MOD estate managers outline steps to improve housing after heavy criticism over heating and repairs
The organisation that oversees Service Family Accommodation has written a letter to personnel living in the housing to outline how it is aiming to improve standards which are currently "below that which we had promised".
In a letter seen by Forces News, the Chief Executive of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), Mike Green, says "getting the service right for you is our highest priority".
It comes after private companies responsible for maintaining thousands of military homes – contracted by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) – were slammed on social media by military families for allegedly failing to carry out urgent repairs to their homes.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said at the weekend he had told private firms responsible for the maintaining of military housing to "up their game".
Mr Green wrote in the letter that he is holding suppliers to account and is actively working to improve the situation which, he says, is "still not satisfactory" despite it "improving in some respects".
He said the DIO, the MOD's estate arm, is focusing improvements on a number of priority areas, as listed below.
Heating
The letter says the DIO is "immediately" implementing measures following complaints about heating and hot water failures.
The DIO says affected families will be contacted by an engineer to support the "swift" diagnosis of faults and "enable remote fixes, if possible".
The number of these qualified engineers has increased across every region, the letter added.
Access to temporary heaters for families without heating is also being improved – within 24 hours if possible.
Any increase in costs associated with temporary heaters will be covered with compensation, the DIO added.
For those whose heating cannot be restored "in a reasonable time", or for vulnerable people, the DIO says the use of temporary accommodation, such as hotels, will be increased.
Repairs and maintenance
VIVO Defence, which responds to complaints in the South East and South West of the UK, has increased its staff levels by 88 and has taken on seven additional subcontractors, the letter said.
Amey, which covers the northern and central regions, has increased its internal staff numbers by 15 and subcontractor level by 60%.
This, the DIO says, has cut down average response times, but a backlog remains.
Complaints
Pinnacle Group, one of the service providers that takes calls from families and raises repair jobs, has increased staffing levels in its national service centre from 14 to 56 staff. DIO says fixing the process by which complaints are received and dealt with is an "absolute priority".
Preparation of homes for move-in
The rate at which houses are ready for people moving in has improved "notably" since July and August, but is still below the contracted Acceptable Level of Performance of 95%, the DIO explained.
Communications
New email addresses have been set up to help families directly reach the department they need to contact, the letter said.
Mr Green said Pinnacle's National Service Centre will be open 24/7 to respond to emergency and urgent repairs over the festive period.
Mr Green finishes the letter by saying: "Getting this service right for you and your family is my priority and I will continue to work with suppliers to make improvements that are sustained."
Last week, Labour's John Healey told Forces News he was contacted by Armed Forces personnel living with accommodation problems, such as mould, who say they have been waiting months for repairs to be carried out.
"This is a straight-up scandal. Ministers have known about this for years but done nothing," the shadow defence secretary said.
Related topics
Join Our Newsletter
