Press Release - Managing the Defence Estate: Quality and
sustainability
23 March 2007
The Ministry of Defence has introduced positive changes to how
it manages its estate and has invested substantial resources to
maintain and improve it. The MoD, however, accepts that it has more
work to do to provide a sustainable estate of the right quality,
the National Audit Office has today reported to Parliament.
The MoD is the second largest landowner in the UK and has a
worldwide estate valued at some £18 billion. Considerable
investment is being made through new prime contracts and PFI in
both living and working accommodation. In recent years, the MoD has
also made sensible moves to restructure how they manage their
estate and is introducing effective planning systems to help manage
it more effectively. The cost effectiveness of investment in the
defence estate cannot be determined until the Department has
completed its work to establish the baseline quality of the estate
and to measure changes in performance and quality over time.
The MoD faces many, often conflicting demands on its resources
and in the context of savings measures across the Department,
Defence Estates, the organization responsible for delivering
improvements in the quality of the estate, has had to find savings
in 2006-07 of £13.5 million through cuts or deferrals in planned
maintenance and repair. Despite these budgetary pressures, other
parts of the MoD have injected an additional £45 million to carry
out other estate work at short notice including fire safety
systems, sports facilities and toilet and shower facilities.
The MoD is making investments in improving houses and barrack
accommodation. Assuming no further deterioration in the existing
stock of accommodation, by the end of 2012-13 the number of single
bed spaces at the required standard will have risen to around
75,000. This will leave around 35,000 bed spaces below the required
standard.
Currently 60 per cent of family homes in Great Britain are at the
highest standard, leaving 19,000 to be upgraded. Defence Estates
has exceeded its targets for upgrading houses and has funding to
deliver 1,200 upgrades in 2006-07 and 900 each year thereafter.
The MoD has also done much to improve the sustainability of the
estate and is well regarded for its delivery of environmental
benefits, and especially for wildlife conservation. The MoD needs
to do more to ensure that it is meeting the pan-governmental and
internal targets it has signed up to. These include targets to
reduce carbon emissions, to increase the proportion of its energy
that comes from renewable sources, and to use timber from
sustainable sources.
Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, said
today:
“The effectiveness of our armed forces depends
fundamentally on the quality of their living and working
accommodation.
The Ministry of Defence is working hard to improve the management
of its estate and its current strategy, if pursued consistently,
should build on recent progress and bring further dividends in
future.”
Notes for Editors:
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is 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 850 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.
Press Notice 18/07
All enquiries to Mark Anderson, NAO Press Office:
Tel: 020 7798 7558
Mobile: 07796 937 119