Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
We enquired as to what the Department is doing in response to the decline in...
Conclusion
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 with 58% in 2015.25 The Department agreed that Single Living Accommodation is an important part of the lives of personnel, particularly those for whom it is their home, and suggested that satisfaction levels have been broadly the same or rising since delegation to the Commands in 2018.26 We highlighted that satisfaction rates had moved around in the Royal Navy, continued to decline in the RAF, and although there may be a slight increase from the Royal Marines, this was from an appallingly low level in 2018 of 38%.27 The Department 19 Qq 39, 53; C&AG’s Report, para 3.3 20 Qq 72–73; C&AG’s Report, para 3.11 21 Q 74; C&AG’s Report, para 3.5 22 Q 74 23 Qq 16, 56–57 24 Qq 20, 21 25 Q 30; C&AG’s Report, paras 12, 3.7, Figure 11 26 Qq 30, 36 27 Qq 36–37; C&AG’s Report, Figure 11 12 Improving single living accommodation for service personnel provided anecdotal evidence of accommodation being seen in a positive light, but this did not convince us that it was getting to grips with the problems that personnel can experience with Single Living Accommodation.28 The Department suggested that its benchmark for satisfaction should be to deliver accommodation that is seen as a positive to more people than as a negative in terms of reasons to join, stay or leave.29 It apologised if it had given the impression that tackling the problems with Single Living Accommodation was not a very far up its list of priorities.30
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
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 of 2021. But, whilst the DAS will develop a picture of the needs of service personnel through its Lived Experience work, the first iteration of the strategy will not seek to set a target for satisfaction. 2.6 Unlike Service Families Accommodation, limited data specific to SLA is currently available to inform future planning and investment. Before setting a target level of satisfaction, work must first be conducted to understand service personnel’s needs and wants in relation to SLA. The detailed work for this will sit outside of the DAS.