Sun probe into squalid living conditions our troops are forced to endure backed by MPs
Bombshell report backs our revelations and warns housing woes are forcing soldiers to quit
A PROBE by The Sun into the state of Armed Forces’ family homes has been backed by MPs.
They found the Ministry of Defence and a fatcat firm are letting troops down.
A bombshell report by the Public Accounts Committee backs revelations made by The Sun months ago – and warns housing woes are so bad they are forcing dedicated troops to quit.
Our probe found families were living in squalid and unsafe housing — where problems included months without cookers, no running water, thick mould, rat infestations and holes in the ceilings.
We revealed how construction firm CarillionAmey – paid billions by the MoD - was getting 1,000 complaints a week over their scandalous service.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon vowed to strip CarillionAmey – which maintain 50,000 homes – of their contract if they did not improve.
And now a report published today by the PAC, which scrutinises Government spending, has waded in to blast the MoD and CarillionAmey for causing, “misery.”
Their report published today slammed the MoD and contractor CarillionAmey for “badly letting down service families”.
The Committee describes CarillionAmey’s performance as “totally unacceptable” and says it is right that the MoD is considering terminating the contract.
And the Committee warned frustration with the failure to carry out basic repairs “may be driving some highly trained personnel to leave the military.”
Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the PAC, said: “Forces families are suffering because of poor service under a contract agreed on terms that were wrong-headed from the start.
“Responsibility for this lies with both CarillionAmey and the Government.
“The MoD seriously misjudged CarillionAmey’s capacity to deliver a service which CarillionAmey accepts it was not equipped to deliver.
“It is completely unacceptable that families should have to move into dirty houses with broken appliances, or be left to care for children in homes without hot water or heating.
“Reports of improvements in recent months are still to be verified and will be of little comfort to those who have borne the brunt of long-standing failure.
“We are now at a crossroads and the Government has a decision to make.
“Either it works with CarillionAmey to improve and sustain standards, or it takes steps to ensure a new contractor delivers the service required.
“On behalf of service families and the wider public we will expect to see evidence to support whichever path it chooses.”
Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, a member of the Committee who led questioning during its inquiry, said: “It is unacceptable that service families should have to live in substandard and poorly maintained accommodation.
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“CarillionAmey signed the Armed Forces corporate covenant yet has failed to ensure its customers – service personnel and their families - receive the service they expect and deserve.
“The result has been misery for many people.
“I hope the MoD will now drive improvements whether it be with CarillionAmey or a different contractor.
“Service families have been empowered to contact their MP with any concerns they have in future. I would strongly encourage them to do so and we will be ready to listen.”
Complaints about forces accommodation rocketed when CarillionAmey took responsibility for maintenance in December 2014.
MPs heard from service families outraged by the shoddy service they received.
Once mum told how she was left without hot water and heating for “weeks” despite having a seven week old baby.
Her squaddie husband, said: “The impact on our family has been huge.
“We have been constantly worrying about keeping the baby warm, we have not been able to clean bottles properly when there has been no hot water.
“Our elder son has been having tepid/cold showers, it has been constantly cold in what is a poorly insulated house.
“It has not been good for my wife who has had to sit around waiting for people and constantly phone up for progress reports and I have had to take time off work for this whilst also spending hours on the phone trying to rectify the problem”.
Another said: “For 8 weeks I spent 1–2 hours a day on the telephone trying to progress the issues. I was told on 24 occasions that someone would call me back but my calls were not returned.”
The PAC tore into the MoD for choosing CarillionAmey because they were the cheapest option on offer, without checking if they could deliver.
And hammered the MoD’s inability to levy serious financial penalties on CarillionAmey for failures.
The MoD were also blasted for putting rents up for 81 per cent of families – while standards plummeted.
After The Sun’s campaign earlier this year Defence Secretary Michael Fallon ordered the bosses of Carillion and Amey to the MoD for a dressing down.
Insiders said it prompted an improvement – but there are no figures to prove that.
Now the MoD are saying CarillionAmey have until the end of the summer to prove they can manage the military’s vast housing estate or they will be stripped of the contract.
The PAC had demanded a series of changes to improve the situation for Forces families.
Mark Lancaster, Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans, said: “The service our personnel and their families were getting from CarillionAmey was simply not good enough.
“They deserve much better, which is why we took swift action once the problems became apparent.
“CarillionAmey rightly apologised and developed an aggressive plan of improvements.
“Progress is being made, but we will absolutely not hesitate to take further action if they don’t deliver for our personnel and their families.”