One in four soldiers ‘dissatisfied with family service’

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The findings, highlighted by Labor on the occasion of Armed Forces Week, were published in a regular report by the Defense Infrastructure Organization
Image: PA)
One in four soldiers living in military family accommodation are unhappy with their accommodation, a grim survey reveals as the UK marks Armed Forces Week.
According to official figures, soldiers, sailors, airmen and their families have filed tens of thousands of requests for help with vermin infestations, questionable electricity and heating problems.
And the latest quarterly update from the Defense Infrastructure Organization study lays bare levels of dissatisfaction with their accommodation.
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“Less than three-fifths (57%) of customers are satisfied with the overall quality of their home, while more than a quarter (27%) are dissatisfied,” admits the report.
MoD figures show housing complaints doubled in April from a year earlier.
In April 2021, there were 477 complaints about service family accommodation.
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But in the same month this year, they had jumped to 867.
There were 7,596 complaints during the period, an average of 584 per month.
A written parliamentary response from Defense Minister Jeremy Quin revealed that there had been 57,492 calls to deal with roofing, heating, electricity and pest control issues in service married quarters over the past few months. five months before March.
Shadow Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard, who uncovered the figures, told the Mirror: “Ministers are failing our frontline forces during a cost of living crisis.
“Staff and their families should not live in accommodation where vermin infestations, leaks and heating failures occur regularly.
“It’s no wonder that service satisfaction with hosting has plummeted.
“British troops deserve decent accommodation for their families and ministers must urgently improve the accommodation of forces.”
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A Department of Defense spokesman said security was its “top priority” and the properties “remain legally compliant with occupancy”.
He added: “We have almost 50,000 properties in the UK for armed forces families.
“All allocated accommodation meets the government’s minimum decent accommodation standard and last year we invested over £120million in improving accommodation.”
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