Two senior offices have been suspended at a housing scheme for people with mental health problems.

The experienced members of staff at the Bradford complex are off work on full pay while an internal investigation is carried out by Bradford Council.

The officers are employed by Social Services at Hill Top Cottages, Daisy Hill.

The scheme provides a "half-way house" for people with mental health problems who want some independence and privacy.

About 20 men and women are living at the cottages, helped and supervised by 36 members of staff.

The Council's Director of Social Services, Liam Hughes, said: "I can confirm that management concerns have been raised about the running of Hill Top Cottages. We are looking into this and taking the usual procedure of suspending staff to allow an investigation to take place.

"We are doing all we can to support the staff and residents at this very difficult time."

A total of nine staff are now suspended in Social Services for unrelated matters and 18 separate inquiries are taking place in the directorate.

But Mr Hughes said the figures were not abnormal for a service with 4,200 employees.

The new suspensions follow the release of figures last week which showed the number of suspensions across the whole authority which has 23,000 staff was increasing - and some were carried over into successive years.

During 1995-96 18 workers were suspended by the Council. From 1996-97 30 people were sent home and the number of new suspensions for the year ending last March rose to 48. But an additional 15 cases were also passed on from the previous year.

The Council also confirmed that a senior housing officer had been suspended after it was discovered £600,000 had not been transferred from the housing revenue account to the capital account.

The Council has stressed the money is in the accounts and there is no question of fraud.

Last year's suspensions cost the Council £217,000 and the total cost for the past three years was about £600,000.

The Council's Liberal Democrat and Tory groups have said the Council is using suspension as a "knee-jerk reaction" and criticised the length of time of the inquiries.

But Council leader Councillor Ian Greenwood says suspensions are not taken lightly and are to allow detailed investigations to take place.

Leader of the Council's Liberal Democrat group Councillor Jeanette Sunderland said: "I hope these latest suspensions will be over quickly and there will not be a long period of attrition."

Conservative spokesman on Social Services Councillor Simon Cooke said he hoped the matter would be kept within a reasonable timescale.

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