Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the anual budget is for (a) maintaining and (b) upgrading military accommodation; and what that budget was in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In the last seven years, the Ministry of Defence has invested more than £936 million in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) improvements. During financial year (FY) 2021-22, c£179 million (including £36 million of Government Fiscal Stimulus funding) was invested to improve the quality of SFA. The 2022-23 improvement programme was based on a funding level of £185 million.
The expenditure for each of the last 10 years is shown below:
£million | FY 2013-14 | FY 2014-15 | FY 2015-16 | FY 2016-17 | FY 2017-18 | FY 2018-19 | FY 2019-20 | FY 2020-21 | FY 2021-22 | FY 2022-23 |
Core (Maintenance) | 101.893 | 115.154 | 82.649 | 73.997 | 82.108 | 80.084 | 88.535 | 122.501 | 137.828 | 103.437 |
Additional Works (Upgrades) | 106.636 | 74.455 | 66.788 | 87.747 | 82.424 | 115.580 | 123.437 | 152.824 | 179.265 | 185.448 |
In addition to the above the following was spent on Capital Purchases (new builds):
£million | FY 2013-14 | FY 2014-15 | FY 2015-16 | FY 2016-17 | FY 2017-18 | FY 2018-19 | FY 2019-20 | FY 2020-21 | FY 2021-22 | FY 2022-23 |
Capital Purchases | 116.103 | 39.634 | 19.804 | 11.031 | 0.690 | 27.547 | 42.830 | 30.965 | 75.412 | 143.448 |
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the process is for determining which contracter carries out (a) renovation and (b) replacement works on military accomodation; and what the criteria is for those contractors to meet.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) accommodation contracts for Service Family Accommodation (SFA) began on 1 April 2022.
There are four Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services (RAMS) contracts that maintain SFA and the community spaces around them. These were awarded to Amey for the North and Central Regions and VIVO for the South East and South West Regions.
The criteria for contractors is measured by the extent to which they meet the minimum acceptable level of performance or the higher target level of performance against their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The RAMS contracts each have 38 KPIs against which they are formally managed. Failure to deliver the required level of performance may lead to a formal rectification notice.
To date, our suppliers have not performed to expectations and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is holding them robustly to account to improve performance.
FDIS accommodation suppliers were directed by the DIO to implement rectification plans to achieve rapid improvements in contract performance.
DIO is working to address the issues with suppliers and has proactively managed performance issues through frequent senior level engagement. While this has led to some improvements, we recognise that considerably more needed to be done to ensure service meets the level promised.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department takes to ensure contractors which conduct works on military accommodation are held to account for the quality of their work.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) accommodation contracts for Service Family Accommodation (SFA) began on 1 April 2022.
There are four Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services (RAMS) contracts that maintain SFA and the community spaces around them. These were awarded to Amey for the North and Central Regions and VIVO for the South East and South West Regions.
The criteria for contractors is measured by the extent to which they meet the minimum acceptable level of performance or the higher target level of performance against their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The RAMS contracts each have 38 KPIs against which they are formally managed. Failure to deliver the required level of performance may lead to a formal rectification notice.
To date, our suppliers have not performed to expectations and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is holding them robustly to account to improve performance.
FDIS accommodation suppliers were directed by the DIO to implement rectification plans to achieve rapid improvements in contract performance.
DIO is working to address the issues with suppliers and has proactively managed performance issues through frequent senior level engagement. While this has led to some improvements, we recognise that considerably more needed to be done to ensure service meets the level promised.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the armed forces prioritise which military housing units are scheduled for (a) renovation and (b) replacement.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Service Family Accommodation (SFA) renovation works and replacements are prioritised based on enduring need and current condition. As well as prioritising the most urgent cases for renovation or replacement, improvement programmes also seek to address thermal efficiency of homes to reduce energy bills for Service families, improve the comfort of their homes, help prevent the occurrence of damp and mould, and reduce the MOD’s carbon footprint.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department takes to collect feedback from armed forces personnel on the condition of their accomodation; and how that information is used to inform armed forces accomodation improvement decisions.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department collects feedback from Armed Forces personnel on the condition of their accommodation through a number of surveys.
The results from these surveys are used by both internal Ministry of Defence teams and external bodies to inform the development of policy and measure the impact of decisions effecting personnel.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of armed forces accommodation units are empty.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has approximately 47,900 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties in the UK. As of 4 May 2023, 9,189 (circa 19%) are void.
Our Service personnel have a mobile lifestyle, and the Department manages between 13,000 and 16,000 planned moves every year. Nevertheless, the MOD recognises that it is holding too many vacant properties. There are several reasons for this: the need to retain void SFA at sites where there is a known, future increase in requirement, but not for several years; the large numbers of void SFA 'behind the wire' which are difficult to dispose of; and ongoing uncertainty over housing requirements, specifically the impact of the Future Accommodation Model which will significantly increase entitlement to SFA.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government is taking to improve the condition of military accommodation; and what progress his Department has made on that work to date.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In the last seven years, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has invested more than £936 million in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) improvements.
During financial year 2021-22, around £179 million (including £36 million of Government Fiscal Stimulus funding) was invested to improve the quality of SFA.
The 2022-23 investment of around £185 million focussed on modernising homes, tackling damp and mould, replacing kitchens and bathrooms and improving thermal efficiency to maintain/improve Decent Homes (DH) standard to an estimated 9788 SFA, which is 20% of the housing stock.
In financial year 2022-23, the MOD also invested £88 million to replace some of our poorer quality stock with 310 brand new homes. As a result of this investment, 96.75% of SFA are now assessed as meeting or exceeding DH Standard, up from 87% in 2016.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department last conducted an assessment of the accommodation of (a) military and (b) civilian defence personnel.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Full condition surveys of our circa 47,900 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) are carried out on a six-yearly cycle by qualified surveyors. On average, 8,000 SFA are assessed each year. Condition is assessed against the Decent Homes (DH) Standard. The DH standard is a technical standard for public housing, defined by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of medical discharges from the Armed Forces were for mental and behavioural disorders in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Medical discharges in the UK Armed Forces involve a series of practices and protocols, which differ in each Service to meet their specific employment requirements. Due to these differences, data is presented separately for each Service.
The table below provides the numbers and percentage of UK Regular Armed Forces personnel who were medically discharged with a principal cause of mental and behavioural disorders between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2022, by Service and financial year.
Royal Navy | Army | RAF | ||||
Year | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
2012-13 | 45 | 10% | 188 | 11% | 30 | 15% |
2013-14 | 36 | 11% | 279 | 13% | 29 | 19% |
2014-15 | 40 | 11% | 282 | 13% | 37 | 25% |
2015-16 | 72 | 17% | 363 | 21% | 38 | 28% |
2016-17 | 62 | 14% | 385 | 20% | 42 | 30% |
2017-18 | 89 | 18% | 418 | 25% | 68 | 36% |
2018-19 | 83 | 21% | 359 | 29% | 52 | 33% |
2019-20 | 92 | 25% | 350 | 35% | 73 | 43% |
2020-21 | 80 | 24% | 311 | 47% | 56 | 46% |
2021-22 | 127 | 26% | 306 | 46% | 72 | 43% |
Figures include trained and untrained UK Regular personnel. Army Regular personnel include Gurkha and Military Provost Guard Service. The Royal Navy includes both Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
Percentages presented are the percentage of all cause coded medical discharges.
Medical discharges due to mental and behavioural disorders were identified as personnel discharged with a principal or contributory cause of discharge coded as F00 - F99 according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems Tenth Revision (ICD-10).
Figures for cause information between 2019-20 and 2021-22 are provisional and subject to change.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of Armed Forces personnel were discharged on medical grounds in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Medical discharges in the UK Armed Forces involve a series of practices and protocols, which differ in each Service to meet their specific employment requirements. Due to these differences, data is presented separately for each Service.
The following table provides the numbers and rates per 1,000 of UK Regular Armed Forces personnel who were medically discharged between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2022, by Service and financial year.
Royal Navy | Army | RAF | ||||
Year | Number | Rate | Number | Rate | Number | Rate |
2012-13 | 430 | 12.4 | 1,670 | 15.5 | 214 | 5.6 |
2013-14 | 323 | 9.6 | 2,222 | 21.9 | 152 | 4.2 |
2014-15 | 374 | 11.3 | 2,109 | 22.3 | 161 | 4.7 |
2015-16 | 442 | 13.6 | 1,750 | 19.1 | 140 | 4.2 |
2016-17 | 443 | 13.6 | 1,881 | 20.9 | 143 | 4.3 |
2017-18 | 486 | 15.0 | 1,701 | 19.4 | 190 | 5.8 |
2018-19 | 390 | 12.0 | 1,273 | 15.0 | 159 | 4.8 |
2019-20 | 365 | 11.2 | 1,042 | 12.3 | 169 | 5.2 |
2020-21 | 335 | 10.1 | 662 | 7.7 | 122 | 3.7 |
2021-22 | 484 | 14.2 | 670 | 7.6 | 168 | 5.0 |
Army Regular personnel include Gurkha and Military Provost Guard Service. The Royal Navy includes both Royal Navy and Royal Marines.