23 Nov 23. House of Commons Defence Committee
Evidence Session: Service Accommodation
Monday 27 November, 15.30, Committee Room 8, Palace of Westminster
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Is military family accommodation kept fit for purpose? MPs to quiz key companies
On Monday 27 November, at 15.30, MPs on the Defence Committee will question key companies responsible for accommodation management and maintenance services of Service Families Accommodation (SFA). The Committee will hear evidence from three major suppliers: Pinnacle Group, Amey and VIVO.
Service personnel have reported long-term issues with their living conditions including leaky ceilings and mouldy walls, with some being serious enough to pose risks to health and wellbeing. Overall satisfaction rates have been low and falling where it comes to the timeliness and quality of maintenance and repair work of SFA.
MPs are likely to question representatives from the three companies about the delivery of their services – including complaints about poor customer service and the slow pace of maintenance work – and what steps they have taken to improve these problems. The Committee may also ask the witnesses about the companies’ plans for winter, and their progress on solving cases of damp, mould, and poor energy efficiency.
The Committee has today published further written evidence on Service accommodation.
This inquiry was previously a Sub-Committee into Service Accommodation, led by Robert Courts. The Sub-Committee has now been carried over to the main Defence Committee.
Monday 27 November, from 15.30:
- Craig McGilvray – Managing Director for Complex Facilities, Amey
- Jerry Moloney – Managing Director, VIVO Defence Services
- Claire Kober OBE – Managing Director of Homes, Pinnacle Group
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
AUKUS: Economic Situation
Question for Ministry of Defence
Damien Moore
Conservative
Southport
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to provide infrastructure to help ensure that businesses can participate in (a) investment, (b) joint ventures and (c) projects under the AUKUS framework.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 22 November 2023
AUKUS provides a generational opportunity to enhance our collaborative relationship and collective national security, as well as better supporting how our industrial bases work together for the future. Progress continues to be made to ensure that businesses can participate in investment opportunities attached to AUKUS. To truly realise the benefits of the AUKUS partnership and the generational opportunity it presents, it is critical we break down existing and future barriers to collaboration. Modernising export controls will empower our government and industries to work together at the pace of relevance, accessing the best technologies and enhancing our mutual capabilities; ultimately to ensure our long-term collective security.
AUKUS: Trade
Question for Ministry of Defence
Damien Moore
Conservative
Southport
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to help support the defence industry to participate in trade arising from the AUKUS agreement.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 22 November 2023
In the two years following the AUKUS announcement, the UK continues to make good progress in working collaboratively with our UK defence industry to facilitate future opportunities attached to the AUKUS partnership including, but not exclusive, to: trade, R&D, and defence innovation. Innovation continues to be a priority across Defence, with a well-established innovation system – supported through the Defence Innovation Fund – spanning various areas of the Department. Through AUKUS, the UK is also seeking to ensure that defence and technology trade and exports are as frictionless as possible between AUKUS partner nations. Export control reform is key to removing the layers of red tape impeding collaboration between our defence industry and governments.
Progress continues to be made to ensure that businesses can participate in investment opportunities attached to AUKUS. UK businesses are behind the design and manufacture of the world’s most advanced submarines. As a decades-long programme, AUKUS will create thousands of jobs and wider opportunities across different sectors of the economy. In the short-term, this endeavour will almost double the size of the UK’s (Raynesway) site, creating 1,170 high-skilled jobs in Derby, alongside thousands of job vacancies across the UK in the defence sector and the wider economy, supporting the Prime Minister’s commitment to levelling up.
Investment in the defence sector
Damien Moore
Conservative
Southport
Commons
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to encourage investment in the defence sector.
Answer
Laura Trott
Conservative
Sevenoaks
Commons
Answered on 22 November 2023
The UK is committed to increasing investment in the defence sector to meet the challenges of an increasingly volatile and complex world. In the 2023 Integrated Review Refresh, the Government committed to an additional £5 bn to be provided to the Ministry of Defence over the next two years alongside the ambition to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP in the long term. The Government also works closely with the private equity and venture capital community to attract private investment in dual use technologies through the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF) and nascent NATO Innovation Fund (NIF).
Ploughshare: Finance
Question for Ministry of Defence
James Wild
Conservative
North West Norfolk
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial returns Ploughshare has delivered in each of the last five years; and what financial performance targets have been set for Ploughshare in each of the next three years.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 22 November 2023
Ploughshare Innovations Ltd (04401901) is a Private Limited Company, therefore Ploughshare’s accounts are published annually on the Companies House website; [https://findandupdate.companyinformation.service.gov.uk/company/04401901/filing-history].