| Synopsis: |
In this report the Public Accounts Committee concludes that the Housing Executive, which has played a pivotal role in the provision of social housing over the past 40 years, failed in its duties to manage and be accountable for services it provided. Basic failures in governance and management have exposed the Housing Executive to a very significant risk of fraud, impropriety and poor value for money over many years. The report is also critical of the Department for Social Development, the Department responsible for overseeing the Housing Executive. Annual expenditure on response maintenance, which covers day-to-day repairs, minor adaptations and immediate repairs, is in the region of GBP50 million. The report shows a catalogue of failures on the part of the Housing Executive, which had a serious impact on the quality of accommodation provided to many Housing Executive tenants.These included: contracts were inappropriate, out of date and not fit for purpose; many District Maintenance teams were not delivering the required standard of service and were failing to challenge the poor performance of contractors; there were serious flaws in how jobs were selected for inspection, how inspections were carried out, the timeliness of these inspections and how the results were recorded and reported; and reports were actively withheld from, or not reported fully, to the Board or Audit Committee. The report welcomes the commitments given by both the Housing Executive and the Department to introduce substantial changes to improve the way the Housing Executive manages itself. |