AS well as wrongly allocating houses, senior managers in Nottingham's housing service were also dishing out jobs.

The Audit Commission has raised concern about the use of an in-house temporary employment agency called First Call.

The report said council managers were supposed to contact First Call for a list of suitable candidates when they wanted to fill a temporary vacancy.

However, managers could bypass this system by making a "special request" to take on a specific individual, even though that person may not be registered with First Call.

In housing, 38 staff were taken on through this process between 2003 and 2005.

In four cases reviewed in detail by the Audit Commission all four staff were taken on as temps, but were then made permanent on the basis of their temporary experience. The permanent positions were on higher pay grades than the temporary position.