Managing the defence estate - quality and sustainability, sixty-first report of session 2006-07, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence (Paperback)

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 GBP 18 billion, costs some GBP 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.The findings and recommendations include: more than half of single living accommodation and over 40 per cent 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 per cent of the safety works staff and 57 per cent of the quantity surveyors that it needs; and implementing energy saving measures at its defence sites would bring environmental benefits and savings of more than GBP 2 million annually.