Questions to the Housing NSW Minister

The Minister said that the new maintenance contract system started on October 27, 2008, and the new contractor is Spotless P&F Pty Ltd. There was no mention of why Rapid Constructions, the tender winner according to Housing NSW’s website, is not the contract holder. The property condition audit is 65 per cent completed. There was no mention of the outcome of the previous audit process initiated approximately two years ago.

The Minister’s response with respect to the checking of work carried out was that the contractor is responsible for checking the standard of work carried out by its staff prior to submitting a claim for payment to Housing NSW. In the case of vacant properties and major planned maintenance programmed work Housing NSW technical staff may, in some cases, conduct joint inspections on completion of the work. For other categories of work there may be random or planned inspections at Housing NSW’s discretion. There is provision for annual audits of the individual contractor’s systems and processes for quality control.

There was no information supplied concerning the lowering of the hourly rate paid to the subcontractors who actually perform the work. The rates are well below prevailing industry standards. If you, as a member of the public, expected a plumber to work at the same hourly rate as the contract provides for, you would be well advised to learn how to do the work yourself. A similar situation exists in the other trades.

When asked about the progress on Housing NSW’s Redfern redevelopment site, the answer was that responses to a select tender call were currently being assessed with a projected construction work commencement in early 2009. Accordingly, the name of the contractor is not known.

The Elizabeth Street site properties, currently vacant and boarded up, will be put on the open market when DA approval has been granted by City of Sydney Council. There is no fixed date for this.

In regards to when will Housing NSW formally give recognition of the fact that Housing NSW tenants do perform volunteer work that benefits Housing NSW, the Minister responded: “The General Manager of the Central Sydney division is a senior executive of Housing NSW. Recognition from her for volunteer’s efforts is recognition from Housing NSW.”

On the issue of staffing levels it was pointed out that on April 16, 2008, there were 27 Client Service Officers positions in zones CS1, CS2 and CS3 filled by temporary staff, and 3 vacant positions. The question put was: “Are these figures still current (and if not, what are the current figures) and how many CSOs in total are there for these areas?” The answer was: “There are 99 CSO positions in these areas. The amount of temporary staff fluctuates on a regular basis. There are six positions vacant, all are undergoing recruitment now.” That the percentage of temporary staff is so high raises concerns as to the ability to deliver a consistently high standard of service to the tenant base and to administer the government asset in a fit and proper manner.

The SSH appreciated the Minister’s granting of an interview and his willingness to take questions on notice. We will continue to monitor Housing NSW’s performance, and hopefully will soon be able to report on more positive outcomes.

Photo: Ali Blogg - Caption: HNSW volunteers Diana Whitworth, Dianne Rogers and Ross Smith

Source: South Sydney Herald December 2008 www.southsydneyherald.com.au