Defence Committee House of Commons, London,

SW1A 0AA

Sent via email only:

defcom@parliament.uk

Pinnacle Group Ltd

Thursday, 14 December 2023

Dear Chair,

Supplementary information

Thank you for the opportunity to give evidence to the service accommodation inquiry on Monday 27 November. During the session, I committed to providing supplementary information on four points.

1.       The table below sets out our staff figures by role at the beginning of the contract and at the present day:

2.       With reference to service families moving from overseas and the quality of accommodation they receive, I have reviewed the Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s (DIO) allocations process that my team operates under and can confirm that there is no difference in the homes allocations process for moves within the UK or from overseas. Families can select their top three preferences when applying, depending on availability, from the same stock as other service families. They will then be made a first offer. They can reject this, with Pinnacle then offering a second home where available. Whilst second offers can be rejected, serving personnel must have exceptional personal circumstances and be subject to a review and support by their Housing Colonel before a third offer can be made. With larger ‘unit moves’, however, (either within the UK or from overseas) families cannot preference three properties and are allocated one home at their entitlement. This process is stipulated by the DIO. Further details on the allocations process can be found in JSP 464, Volume One.

3.       Under the terms of our contract, we are required to take internal and external photographs of properties when the property is void at the pre-move in stage, prior to a family moving in. However, this point is after the family have selected the house, which dilutes the object of providing the photos. We are discussing with DIO whether an alternative process better meets the overriding

objective of providing useful information for families, whilst also meeting other DIO requirements such as no personal belongings being on show and fitting in with DIO’s Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services (RAMS) suppliers’ void preparation process.

There is no standalone requirement for floorplans, but these are created as part of the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) process. We are also working with DIO to extract existing floorplans from their systems and make these available on the their E1132 system (the platform families use to apply for accommodation) . There is no date by which all properties are to have photos in place. The intention is that as each property passes through the occupancy cycle the information held on it is improved, such that over time the proportion of the estate with up-to-date photos improves.

4.       Finally, with regards to repairs and maintenance tasks that families are permitted to undertake themselves, I understand the Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services (RAMS) suppliers are liaising with the DIO who will provide a separate response to answer the Committee’s query. Following this, we will make this information available on our website.

Yours sincerely,

Claire Kober

Managing Director, Homes Pinnacle Group