including legal action - to recover overpayments.
Housing Executive Chairman, Donald Hoodless said:
"When I took up office in November 2012 and was briefed on the Housing Executive's management of planned maintenance contracts by the Minister, I requested in December a comprehensive investigation from the Chief Executive into this matter.
"The Board considered its findings at the May meeting. The findings are extremely disappointing, given the scrutiny that the organisation is already under for its management of response maintenance contracts.
"The Board has now authorised an external independent review of the organisation's handling of planned maintenance contracts, which is to be carried out immediately by a consultant.
"Specifically it wishes to review how this situation arose, the reliability of the information on overcharging and the actions taken to recover the overpayments.
"Until this issue is satisfactorily resolved, the four planned maintenance contractors will not receive any new contracts from the Housing Executive."
The Board has commissioned an independent consultant to conduct this review which is scheduled to take 13 weeks to complete.
The Housing Executive's planned maintenance contracts cover kitchen replacements, double glazing and external improvement in around 60,000 homes. The contracts have run from January 2008 - January 2013 and the total expenditure is in the region of £172 million.
