Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 November 2023 on Service Family Accommodation and Winter Planning, HCWS28 and the Rehearsal of Concept drill to test winter preparedness, whether (a) DIO, (b) Pinnacle, (c) Amey and (d) VIVO reported that they could not respond appropriately to (i) a surge in repair requests and (ii) callouts due to the impact of weather.

As part of Winter Planning, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and its contractors established the following indicators and warnings to ensure agility in respect of resource allocations during winter:

• Regular reporting of heating and hot water outages;
• Regular reporting of damp and mould reports and remedial works;
• Monitoring call centre volumes, types of call, availability of Urgent and Routine appointments, chaser call volumes and complaints;
• Monitoring social media; and
• A severe weather watch protocol (initially using Met Office Severe Weather Warnings, but also investigating a system used by the insurance industry to predict how forecast weather might impact on types of building insurance claims etc).

The Rehearsal of Concept (ROC) drill was to stress test the DIO’s and contractors’ winter plans to improve capability and respond to emergent weather events. Contingency plans were established for a tiered BRONZE/SILVER/GOLD command structure to be activated in the event that severe/extreme weather events are forecast or emerge. These included;

• Preparation of communications to families/chain of command, plus upward reporting;
• Activation of surge plans;
• Activation of support from local military units;
• Planning for recovery after the event.

The DIO and its contractors all responded appropriately to the ROC drill, which gave a high degree of assurance that robust plans were in place. The ROC drill was followed around two weeks later by the onset of Storm Ciaran which tested these contingency plans in real time.

Where appropriate, planned appointments (eg for roof works that could not be safely conducted in high winds) were re-scheduled with families in advance of the storm and the immediate response to flooding and serious storm damage was prompt and effective. National Service Centre call waiting times remained well within acceptable levels throughout. This pattern has been repeated throughout all of the named storms that have followed.