Service Families Accomodation

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has over 50,000 properties across the United Kingdom, providing housing for around 42,000 Service personnel and their families. A survey has revealed that, while 52 per cent of Service families feel their accommodation is in a good condition, 31 per cent are dissatisfied with the condition of their property. The MOD is currently undertaking a programme to upgrade Service family accommodation. In the last two years it has upgraded some 1,700 properties and will continue upgrading an average of 800 per year. At the current rate of upgrade, it would take some 20 years before all properties reached condition 1 (the highest of four standards). Each year there are over 20,000 Service family moves. Families were satisfied with the move out process, but less satisfied when moving in to a new property, with complaints about the state of carpets, the general condition, the standard of cleaning. Usually the accommodation is not seen before moving in, and personal family circumstances could be taken more into account when accommodation is allocated. The repairs service, run on a single contract in England and Wales, also came in for criticism from families. The MOD's provision of housing reflects better value for money than renting from the open market, but the current housing stock has been acquired over many years and in many cases is in the wrong location to meet demand. There is a shortage of properties for larger families. But the MOD also has 9,170 vacant properties. This is 18 per cent of its housing stock (against a target of 10 per cent), and vacant properties cost an average £4,200 each per year.

Evidence given to the Committee showed that Armed Forces personnel and their families valued accommodation very highly and saw it as part of their terms and conditions of employment and as promoting unit cohesion and support for families when personnel were deployed on operations. The provision of accommodation was particularly important for those who were required to be mobile; it was the only option allowing families to live together. It is also clear that for many personnel, Service Families Accommodation is the only affordable housing solution. Indeed, the Families Federation said that inquiries and complaints about accommodation account for more than half of the regular communications they receive. So when the Committee considered the MoD's decision to halt upgrade work on accommodation for the next three years, they saw it as damaging to the Covenant and recommended that the MoD look again urgently at the stoppage, which, in any case, could well be a false economy. In early 2012, the MoD began work on the New Employment Model, looking at how Armed Forces personnel are employed. One element of this is the Future Accommodation. The Committee recommends that this project should be sufficiently flexible to meet the needs of the three individual Services by allowing sufficient variation to meet their differing needs. They should also take account of the needs of personnel at different stages in their lives and careers. Given the fragility of morale we recommend that the MoD should use a more effective communications strategy to keep Service families in the picture

This is the 40th Report by the Armed Forces' Pay Review Body, and provides independent advice to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Defence on remuneration and charges for members of the naval, military and air forces of the Crown. The key recommendations in this Review are as follows:

Most Ministry of Defence projects funded by PFI deals are delivered satisfactorily, on time and on budget. In six of the eight projects examined by the NAO, the Department has generally achieved value for money through effective allocation and management of risks. Failures to identify and manage risks reduced the value for money achieved from the other two projects reviewed by the NAO. Most MOD PFI projects are now providing important support to military and civilian staff. They cover a portfolio of more than 50 projects delivering a broad range of services such as equipment, buildings, training and communications. The Department has developed commercial disciplines for scrutinising the value for money of its PFI procurements and has extended these into other projects. While the MOD allocates and manages many of the project risks effectively, it does not always have the robust data necessary to understand the risks it is asking the private sector to bear. In at least seven projects, the decision to use PFI has been reversed. Overall, the PFI projects surveyed took an average of 37 months to procure compared with the PFI average across government of 34 months. And larger PFI projects with a capital value over £50 million took the MOD an average of 45 months to procure. This longer procurement time reflects the complexity and special requirements of the Department's projects, but there is scope for the Department to improve the speed at which it closes larger deals. It is seeking to do so through improvements to the oversight of its capital procurements. The NAO also highlight the risk that contractors may incorrectly report performance which would otherwise lead to payment deductions.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is one of the largest landowners in the UK, with a total estate (including land and property) valued at around £18 billion. Defence Estates (an Agency of the MoD until April 2007 and now re-integrated as part of the MoD) has responsibility for managing the defence estate, with an annual budget of £1.15 billion. The Committee's report examines the work of Defence Estates, focusing on the standard of accommodation for Service personnel and their families. The report highlights concerns about sub-standard accommodation, particularly in relation to the operation of the regional prime contracts for single living accommodation and the maintenance of service families accommodation under the housing prime contract. It argues that the provision of good quality accommodation for Service personnel and their families, modern and efficient office accommodation, and a well-maintained training estate, play a vital role in contributing to the effectiveness of our Armed Forces, particularly important given the current high tempo of operations. Overall, the report finds that although Defence Estates is doing much good work, there are considerable challenges ahead. A substantial increase in investment in the defence estate is required and the MoD must resist the temptation to take from the estates budget when the defence budget is stretched.

The Ministry of Defence (the Department) has around 50,000 properties in the UK, providing accommodation for 42,000 Service personnel and their families. It manages 20,000 Service family moves each year. Around half of Service families surveyed by the National Audit Office considered the condition of their property was good, but a third said it was poor. Around 90 per cent of the Department's housing stock is within the top two of its four condition standards, which meet or exceed the Government's Decent Homes Standard. The Department intends to upgrade all properties to Condition 1 well within a 20 year timescale, and all of its 2,300 Condition 3 and 4 properties to the top standard by 2012. The Department has not analysed in sufficient detail the condition of its properties so that it can demonstrate which meet the Decent Homes Standard, and determine the investment needed to upgrade properties. The Department has many properties sitting empty and is still some way off its target of having only 10 per cent of properties vacant. Each percentage point reduction in the number of empty properties could reduce costs and free resources by over £2 million. The Department's system for allocating property is complex, and results in limited choice for families. Families receive minimal information about the properties to which they are allocated, and many are moving into properties which are not properly cleaned. Nearly a quarter of families consider their properties to be poorly maintained.

This is the 41st Report by the Armed Forces' Pay Review Body, and provides independent advice to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Defence on remuneration and charges for members of the naval, military and air forces of the Crown. As last year the Secretary of State for Defence directed the Review Body to confine recommendations on an overall pay uplift to those earning £21,000 or less because of the two-year pay freeze imposed across the public sector. The main recomendation is for an increase of £250 in military salaries for those earning £21,000 or less. A number of other recommendations are made on targeted pay measures and accommodation and food charges.

Incorporating HC 139-xv - HC 139-xx, session 2012-13 and follows on from HC 139-II, session 2012-13 (ISBN 9780215052551). For related report, see HCP 542 (ISBN 9780215047489)