On 17th July, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that almost £200 million of fiscal stimulus funding will be allocated to improve Service Family Accommodation (SFA) and Single Living Accommodation (SLA) across the UK’s Defence estate.
For Amey, who work alongside the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to deliver facilities management, project work and housing services, this additional funding will enable us to further support the MOD in their commitment to improve the quality of Armed Forces living accommodation.
The announcement has been warmly welcomed by Amey’s supply chain partners, allowing them to preserve the resilience of their own business and provide a much-needed boost to their local community at a time of particular uncertainty due to Covid-19. Last year, Amey’s Defence contracts spent almost £340 million with small businesses across the UK, equating to 60% of total spend with small, local businesses.
With around £80 million available for immediate spend, our teams will be working closely with the MOD to ensure that funding is effectively managed and that best value for money is achieved across the estate whilst improving both the lived experience and environment for Service personnel and their families.
This huge boost will see upgrades carried out on around 3,500 Service family homes and 30 Single Living Accommodation blocks across the UK which will focus on making the Defence estate more environmentally friendly, building on DIO and Amey’s joint commitment to improve the economic, sustainable and social performance of the MOD estate.
Work will include the installation of new windows and doors, energy efficient boiler replacements, and external wall insulation along with kitchen and bathroom upgrades. All these things will ensure our Service personnel and their families have brighter and safer places to live as well as driving down their utility bills. Families with young children will also benefit from new play areas, roads will be resurfaced and energy efficient street lighting will modernise sites.
Tim Redfern, Amey’s Managing Director, Defence said: “We welcome the announcement made by the Chancellor and Defence Secretary and look forward to working with the DIO utilising our local and regional supply chain partners to ensure Armed Forces families quickly see the benefits from this vital investment.”