Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of running and maintaining each grace and favour residence provided by his Department to senior figures from the armed forces in each year since 2010.

Under previous arrangements, Official Service Residences (OSRs, colloquially known as ‘grace and favour’ residencies) were provided for senior officers in certain posts which required them to undertake official hospitality for Defence purposes. As announced by the then Minister for Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Andrew Robathan) on 12 December 2011 (Official Report, column 63WS), these arrangements have been discontinued. Properties which were formerly categorised as OSRs are being phased out on a rolling basis as personnel retire or move on to other posts. However, senior officers remain entitled to Service Family Accommodation (Type 1 or Type 2). In addition, the Department is undertaking an ongoing review into domestic assistance policy to ensure that the level of support provided to senior entitled officers is appropriate and driven by a clear business need. Information is available for financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11 and is presented in the tables.