Military homes 'are below par'

The standard of military accommodation has been described as "simply unacceptable" by a committee of MPs.

In a report published on Thursday, the Commons public accounts committee said half of all houses for unmarried soldiers and over 40 per cent of those provided to families were "substandard".

Predicting that some military personnel would continue to live in poor conditions for the next 20 years, the spending watchdog said that much of the accommodation "leaves a lot to be desired".

"The state of a good deal of the living accommodation provided for our military personnel is simply unacceptable," said chairman Edward Leigh.

"Half of all single accommodation provided by the Ministry of Defence is below par. As are some 19,000 of the family houses provided."

Leigh acknowledged that the government was aware of the situation and is "trying to improve things", but said plans to upgrade only 900 family homes a year were not enough.

The MoD's £18bn estate - which includes offices, naval bases and living accommodation - cost £3.3bn to operate in 2005/06.

But following cuts of £70m in 2006/07, the department slashed its budget for managing the estate by £15m.

As a result of poor management information, said the report, it delayed planned maintenance but went ahead with other, non-essential work.

"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," Leigh added.

"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."

The MPs also warned that poor accommodation was making it more difficult to retain service personnel, and pointed to previous reports highlighting the costs of recruiting and training replacements.

"The estate is essential to the delivery of military capability and the welfare and morale of service personnel," they said.

'Unacceptable'

Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said the government was "incompetent and not fit to look after the needs of our armed forces".

"This is another example of the military covenant being broken by Labour," he said.

"It is entirely unacceptable that our personnel are living in substandard accommodation.

"The report is a sorry tale of money being wasted and a failure to prioritise the needs of service personnel. It is completely bizarre that in one case the resurfacing of tennis courts took priority over the repair of service homes."

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said the report revealed a "despicable" attitude to the military covenant, the contract between the nation and personnel and their families.

"The government's record on forces' housing is shameful," he said. "This report raises serious questions of competency in the management of the MoD estate.
 
"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.

"Is that not the bare minimum our forces deserve under the military covenant?"