Little Puddleton Council is a major provider of social housing in the district. It is important that Little Puddleton has a planned repairs programme to ensure its properties remain fit for occupation and to prolong the useful life of the buildings.
The organization is aware that the key to an effective major repairs programme is having detailed knowledge of the attributes of the housing stock. Without a detailed survey, the major repairs programme runs the risk of committing resources in a manner that does not optimize overall stock improvement. It can also lead to significant problems being addressed via future response repairs, at a much higher cost than would have been the case had replacement occurred.
Any ideal repairs programme should cover at least a five-year period with annual revisions, although, in practice, a shorter period, say three years, may be more realistic and manageable. These reviews should be based on periodic housing stock surveys and inspections. The repairs programme is usually carried out by employing various contractors, recruited by following normal contract procedures. Once the decision to go ahead with a contract has been made, several key audit issues need also to be addressed, covering the early stages of the contract process right through to post-completion.
As part of your external audit of Little Puddleton Council you have to review the procedures over the planning of the major repairs programme and to determine the extent and effectiveness of any controls that should be in place for such a programme.

Required:
(a) Identify any six key control objectives associated with the major housing repairs planned by Little Puddleton.
(b) Identify the value for money issues that would arise in respect of a major housing repairs programme.
(c) Once the decision to go ahead with a contract has been made by Little Puddleton, outline the key audit issues which need to be addressed.