Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that all accommodation for armed forces personnel is heated during winter.

Since 16 December 2022, families with heating issues are contacted by a qualified engineer to support the swift diagnosis of faults and enable remote fixes if possible, and the number of heating engineers has been increased across all regions.

In the event of any heating failure, temporary heaters should be made available as soon as possible, and within 24 hours.

In addition, approximately 2,500 boilers are replaced annually within Service Family Accommodation either through Response Maintenance or Project upgrades.

In financial year 2022-23, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is investing £73 million of the £176 million Service Family Accommodation improvement budget to improve thermal efficiency by providing 600 properties with new boilers, 1,200 with new roofs, 1,740 with new doors and windows, and 900 with full External Wall Insulation.

All Single Living Accommodation (SLA) is supported by response services to react to heating and hot water failures as they occur. Any failure of heating is prioritised for repair in the shortest possible time.