The requested information is not held centrally and will take a little time to collate and verify. I will write to the hon. Member.
Substantive answer from Kevan Jones to Lady Sylvia Hermon:
In my answer of 1 June 2009 (Official Report, column 37W) I undertook to write to you with details of how many emergency maintenance requests were made for properties occupied by Service personnel and their families in each month since October 2007; and what the average time was for requested maintenance to take place.
The table below shows the number of emergency repair calls in the UK since October 2007. Like for like information about cases overseas is not held centrally or on a consistent basis.
UK October 2007 3,085 November 2007 3,784 December 2007 3,637 January 2008 4,105 February 2008 3,464 March 2008 3,412 April 2008 3,073 May 2008 2,389 June 2008 2,263 July 2008 2,621 August 2008 2,809 September 2008 3,046 October 2008 3,591 November 2008 4,044 December 2008 5,441 January 2009 5,022 February 2009 3,739 March 2009 3,447
Information on response times is not held in the format requested. The MOD contract sets the response time for attending emergency repairs as 3 hours, and repairs to remedy or make safe are to be completed within 24 hours.
In the UK, requests for repairs to Service Family Accommodation are classed as an emergency in cases where there is an immediate risk of injury to individuals or damage to property, or where the problem could give rise to serious inconvenience or hardship to occupants. Examples include a total loss of essential facilities or insecure premises.
Details of single living accommodation (SLA) and service family accommodation (SFA) units broken down by grade and location in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, as at June 2008, the latest date for which figures are available, SLA in each country was at the following “grade”, an assessment of the physical condition of the accommodation and “scale”.
Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Total England 30,705 15,702 18,862 56,799 122,068 Percentage 25 13 15 47 — Northern Ireland 1,002 960 1,402 776 4,140 Percentage 24 23 34 19 — Wales 671 1,277 160 1,129 3,237 Percentage 21 39 5 35 —
An asset survey of SFA in England and Wales is currently being undertaken to help plan and prioritise the maintenance and improvement of SFA properties more effectively and to target resources at areas of greatest need. As at 1 July 2009, of the 44,000 SFA properties in England and Wales, over 33,500 had been surveyed and were at the following Standard for Condition (SfC).
SfC Number of properties Percentage S1fC 12,089 36 S2fC 19,525 58 S3fC 1,850 6 S4fC 231 1— 1 Less than 1 per cent.
Although NI SFA has not been assessed for its SfC, it is generally considered to be in a good condition.