1 April 2022 introduced five contracts that will provide essential accommodation services to 39,000 Armed Forces families across the UK.
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has awarded five contracts which comprise of a new national call centre and enhanced maintenance and repair services to military homes, worth in total £640 million.
The contracts, awarded last June, make up part of a £3 billion Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) programme, which replaced the previous National Housing Prime contract.
The new contracts will be turning the tide in how services are delivered to the numerous families who live in military accommodation in the UK and will be a positive change for them.
Their needs have been considered during the development of the new contracts, as the DIO worked closely with military personnel, their families and the Service Families Federations to achieve a full perspective of what would be required.
Operated by Pinnacle Group Ltd, the National Service Centre will be the single point of contact for Service families.
350 jobs are expected to be created or sustained under the £141 million contract which will use modern communications technology to provide more responsive and accessible accommodation services by making service requests trackable in real time and offering more choices when making appointments.
Four Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services (RAMS) contracts, worth almost £500 million together, have also commenced to provide repair and maintenance services to military homes, delivered by Amey in the Northern Region (including Scotland, Northern Ireland and North Wales, and the Central Region which includes Mid and South Wales; and VIVO will deliver services in the South East and South West of England.
As part of the contracts, suppliers must use recognised industry standards and meet the needs of the customers first. Poor performance will be addressed as part of these stipulations, as well as the introduction of incentives and targets such as ‘first time fixes’ for repairs, and quicker response times for most repairs, combined these should reduce disruption for service families.
Along with the customer-centric focus, targets for customer satisfaction will be introduced which will impact how much profit the suppliers make. Minimum standards will be set, and rewards for breaking the minimum standards will be given when appropriate to suppliers.
“These contracts are critical to the delivery of key services to our Armed Forces and Service Personnel.
They also support hundreds of jobs and community prosperity and will provide a crucial step towards modernising our Defence estates.”
Defence Procurement Minister, Jeremy Quin
“Our Armed Forces and their families have no real choice where they serve, no matter how remote, and when and how frequently they move, so it’s vital we ensure their homes are of the right quality and available for them wherever and whenever they are assigned.
Their needs must be at the heart of what we do.
These contracts are designed to be very different. They have been developed with Service Personnel and families firmly in mind to better meet their needs.
Enhancing customer service will be their focus, with clear customer satisfaction targets for suppliers to meet, financial consequences for falling short and incentives to exceed the minimum standards.”
Air Commodore James Savage, DIO Head of Accommodation
Each contract will last for seven years, with the option to extend it by 3 years or terminate it after three years, depending on how the contractor is performing.
Up to £855 million will go into refurbishment and improvement projects under the RAMS contracts.
The DIO has spent £350 million over the last two financial years on housing improvements, which will be carried on into this financial year with a planned £171 million worth of upgrades planning to be delivered.