Press Release - Ministry of Defence - Quality of Housing
Services to Service Families Overseas
10 March 2005
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported
today that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) does well to manage the
difficult job of having housing available for Service personnel and
their families when posted overseas. However, it needs to adopt a
greater customer focus in its delivery of housing services
overseas. It also needs to introduce greater consistency and
professionalism in the service it provides.
The MoD keeps almost 18,000 properties overseas to accommodate
military personnel and their families. Families’ satisfaction with
their housing impinges on the military’s operational effectiveness
as morale can be affected if families are unhappy with their
accommodation. The MoD is meeting its objectives of moving people
into these homes as required by the Armed Forces, and around
two-thirds of occupants are satisfied with the housing service and
their accommodation. This is on a par with the satisfaction rates
achieved by Inner London boroughs but below the averages achieved
by social housing providers and local authorities in England as a
whole, although the provision of accommodation to Service families
overseas differs in many respects from the provision of social
housing in the United Kingdom. There are also examples of good
practice. For example, before families arrive in Episkopi in
Cyprus, they receive an “estate agent's description” of the
property they have been allocated, complete with a picture of a
house of that type and room layout plans.
A survey of overseas families, conducted on our behalf by Market
Research UK, revealed that 67 per cent of occupants were satisfied
with the repairs service, this service is not customer friendly in
all locations. For example, at Akrotiri in Cyprus a family member
has to visit housing staff in person to report a fault needing
repair. There were also complaints about the quality of the work
carried out. Only 24 per cent of occupants were satisfied with the
opportunities for their involvement in the delivery of the housing
service.
There is little scope for occupants to exercise choice. The MoD
is only able to offer families one property for occupation at each
overseas location. Although families can express a preference as to
where at their duty station they want to be housed, the MoD does
not measure the extent to which it meets these preferences.
Complaints are not always handled well. Almost half of occupants
did not know how to make complaints and those who had made
complaints were unhappy with many aspects of their handling.
There were many examples of variations in local practices and
standards both between and within countries. The management
structure for delivering housing services overseas is complex and
unclear, while the allocation of properties to families lacks
transparency. Almost all housing officials overseas are ex-military
personnel with little previous experience in housing management.
They are used to a military culture and receive little specialist
training in housing management.
The MoD’s monitoring of its performance overseas focuses only on
its management of the estate, with no monitoring of the quality of
its housing service to families. There is limited awareness among
housing staff of the need to set targets, measure performance and
use this information to improve the service. There is little
systematic sharing of good practice amongst housing staff and the
MoD has carried out little comparison of the performance of its
overseas housing service with that of other housing providers
elsewhere. In the opinion of our consultants, Housing Quality
Network Services, if the MoD were a civilian housing provider, its
housing services overseas would rate as poor. The MoD has
acknowledged the need to examine the management of these services.
An MoD review will be recommending a number of changes which are
likely to promote an improvement in the quality of housing services
overseas.
Sir John Bourn said today:
"Although the MoD manages the difficult job of providing
homes for military personnel and their families well, there is more
to a housing service than simply providing a roof over one’s head.
There needs to be a real change in the culture of providing housing
services overseas if families are to see an improvement in the
quality of the service they receive. The MoD has accepted the need
to move towards a more customer-focused approach in the management
and delivery of the overseas housing service, and has committed
itself to bring about an improvement in service
delivery."
Notes for Editors:
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is now at www.nao.org.uk.
Hard copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702
3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office which employs some 800 staff. He
and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
- The Report covers the quality of the housing service in the
three locations (Cyprus, Germany and Gibraltar) where the
Department has the majority of its overseas housing – around 17,000
out of a total of almost 18,000 properties. The Report does not
cover the quality of housing services to single individuals or to
families living in the United Kingdom.
Press Notice 22/05
All enquiries to Mark Strathdene, NAO Press Office:
Tel: 020 7798 7183
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