Managing the Defence Estate: Quality and Sustainability

HC 537, Sixty-first Report of Session 2006-07 - Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence

Author:

House of Commons - Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher:

TSO (The Stationery Office)

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has an extensive and complex estate of some 24,000 hectares and, after the Forestry Commission, is the second largest landowner in the UK. The estate is valued at over £18 billion, costs some £3.3 billion to operate, and is seen as essential to the delivery of military capability and the welfare and morale of Service personnel.

'Managing the Defence Estate: Quality and Sustainability (HC 537)' has taken evidence from the MoD on the standard of living accommodation, the Department's ability to prioritise estate projects effectively, and its response to staff shortages. It follows on from the March 2007 National Audit Office report, 'Managing the Defence Estate: Quality and Sustainability (HC 154)' (ISBN 0102944679), available below.

Findings and recommendations include:

• More than half of single living accommodation and over 40% of family accommodation does not meet the Department's definition of high-quality accommodation and is therefore substandard.

• Poor accommodation has a negative impact on retention rates.

• There is no information on when poor accommodation is to be upgraded, with some military personnel and their families having to continue to live in substandard housing for the next 20 years.

• There are gaps in the Department's understanding of estate costs.

• The Department employs only 56% of the safety works staff and 57% of the quantity surveyors that it needs.

• Implementing energy saving measures at its defence sites would bring environmental benefits and savings of more than £2 million annually.

Extent	29 pages	ISBN	9780215037473
Size	A4	Price	£10.00
Binding	Paperback	Published	29 Nov 2007
Availability	Colour copy: 3 - 5 days	Delivery	Delivery options and charges

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