Of the five non-ministerial members of the Army Board who are provided with accommodation, two (40 per cent.) occupy Standard 1 Condition properties. They are the General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland and the Assistant Chief of the General Staff. The property occupied by the Chief of the General Staff is not owned or maintained by the MOD and therefore is not classified using the MOD system.
Figures for the period 2003 to 2006 are set out as follows. The term ‘barracked in the UK’ has been taken to include all Service Family Accommodation (SFA), Single Living Accommodation (SLA), Substitute Service Families Accommodation (SSFA) and Substitute Service Single Accommodation (SSSA). The information requested is currently captured as at 1 April each year, but this only began in 2003 for SFA and 2004 for SLA. The allocation and occupancy of SFA is managed on a single information system, but in the case of SLA differences in reporting, for example over whether SLA is formally allocated to individuals in dormitories, mean that the figures should be regarded as approximate. Information on SLA occupied by those undergoing Phase 1 and 2 training (basic recruit/trade training) is not available for 2004 and 2005, but is included in the 2006 figures. Comparable figures for 2007 are not yet available.
2003 2004 2005 2006 Number of entitled Service personnel accommodated in SFA/SSFA in UK 43,148 42,848 42,848 43,339 Number of entitled Service personnel accommodated in SLA/SSLA in UK n/a 89,990 91,979 108,308 Total number of entitled Service personnel Barracked in UK — 132,838 134,827 151,647 n/a = Not available
Information on whether Service personnel own a private residence is not held by the Ministry of Defence. However, estimates derived from surveys indicate that the level of home ownership is approximately 73 per cent. for Officers and 45 per cent. for Other Ranks.
We have not yet made any dedicated estimate of the cost of bringing all Service Families Accommodation (SFA) at Pirbright Barracks to an acceptable standard.