Recommendations & Conclusions
24 items
2
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
Although many service personnel live in poor quality Single Living Accommodation and are dissatisfied with their accommodation and with the maintenance and repairs service, the Department appeared surprisingly complacent about resolving this long-term issue. There is considerable variability in the standard of accommodation, with more than one-third of personnel in …
Government response. agree with the conclusion that DHSC and NHS Digital took too long to identify all clinically extremely vulnerable people. Given the data available at the time, and the novelty of shielding policy, NHS Digital, DHSC, and frontline clinicians worked as …
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
The lack of a minimum standard for Single Living Accommodation means the Department has no baseline against which to make investment decisions, or to demonstrate progress towards establishing an estate fit for the 21st century. Unlike for its Service Family Accommodation, and in contrast to elements of the housing sector, …
Government response. agree with the conclusion that there was huge local variation. NHS Digital and DHSC have already written to the Committee with an initial analysis of the local variation in growth of the Shielded Patient List (SPL). This found that most …
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
The Department’s lamentable failure to implement a Single Living Accommodation Management Information System (SLAMIS) over the past eight years means it is unable to manage its Single Living Accommodation efficiently. Project SLAMIS was initiated in 2013 to provide basic information on the Single Living Accommodation estate of a kind that …
Government response. agree with the conclusion that a centrally directed system was chosen because of a lack of confidence in local authorities. Councils are crucial partners in delivery of shielding support to clinically extremely vulnerable individuals and since July 2020, councils and …
HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
Management of Single Living Accommodation has long suffered from a lack of coordination, ownership and strategic grip. Currently no single person has responsibility for Single Living Accommodation, and there are many different stakeholders involved, with some groups having been set up in response to the lack of governance and ownership …
Government response. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: September 2021 5.2 Management of SLA is delegated to the single Services, therefore the picture across Defence’s SLA provision is complex, with management and future investment planning varying to …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
We are concerned that, although Commands have plans to improve Single Living Accommodation, this will only address the worst problems, and available funding may be used to meet other demands. The Commands have set out plans to spend a total of £1.5 billion on upgrades and new-build accommodation between 2020 …
Government response. 2021. This is the Government’s response to the Committee’s report. Relevant reports • NAO report: management of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund – Session 2019-21 (HC 1130) • PAC report: Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund – Session 2019-21 (HC 941) Government …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Defence (the Department) about Single Living Accommodation for service personnel.1
Government response. 1: PAC conclusion: The Department has neglected Single Living Accommodation for many years and has not given it anything like the priority that it has deserved, despite the clear link between accommodation and delivery of operational capability. 1: PAC recommendation: …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
The standard of Single Living Accommodation is very variable, and the Department agreed that it is not acceptable that more than one-third of personnel in Single Living Accommodation are living in the lowest-grade accommodation (Grade 4 or below).17 We asked why the number of service personnel living in poorly rated …
Government response. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2021 2.2 The DAS will set the strategic direction for the department’s accommodation provision and approach to standards, but separate working groups will set specific standards. This will …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
We were concerned as to whether all the poorest quality accommodation meets minimum health and safety standards and asked why, if the accommodation used by 3% of personnel (2,388 individuals) was so poor that no rental charge was applied, it was not withdrawn from service. The Department told us that …
Government response. 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2021 3.2 The department commits to setting and publishing a clear minimum standard for the condition of SLA which goes beyond simple safety and compliance to address issues …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
While the Department told us that it is tremendously important that personnel feel valued for what they are doing, we pointed out that some are living with problems with basic facilities including heating and hot water. The Department agreed that people should have access to these facilities and explained that …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
We enquired as to what the Department is doing in response to the decline in levels of satisfaction reported in the 2020 Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS). This showed that 49% of service personnel living in Single Living Accommodation were satisfied with the overall standard of their accommodation, compared …
Government response. 2.4 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2.5 Understanding service personnel’s views is important for future work and planning around SLA and a minimum standard for the condition of SLA will be determined by the department by the end …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
Over the past six years (from 2015 to 2020) there has been a decrease in satisfaction with both the response to requests for maintenance and repairs work for Single Living Accommodation, and the quality of that work.31 Nevertheless, the Department believes the performance of contractors is actually getting much better, …
Government response. 2.7 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: December 2021 2.8 Whilst the department commits to gathering Service personnel views on SLA, the specifics of how this will be conducted are likely to be set outside of …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
We questioned why in contrast to properties rented from other providers such as local authorities, housing associations or private landlords, where there is a legally required standard for the accommodation, there is no specified standard for Single Living Accommodation. This is also in contrast to Service Family Accommodation where the …
Government response. 2: PAC conclusion: Although many service personnel live in poor quality Single Living Accommodation and are dissatisfied with their accommodation and with the maintenance and repairs service, the Department appeared surprisingly complacent about resolving this long-term issue. 2a: PAC recommendation: …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
The Department acknowledged that expectations of service personnel are changing, and that what they needed at different points of their career varied.39 We are aware, for example, that there are concerns about poor or expensive wi-fi, and a lack of cooking facilities.40 We were interested to understand what the Department …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
We raised concerns that, given sustainability targets, in two or three years the Department will have to retrofit much relatively new accommodation. It told us that it is running a number of low-carbon trials across Single Living Accommodation properties and considers that a 5% to 7% uplift can deliver a …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
There is no single source of data on Single Living Accommodation, and the Department lacks central data on its location, condition and usage.43 The Department said it recognises that its ability to track who is using what accommodation is poor at the moment, with it only having data from a …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: October 2021 4.2 The department will report in October 2021 on the progress with delivering Single Living Accommodation Management Information System (SLAMIS) including confirmation of when in 2022 it …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
Given the Department stated it is looking for a simple solution, we questioned why, after eight years of development, SLAMIS was not yet in service. The Department acknowledged the poor performance and that the SLAMIS project that commenced in 2013 failed to deliver, was cancelled and then was restarted in …
Government response. 4: PAC conclusion: The Department’s lamentable failure to implement a Single Living Accommodation Management Information System (SLAMIS) over the past eight years means it is unable to manage its Single Living Accommodation efficiently. 14 4: PAC recommendation: The Department should …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
Data from the last snapshot on 26 February 2020, showed a quarter of Single Living Accommodation is unoccupied, and one-fifth of sites had more than 40% of Single Living Accommodation bed space unused.50 The Department agreed that a substantial amount is unoccupied and that is has more Single Living Accommodation …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
The management of Single Living Accommodation encompasses both people and infrastructure, and involves multiple stakeholders across defence. There is no overarching strategy for Single Living Accommodation setting out what the Department wishes to achieve or bringing together the aims of the various stakeholders.54 The Department has acknowledged a lack of …
Government response. 5: PAC conclusion: Management of Single Living Accommodation has long suffered from a lack of coordination, ownership and strategic grip. 5: PAC recommendation: The Department should review and simplify the governance structures for Single Living Accommodation, including clarifying overall responsibility, …
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
Since the delegation of infrastructure budgets in 2018, each Command has developed its own plans tailored to its specific needs and priority areas, and it has set individual targets to reduce poor-quality Single Living Accommodation.57 We questioned the lack of a central view on what is needed for Single Living …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
Improvements to Single Living Accommodation cannot be carried out in isolation because they overlap with wider departmental programmes such as the Defence Estate Optimisation (DEO) Portfolio (to create an estate of a more appropriate size and better quality) and the Future Accommodation Model (FAM) (to provide personnel with a range …
HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
The Department explained that under the delegated responsibilities for infrastructure, including Single Living Accommodation, the Commands will decide how much to spend in this area, alongside other areas within their remit. In the 2020 Annual Budget Cycle, the Commands set out plans to spend £1.5 billion on upgrading and replacing …
HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
The funds for improving Single Living Accommodation are not ring-fenced. While the Department stressed that Single Living Accommodation was a very high priority in Defence, it also stated there are other priorities.66 It faces wider affordability challenges, and the equipment portfolio, which is 41% of the entire defence budget, is …
HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy was delayed until March 2021, but in November 2020 the government announced it would provide an additional £16.5 billion of defence funding over the next four years.70 The Department said that the recent funding settlement gives it the opportunity to …
Government response. 6: PAC conclusion: We are concerned that, although Commands have plans to improve Single Living Accommodation, this will only address the worst problems, and available funding may be used to meet other demands. 6: PAC recommendation: In the light of …
HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
Fifty-Fourth Report - Improving single …
We asked for an update on the renegotiation of rents for service family accommodation leased from Annington Property Limited, on which the Committee last reported in 2019.75 The Department currently benefits from a 58% reduction in the market rent that Annington charges for these homes, but this is due to …
HM Treasury