Recommendation 21

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 Single Living Accommodation across the estate over the period 2020–2030.62 The Department said that there is also additional funding from the DEO Portfolio and the Army Basing Plan.63 We asked the Department if its planned expenditure was adequate and it responded that it would allow it to upgrade the poorest accommodation as required. The majority of the expenditure will fall in the later years of the plans, and the Department informed us that it takes a number of years from identifying the need to putting an infrastructure solution in place.64 We therefore questioned how long it would be before the Department has a plan for the whole Single Living Accommodation portfolio including what needs to be sold, demolished or repaired. The Department said it was in the process of preparing the Defence Accommodation Strategy which would include policy, infrastructure and delivery elements, and the various dependencies.65