Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent in the Financial Year 2022-23 to (a) remove and (b) prevent incidents of damp and mould in (i) Service Family Accommodation and (ii) Single Living Accommodation.

In Financial Year 2022-23, £4.3 million was spent on damp and mould remediation works in Service Family Accommodation (SFA). Over the last four years, the Department has invested a total of £150 million on works to prevent incidents of damp and mould in SFA.

The Ministry of Defence has a robust damp and mould management policy for SFA, and from the start of the Future Defence Infrastructure Services contract, let in April 2022, no properties with reported issues should have been allocated.

Should damp and mould emerge during occupancy, we have set up a dedicated hotline for families to make a report. Reports are now investigated by a professional surveyor and, where appropriate, families should be offered alternative accommodation.

Works to remove and prevent incidents of damp and mould in Single Living Accommodation (SLA) are dealt with as part of the core contract in place for the Built Estate and therefore, we are unable to provide a breakdown of the money spent on damp and mould removal or prevention.