Headline: Consultants no substitute for community contacts
Twenty one communities across the country have had their local Housing New Zealand office closed since 2011, with familiar faces being booted for expensive consultants based in larger city centres, says Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.
Since 2008, the total number of permanent Housing New Zealand staff has reduced from 1,033 to 921 – a reduction of 112.
“The West Coast, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and Southland are among those affected, but high-need Auckland communities have also lost out in the bid to centralise resources.
“Across the country communities are seeing office doors closed despite increases in waiting lists for state houses.
“In Auckland, offices in Otahuhu, Glen Innes, Mangere and Papakura were all closed in 2012/13 with a clear shift in resources from the suburbs to the central city.
“Since 2008, 68 permanent staff lost their jobs across Auckland North, South, East and West and 62 positions were created in Auckland Central. During the same period Housing New Zealand’s spend on contractors increased by over by over 200%.
“Big-wig consultants are the only winners here. For Housing New Zealand tenants in Auckland’s outer suburbs, staying in touch with the state landlord has got a lot harder.
“Housing New Zealand’s properties are a taxpayer asset. It is in all our interests that the government is hands-on with the management of its tenancies across the country.
“Laying off staff with local relationships and replacing them with consultants won’t achieve that.
“Under this government we are seeing a national wind-back of services across the public sector.
“Housing Minister Nick Smith’s introduction of the 0800 number was a debacle, and with fewer offices more tenants will be reliant on the phone line.
“Centralising resources is not an end in itself. Expensive consultants and ‘streamlined’ systems need to deliver for communities,” Phil Twyford said.
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