Armed Forces: Housing

Mr. Kevan Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of accommodation provided by his Department to non-ministerial members of the Army Board is considered to be of Standard 1 condition.

Derek Twigg
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.

Mr. Jenkins
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK armed services personnel (a) were barracked in the UK and (b) had a private residence that was not provided by the armed forces in each of the last five years.

Derek Twigg
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.

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|                                                                   |2003  |2004   |2005   |2006   |
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|Number of entitled Service personnel accommodated in SFA/SSFA in UK|43,148|42,848 |42,848 |43,339 |
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|Number of entitled Service personnel accommodated in SLA/SSLA in UK|n/a   |89,990 |91,979 |108,308|
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|Total number of entitled Service personnel Barracked in UK         |—     |132,838|134,827|151,647|
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|n/a = Not available                                                |      |       |       |       |
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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.

Mr. Kevan Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated cost is of bringing all family accommodation at Pirbright barracks to an acceptable standard for habitation.

Derek Twigg
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.