HOUSING chiefs have hit back after being accused of creating “jobs for the boys”.
A campaign group believes Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing (KNH) is “frittering away” money on a management re-organisation.
But the organisation insists the moves will save tens of thousands of pounds.
Ian Brooke, of Kirklees Save Our Services, criticised the housing association yesterday.
He said: “KNH is in the process of taking on seven new heads of service at great expense, recruited from people already in the organisation.
“That sounds like jobs for the boys to me. Meanwhile, frontline staff are expected to do more for less as KNH fritters money away on a bloated bureaucracy.”
Mr Brooke added: “It’s about time we had some accountability from organisations that are intent on lining the pockets of the elite rather than developing the services they are supposed to provide.”
But a KNH spokeswoman said yesterday: “We are currently restructuring our management to make cash savings and to make sure the structure gives value for money and makes best use of existing talent and experience.
“The new structure will save over £40,000 a year, which will be used to strengthen frontline services.
“Six new roles have been created which will be filled by existing staff following a full recruitment exercise. We will not be replacing the previous roles carried out by these managers.”
The spokeswoman added: “Over the past four years we have reduced the number of directors from five to two, while expanding the services we provide.
“The new structure will make sure we have a strong senior management team to provide strategic direction for KNH at what is a very challenging time for the sector.
“The new roles have been assessed by an independent process and are one to two grades higher than the managers are currently on, to reflect the increase in their responsibilities.”
