Housing staff suspended in abuse inquiry
HOUSING staff have been suspended during an inquiry into the abuse of the system for allocating council homes in Bulwell and the rest of Nottingham.
Earlier this year, an Audit Commission report claimed that between 2003 and 2005, employees of the housing service provided by Nottingham City Council and Nottingham City Homes (NCH) flouted the rules.
Allegations included friends and relatives of staff being given homes they were not entitled to – ahead of more needy applicants.
The watchdog also said a senior officer intervened to allocate a property to the partner of a housing-service employee; a councillor lied to help two associates obtain a house; and a senior officer arranged for a single person known to him to be granted a three-bedroomed house.
In some cases, significant improvements were made to properties at the expense of the taxpayer before tenants bought them at discounted prices.
The public-interest report found there were "failings in culture, systems and management".
But now a full investigation has been launched by the city council and NCH – and one of the first steps has been to suspend some staff and move others to different jobs.
The council spokesman said: "A number of staff – none of whom we are naming – have been suspended or moved within our organisations, pending the outcomes of these investigations, which we expect to be completed within weeks."
Only staff connected directly with cases highlighted by the Audit Commission are being investigated.
Since the report, there has been a complete overhaul of Nottingham's housing service, which has received a favourable report from the Audit Commission and a 'good' two-star rating.
Changes have included major alterations to the housing-allocation system.
However some critics have called for the police to launch a formal investigation. Police officers have only gone so far as to say that they are studying documents relating to housing allocations.
Email to a friend
Print this page- BREAKING NEWS: Town chief ousted after losing big vote
- Shock plan to develop Rolls-Royce site and create work for hundreds
- Animal-cruelty hell discovered behind the gates of ‘Haven’ farm
- Go-ahead firm to develop arson-hit pub and garage
- New road junction lights the way for frustrated congestion-hit motorists
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Hucknall
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North
