£80m To Be Allocated To Improve Army Housing

Defence Secretary Des Browne has announced an extra £80 million is to be allocated to improve Army housing, following reports of UK soldiers living in poor conditions.

Mr Browne revealed the money will be used to create a further 1,350 new en-suite bed spaces to be built as part of an ongoing project to improve Armed Forces housing.

The Ministry of Defence revealed a total of £1.4 billion will be invested in the housing project, Single Living Accommodation Modernisation (Slam) initiative, which aims to create or improve 50,000 single living bed places by 2013.

Mr Browne visited the Bovington Armour Centre in Dorset, to see the 300 bed spaces that had been created since 2005. Another 300 bed spaces are also expected to be built at the camp by 2009.

"The nation owes our servicemen and women a huge debt of gratitude for the hard work they do on our behalf," he said. "A crucial part of this is the welfare package we give our personnel and central to this is providing good quality accommodation.

"I know we have a long way to go with some of our accommodation, but I'm determined to see improvements across the board."

He added: "This new money offers an excellent opportunity to make a real difference to our servicemen and women and underlines the priority we place on this issue."

It is hoped Project Slam, which provides single en-suite rooms for trained personnel of all ranks, will improve living conditions and in turn help recruit and retain army staff.

A report carried out by the National Audit Office in March of this year revealed a significant number of personnel could be living in poor conditions for the next 20 years. It also reported more than 40 per cent of the homes were sub-standard, and no date was set for upgrades to be completed.

(JM)