Heatley crumbling under pressure in housing now as well as energy

John Key, take note --- Housing and Energy Minister Phil Heatley is crumbling under the pressure in both the housing and energy portfolios, says Labour’s Energy and Acting Housing spokesperson Moana Mackey.

“It’s been a very bad week in the life of Phil Heatley,” Moana Mackey said.

“On Tuesday he was unable to answer a question on notice in the House about average power prices. His performance was so inept that he received an exceptionally strong reprimand from the Speaker, who said: ‘… I do not think the House has heard a Speaker be as tough on a Minister and officials as you heard today…’

“Today he’s ducked for cover in his Housing portfolio stating that on-going failures in Housing New Zealand’s so-called ‘smarter faster fairer’ call centre service are an operational matter for the corporation,” Moana Mackey said.

“This is the same Phil Heatley who bragged in the House in March about the service, saying ‘clients are now getting a much better service’ and ‘the 0800 number does help with the relationship (between the corporation and tenants) because people can get answers quickly’.

“Unfortunately for Mr Heatley figures released to the Labour Party show that more than 56,000 calls to the 0800 number went unanswered last month compared with 53,000 in April. If that is the Minister’s definition of a better service, he shouldn’t be in the job.

“Callers are still waiting for excessive lengths of time to speak to someone in Housing New Zealand. The corporation says that waiting times are reducing, but anecdotal evidence from the public, and from NGOs providing housing support services, are that the situation has not improved at all and that wait times are consistently 20-25 minutes minimum.

“When the extent of the failures became clear back in May, the Government said they had told Housing New Zealand that its performance wasn’t satisfactory and should be dramatically improved, and that fixing the system was the corporation’s top priority.

“Housing New Zealand’s inability to do so confirms what Labour has been saying all along – replacing personal contact with a face-less, automated phone system will not work and is simply another top-down, cost-cutting measure from a government with little understanding of the complex situations tenants find themselves in. Unfortunately Housing New Zealand is the latest victim of National’s love affair with call centres.

“Worst of all, instead of showing leadership the Minister has simply given up, stating that the service he was happy to trumpet a few months ago is now an ‘operational matter’.

“Phil Heatley is obviously finding it all a bit hard at the moment, but if he is not prepared to do his job he should resign and hand his portfolios to someone who won’t simply duck for cover and blame officials when the going gets tough,” Moana Mackey said.