Armed Forces: Housing

Mr. Harper
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force were living in substitute single service accommodation in each year since 1997.

Derek Twigg
Since 1997, the number of service personnel living in Substitute Single Service Accommodation (SSSA) in Great Britain is provided in the following table:

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|Financial year|Army |Navy |RAF|
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|2006-07       |2,536|1,426|906|
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|2005-06       |2,120|1,332|865|
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|2004-05       |2,006|1,328|816|
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|2003-04       |1,841|1,393|687|
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|2002-03       |1,683|1,523|587|
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|2001-02       |1,606|1,442|455|
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|2000-01       |1,382|1,281|385|
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|1999-2000     |1,048|1,573|372|
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|1998-99       |933  |1,508|310|
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|1997-98       |665  |1,234|199|
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|1996-97       |26   |100  |7  |
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In financial year 1996-97, this Department commenced a new contract with a specialist rented property locator, to provide SSSA across Great Britain. The number of personnel living in SSSA is low for this period, as the contract commenced near the end of the financial year.

Mr. Kevan Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether families are allowed to view Ministry of Defence accommodation before occupying it.

Derek Twigg
The allocation system does not allow accommodation to be viewed before families move. This is currently being reviewed.

Nick Harvey
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service families have been moved from Modern Housing Solutions-maintained accommodation into temporary private accommodation in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg
Officials are working to establish the information requested. Once information is available, I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Nick Harvey
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many gas leaks have been reported in Modern Housing Solutions-maintained accommodation in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg
It is not possible to separately identify the number of gas leaks reported.

When occupants of service families accommodation contact Modern Housing Solutions to report a gas leak, the report is passed to Transco, who attend the property to identify the problem and make things safe.