Public officers – such as drivers and prison officers were transferred to fill building inspection roles, according to an independent audit of the former Ministry of Housing and National Insurance.
Failures in recruitment and selection, including anecdotal evidence of appointment by patronage, were outlined in the Value for Money audit conducted by Crown Agents in 2008, and obtained by The Tribune last week. Insufficient training of new and existing staff was also cited.
Ministry of Housing technical director Gordon Major said: “Several persons were brought in as inspectors who had initially had another profession.”
“You have to work with the staff you’re given to work with, but some of those person that were brought in as inspectors were not trained in the building background.”
In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Major said that the responsibility of hiring came under the minister and permanent secretary.
“You can’t just take anybody and say ‘Ok fill this post as an inspector’ and that is perhaps what happened some times.”
Unskilled inspectors led to “some of the problems” surrounding the housing programme, Mr Major said.
“That person really needs to be someone who has a thorough knowledge of construction processes and procedures, but it didn’t happen. We didn’t have those persons,” he said.
Source: The Tribune
