The Ministry of Defence is under fire as nearly 800 military homes have been found to be without valid gas safety certificates.
James Cartlidge, the Minister for Defence Procurement, provided an explanation but former Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois expressed strong criticism over the handling of the issue.
In his statement, Cartlidge mentioned that since 1 April 2022, three contractors have been managing and maintaining the majority of the 47,800 military homes in the UK.
He acknowledged that “progress to update gas certificates and electrical inspections for a number of existing residents which had already elapsed was not quick enough,” and as of 20 June, “there are 795 homes currently occupied by Service families without valid gas certificates.”
Cartlidge identified several causes for this lapse, stating, “it appears in many cases operatives were unable to gain access to properties due to miscommunication. On other occasions, contractors missed agreed appointments. Then there were supply chain resource problems, including sourcing suitably qualified gas and electrical tradespersons and a backlog of work inherited from the previous contract.”
Emphasising the importance of safety, Cartlidge asserted, “the safety of our personnel is paramount and it is unacceptable for any family to be living in a home without the necessary checks.”
Former Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois MP, however, was particularly vocal in his criticism of the situation. In a blistering rebuke, he exclaimed, “Enough is enough. MoD Ministers and senior Civil Servants were warned repeatedly that the new FDIS Accommodation contract would not work. Now it appears the contractors may even have breached crucial safety regulations, regardless of the risk to service personnel and their loved ones.”
He further accused the MoD leadership of remaining in “complete denial that they were wrong about FDIS from the outset and still have no clear plan about what to do instead.”
Francois’s comments throw a stark light on the seriousness of the issue, as the safety of military personnel and their families could be at risk due to these administrative failings.
Meanwhile, Cartlidge emphasised the importance of safety and asserted that “the safety of our personnel is paramount and it is unacceptable for any family to be living in a home without the necessary checks.” He detailed measures taken to improve communication and expedite inspections, and confirmed that he has spoken with contractors about resolving the issue urgently.
Cartlidge revealed that in response to contractors Amey and VIVO’s failure to meet performance standards, “the relevant performance credit for fixed and variable profit for the service period has been withheld.”
Francois’s searing criticism highlights the gravity of the situation, as the lapse in safety certificates can have significant implications on the well-being of service members and their families.
To be fair that looks like LIMs accommodation rather than the patch.
George once said that he could not always get the right photo from his stock.
I’m sure it is a problem on the patch, rather than in barracks accomodation.
Nothing has changed here I was offered a quarter in Germany in the 1970s the artic of a German home, bed in one corner two burner in the other shared toilet and shower for me and my wife and 9 week old son. The families office was right put out when I refused and put me at the bottom of the housing list.
Good quality housing for military families is one of the foundation stones of happy family life….
It’s hard enough on partners and kids, moving to new schools and jobs, so good housing is absolutely essential.
Get it wrong and it’s one of the many reasons for leaving..
The recent Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey outcome has highlighted the importance of retaining any existing experienced NCO or Officer we have. At a time when they can demand higher salaries and better employment conditions in civvy street we need retention to improve. The scandal of poor living conditions in barracks or in housing dates back to PSA being replaced by the use of subcontractors like Amey, Babcock, Carillion and Vivo who have profit as their prime objective and not service delivery. The consequence is service people have been very poorly served by them and live often in sub-standard accommodation,… Read more »
“Fitted for but not with Heating”…..The MOD civvy staff should move into these homes to get a real taste of military life.
Careful there pal, I actually AM civvy MoD staff (albeit in engineering) but also served for 23 years, all of which was in either single man or married accommodation. I totally agree with you but object to the blanket covering of all MoD civvy’s is all.
Have you ever lived in one of these homes, out of interest?
Mark Francois was the most obnoxious man I had the misfortune of meeting when serving. He was MinAF at the time, so it’s not like he doesn’t share some of the blame. He thought 3 years as a TA officer in the 1980s somehow made him an authority on things military, he told my CO that he was wrong in his assessment of something (CO was spot on), but worst of all he thought it was ok to give his MA hand signals at lunch (ie the ‘on me’ signal). I thought he was a complete and utter b-end. Not… Read more »
You rubbish him all the way and then put a disclaimer in your last sentence.🙄
He’s the only one calling out the bullshit!!
I Joined Vivo the to test drive there systems and ensure they would meet the transfer from Amey to Vivo. day 1 1st Jan after previously working under Serco the switch was made. Vivo didn’t have a Microsoft license, system down for a week. Vivo heads more interested in ensuring that all the Branding was on the correct way rather than actually doing any work. We then surveyed 500 homes with black mould issues. and the network crashed trying to book open reach visits with no account. get to 1st of April and they were warned of no compliance across… Read more »
I think the Defence Select Committee would be very interested in evidence to that effect.
Agree. Jon you should write in to your MP about it.
Seems their is too much outsourcing in the armed services where profit and tax avoidance are the most important factors !
Isn’t the easiest way to manage this is to give the power of whomever is living there to get their own workmen and bill the MOD. Give a range of costs but leave it to the people that live there
The answer is simple. Put the budget and responsibility back to the base commander. They employ local trades, none of whom will want a reputation for bad service. The commander is held accountable for the state of their accom, single and married. Helps the local economy, keeps things local and stops the “it’s out of my hands” attitude a lot of bases use over the state of their estate
The MoD Estate Warden (‘Barracky Bill’ was the usual nickname) used to sort this out. He was generally an ex-Reg and knew the ‘Q’ world inside out. Not sure how the contractors were selected but they did eventually come around to fix things.
Sounds like somebody trying to make a name for themselves . Pathetic mischief maker .
Aren’t we missing something here?
Gas and electrical test certs are mandatory for all rental properties. There are no exceptions.
Penalties can be easily engaged. The burden of proof is in the landlord – have you rented the property Y/N have you got the certs Y/N?
So this is corporate manslaughter act stuff if anyone gets badly hurt. Hope that doesn’t happen.
Yes you’re correct needs to be renewed annually. Ironically a owner occupied property needs no such certificate, so there’s probably millions of homes without a GC in the country.
I’ll add its illegal to work on gas in you’re own home unless your certified to do so.
An owner occupier is a single legal entity.
You can’t sue yourself……
My point was with millions homes not actually having GCs there’s not millions of houses exploding or millions of people dying from CO poisoning. Never the less the law is there and landlords need to follow it.
The problem is ‘sub contracting’. Military housing has been in the hands of of private company’s for years, and to put it in plain speak, that’s why the housing is shite.
Sub contracts are an evil, and not a necessity!
Rubbish if I subcontract I also have a duty of care to ensure the contractor is delivering as per contract, I won’t pay a contractor or with hold payment if they have not delivered. So if this was in house the same duty of care would need to be taken to ensure the work is being done internally.
Rubbish my arse! I worked AS a contractor, and for a Contractor on MOD contracts!
Making MOD components, were were paying a Toolmaker £7.80 an hour (1985) and charging the MOD £64/hour for that blokes work. So don’t talk to me about contractors!!
Just ask serving personnel about their housing, and food. Both are contractors shite!
TBF, the cost on employing someone isn’t just there hourly wage.
Very true, there are NI contributions payable by an employer, holidays, sick pay (if the company runs a sick scheme) however in the example given, we were still making a huge amount from that one persons labour.
In that particular toolroom, there could be up to 5 blokes working on that contract.
So if your over paying then you put it to tender and get cheaper contractor, control of the contract is with the customer not the subcontract just like when employing someone. If your soft on contractors bringing it in house won’t change a thing you’ll be soft on internal quality. Its the government through and through, not my money so I don’t care.
With respect dude, that’s utter garbage. Having things done in-house, does NOT result in poorer quality.
If the those who accept poor quality from contractors a then take responsibility for in house work why would the quality improve? It wouldn’t. The root of the problem is the contractor is not being managed correctly. You have to change the manager or re-educate them otherwise it won’t nake a difference who does the work.
Subcontracting is the way things are done. How well you subcontract things is another matter! In this case the issue will be that the Mai contractor Cheapskate PLC will have let an offer to do X hundred periodic inspection and expected to get them at a discount rate. Now no sane company will take that on with any penalty clauses. So Cheapskate PLC will be supplied with guys ‘when available’. In practice that means when more lucrative work isn’t available. I’m pretty sure that is the simple issue – trying to get things done blow market rate. I’m afraid most… Read more »
It is long overdue that the UK spent the amount necessary on the UK defence. That includes all military accommodation in addition to kit.
It might even be true that when the Ukrainians see the standard of accommodation we use, they will be more keen to return to their trenches.
I recall the migrants crossing the Channel weren’t happy with the military accomodation in Dover a couple of years back. I think they expected a hotel room!
😂😂 Don’t get me started. Didnt a group of young male migrants protest in the streets the other day because they didn’t want to share a London hotel room? They utilised the freedom to protest here pretty darn quickly.
When I go on holiday and pay the readies, I have to share a hotel room…with my wife! Its not that bad sharing a hotel room with someone else – even better if it is free.
I work on them! Though I’m not a gas engineer!!