Review Launched Into £18m Overspend

An internal review has been ordered into an £18m overspend by the Housing Executive.

Housing Executive Chairman, Donald Hoodless, said: "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."

News of the overspend came yesterday as Housing Minister Nelson McCausland was updating the Assembly on the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s management of maintenance contracts.

SDLP Social Development Spokesperson Mark H Durkan said full details of the exact amount overpaid need to be made public.

He said: "The seriousness of this situation requires swift and urgent action to establish the facts. Exactly how was this figure of £18m arrived at, how did it occur and how did it go unnoticed for so long when both the Department for Social Development and the Northern Ireland Audit Office have representation on the Housing Executive’s Audit Committee?"

Ulster Unionist Party MLA, Michael Copeland, said: "The taxpayer has clearly been ripped off over recent years, and neither the Social Development Minister, his officials nor the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) appear to want to show accountability. Until the root cause of these problems are addressed then unfortunately they are likely to be repeated.

"What is most shocking about today’s revelations is the scale of overpayment to such a small group of companies. The fact that four businesses could allegedly be paid £18m more than what on paper they should have received, beggars belief. This is public money, it should never have been ‘overpaid’ in the first place and even then it should not have taken a forensic investigation to highlight it."

(IT/CD)