SAC0078

Written evidence submitted by Dr Susannah MacDonald

I am a GP working in an NHS practice in Somerset and an Army Reservist working in a Brigade Headquarters in Bulford as well as being RMO to an ARes Unit in Wiltshire. I am also the wife of an Army Officer, living in Warminster, and mother of two boys at Primary School locally. We live in SFA, and this is our fifth house in 12 years of marriage. 

In 2012, whilst my husband was in Afghanistan and I was working longs shifts in Salisbury District Hospital A+E, our SFA was flooded by a burst mains water pipe in the roof due to poor insulation. I was managed egregiously during the next few weeks. I was housed in a hotel room with no access to laundry services or cooking facilities.

Despite this very unpleasant experience I remain a staunch advocate of SFA and believe life living on an Officers’ patch as a vital component of “The Offer” that supports service people and their families to do their uniquely demanding job. Using the specified questions, I will highlight the reasons why with the Select Committee.

1.              What measures have been put in place to resolve the housing maintenance issues, hold service providers to account and ease the cost of living for service families?

Changes to the management process of home repairs in Dec 22 have transformed our experience of living in SFA. Repairs are now carried out in a reasonable time-frame, and followed through to completion to an acceptable level.

2.              Do the new Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) contracts for Service Family Accommodation represent value for money and are they operating effectively?

For the user, SFA unequivocally provides value for money. Rent in our SFA is affordable and the standard of housing adequate. Location, including local amenities, schools and facilities have generally been positive. The main benefit is the part that living on a military patch plays in “The Offer”. As a family it is vital that we get to move with our Service Person. While there are many who choose to weekly commute, living together is vital to our family. When we join a patch we join a big family of families who do the same things we do, and face similar challenges. This includes ensuring that Officers, who face the responsibility of command from the very beginning of their career, are surrounded by others who share the same demands and stresses. This is key to keeping our Service Person a Service Person. Once the family decides that military life is not manageable, the next step is either breakdown of the family or the Service Person leaving the Army.

3.              What is the MOD doing and what more could they do to rebuild trust in service accommodation?

Stop the FAM model from being introduced – this feels like a betrayal from which trust could never be regained. Retaining the ability to move with your family, into a community into a property managed by a system that understands the unique demands of the service and is answerable to the government.

4.              What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Future Accommodation Model? How successful was the Future Accommodation Model pilot and what should the MOD take forward to include in the new accommodation offer?

My main points are as follows:

A.              The Future Accommodation Model pilot does not hold up to any scrutiny and such was a sham. The sample size (0.8 % of those eligible) and the socio-economic data used to establish funding rates is not detailed or stable enough. The committee should request details on the modelling conducted as a result of the pilot to understand if effective decisions can be made.

B.              The Future Accommodation Model will lead to loss of good people from the Army. This therefore provides a false positive in terms of value for money and “savings”.  My experience is that FAM will not be beneficial to the operational efficacy of the British Army and Defence in the long-run.

C.              The plan for assisting Service Families to rent houses privately is misguided. Besides the cost implications of this model (ie their ability to manage rapidly rising rental prices in military areas when SPs are required to compete with civilian renters); the lack of accountability and ability for Defence (and the Chain of command) to impact or influence land lords provides a genuine risk. This model will not facilitate direct action (as seen in Dec 22) when landlords fail their service tenants. Ultimately, evictions could even be served during a deployment.

D.              I have tried for a third child, and in fact lost a pregnancy. We are very lucky with our two boys, but with FAM we will be reminded daily or our loss and our “failure” to reproduce more, by living in a smaller house than families with more children. Is this the Third Reich? Are we to be given a medal when we produce 10 children? When we consider the ecological impact of more human beings on this planet, I consider FAM to be contributing to environmental damage, including global warming.

For further details on points A to C, I refer to Mrs Laura Ross’ submission: SAC0053.

5 January 2024