MPs criticise housing for forces

BBC ^ | 11/29/07

[Daniel Bliss]

Living conditions for the armed forces will remain substandard for 20 years unless improvement work is given a higher priority, MPs have said.

The Commons public accounts committee said half of the Ministry of Defence's housing for single soldiers was poor, as well as 40% of its family homes.

Committee chairman Edward Leigh said the government should "get its priorities straight".

But Defence minister Derek Twigg said improvement work was "making progress".

'Tennis courts'

The committee noted that the MoD had cut £15m from its estates management budget in 2006/07 after "unforeseen rises in the cost of fuel and other problems".

Its report said: "It decided to cut planned maintenance work, including re-roofing projects and repairs to hangar doors, rather than postponing other work such as the construction of all-weather pitches and the resurfacing of tennis courts."

Mr Leigh said: "In response to funding cuts the MoD put off essential maintenance work such as re-roofing buildings, but still found the cash to build all-weather sports pitches and spruce up tennis courts.

"Nobody is saying it is inappropriate to offer a range of leisure facilities on site, but the department has to get its priorities straight.

"Let's mend the leaking roofs first, and then worry about the state of the tennis courts."

Mr Leigh, Conservative MP for Gainsborough, added that half of all the MoD's single housing and 19,000 of its family houses were poor.

He said: "The MoD is aware of this and trying to improve things, but it is planning to upgrade only 900 family homes each year - which means for the next 20 years some servicemen and women and their families will have to put up with living in substandard accommodation."

Last week the Commons defence committee said it was "extremely disappointed" with the government's "complacency" over housing improvements.

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said the government's record on housing for troops was "shameful".

"This report raises serious questions of competency in the management of the MoD estate," he said.

"It is simply despicable that, at a time when the government demands so much of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, it sees fit to delay basic maintenance on their homes."

Defence minister Derek Twigg said the government was having to overturn "decades of underfunding".

He added: "I'd like to reassure members of our armed forces and their families that ministers are committed to doing all we can to provide good quality housing.

"I know that there are areas of the estate which require significant work, but we are making progress to improve accommodation - already 95% of family homes are at the highest or second-highest standard."

[Daniel Bliss]

The quality of some British Armed Forces accommodation is awful.

The government should be ashamed of themselves.