Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the building maintenance backlog on Ministry of Defence properties.

Service Family Accommodation (SFA):

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) conducts more than 300,000 maintenance tasks per year. These tasks relate to health and safety works, as well as proactive and reactive repairs, to maintain safe and compliant homes in line with the Decent Home Standard.

Of those 300,000 tasks, there are circa 2% which are currently on hold (these form the ‘backlog’). None of these tasks are priority work and they will be addressed once discretionary funding is available.

Built Estate (including Single living Accommodation):

Maintenance and life cycle replacements are identified though visual inspection regimes or via MOD’s Asset Lifecycle and Replacement Model (ALaRM) tool which predicts works needed to restore assets to a good condition.

This provides the Defence Infrastructure Organisation with a picture of the works required on the assets. Safety works are addressed immediately, or the risk mitigated, for example, by building closure.

The remaining maintenance requirements are prioritised for funding by the Asset owner within Defence. Infrastructure assets are categorised against their operational need.

The safety of Service personnel and their families remains a top priority for the MOD.