Progress with defence estate disposals

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 7 Jun 2021 Closed: 14 Dec 2021 Parliament page
The Ministry of Defence holds one of the UK’s largest estates - around 1,000 buildings and facilities spread across the country ranging from training and accommodation for service personnel to military construction sites - accounting for about 1.8% of the UK land mass. It spends £3bn a year on its … Read more
29 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Event
Activity timeline 4 events
14 Dec
2021
Report published
12 Oct
2021
Report published
28 Jun
2021
Oral evidence
28 Jun
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
28 Jun 2021
View on parliament.uk
Progress with defence estate disposals
Air Marshal Richard Knighton CB · Ministry of Defence David Williams · Daily Mail Graham Dalton · Ministry of Defence Sherin Aminossehe · Ministry of Defence
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Twentieth Report - Optimising the defence estate HC 179 12 Oct 2021 29 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
29 results
2 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department has no meaningful targets or high-level performance framework to incentivise it to develop...
The Department has no meaningful targets or high-level performance framework to incentivise it to develop an affordable estate that better supports defence needs. The Department missed two short-term government targets set in the 2015 Spending Review to release land for … Read more
Government Response
2: PAC conclusion: The Department has no meaningful targets or high-level performance framework to incentivise it to develop an affordable estate that better supports defence needs. 2: PAC recommendation: By … Read more
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3 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department has made slow progress in reducing the size of its estate.
The Department has made slow progress in reducing the size of its estate. Since 2015–16, the Department has reduced its built estate by just 2%. It has spent too long planning and re-organising, thereby delaying disposals. Recently, the Department appears … Read more
Government Response
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2022 3.2 The department will provide a report to the Committee immediately following the Ministers’ endorsement and subsequent … Read more
HM Treasury
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4 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department’s ability to make informed decisions on estate management and on which sites to...
The Department’s ability to make informed decisions on estate management and on which sites to sell remains constrained because it still lacks good management information on its estate, despite this Committee highlighting the problem in
Government Response
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Winter 2021/2022 4.2 The department will provide an update on progress against delivery of its asset management system in … Read more
HM Treasury
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5 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department’s forecast savings from its DEO Portfolio by 2040 have already fallen from £2.4...
The Department’s forecast savings from its DEO Portfolio by 2040 have already fallen from £2.4 billion to £0.65 billion, and there is a very real risk they will melt away completely. The Department’s estate is costly to run and maintain—it … Read more
Government Response
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2022 5.2 As with any large portfolio it was initially planned to use the best knowledge and assumptions … Read more
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6 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department has still not tackled the long-known problems with the poor quality of its...
The Department has still not tackled the long-known problems with the poor quality of its estate, which continue to harm the well-being of service personnel. The condition of living accommodation is vitally important for the Armed Forces’ ‘lived experience’, yet … Read more
Government Response
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2022 6.2 The department is refreshing building design standards to ensure that it only constructs accommodation and offices … Read more
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1 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Defence on optimising the defence estate.1
Government Response
Based on a report by the National Audit Office, the Committee took evidence on 28 June 2021 from the Ministry of Defence. The Committee published its report on 12 October … Read more
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7 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department told us that it has the key elements of a strategy, and that...
The Department told us that it has the key elements of a strategy, and that the DEO Portfolio is the major component of this. The Portfolio, however, only covers the UK built estate. The Department could not demonstrate that it … Read more
Government Response
1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Winter 2021/2022 1.2 The Ministry of Defence (the department) has already committed to releasing the Strategy for Defence Infrastructure … Read more
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8 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
Since 2015–16, the Department has reduced the size of its built estate by just 2%...
Since 2015–16, the Department has reduced the size of its built estate by just 2% (1,600 hectares). The Department also failed to meet two short-term targets set by Government in the 2015 Spending Review: to release land for 55,000 new … Read more
Government Response
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2022 2.2 The department has a clear plan for modernising its capabilities and reducing the size of the … Read more
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9 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department’s slow progress in reducing the size of its estate is because its initial...
The Department’s slow progress in reducing the size of its estate is because its initial plans were unrealistic, and consequentially it has spent far too much time re-planning and re-organising. For example, since 2018 it has fundamentally revised its disposal … Read more
Government Response
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2022 3.2 The department will provide a report to the Committee immediately following the Ministers’ endorsement and subsequent … Read more
HM Treasury
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10 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
In 2019, the Department ended its 10-year contract with its Strategic Business Partner, led by...
In 2019, the Department ended its 10-year contract with its Strategic Business Partner, led by Capita, five years early because the contract was not delivering expected savings and improvements in running the DIO.12 This created a gap in the skills … Read more
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11 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
There are some signs in the last two to three years that the Department has...
There are some signs in the last two to three years that the Department has started to get a better grip of optimising its estate. The new Permanent Secretary told us that the Department now has good prospects for delivering … Read more
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12 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The stages that the Department must complete before it can rehouse displaced units and sell...
The stages that the Department must complete before it can rehouse displaced units and sell vacated sites can be slow and complex. The Department’s planned site disposal projects are scheduled to take an average of six years to complete, although … Read more
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13 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department expects to spend £5.1 billion over the 25-year lifetime of the DEO Portfolio...
The Department expects to spend £5.1 billion over the 25-year lifetime of the DEO Portfolio to 2040. In 2021, it resolved the medium-term funding shortfall in the Portfolio— caused by the government’s 2018 decision to withdraw the private finance model—and … Read more
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14 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
Sales receipts, and the year in which they are received, may fluctuate and there is...
Sales receipts, and the year in which they are received, may fluctuate and there is a risk that forecast income will be lower than expected. Disposals might be affected by factors such as market conditions, the impact of COVID-19, the … Read more
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15 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department is also seeking to maximise sales receipts through working with local authorities to...
The Department is also seeking to maximise sales receipts through working with local authorities to ensure site disposals are included in local plans. It is developing strategies, including working with development partners, to dispose of large and complex sites, such … Read more
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16 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
At the time of our oral evidence session in June, the Department had only one...
At the time of our oral evidence session in June, the Department had only one remaining estate optimisation target, set in the 2015 Spending Review: to reduce the built estate by 30% (23,200 hectares) by 2040–41.23 The Department said that … Read more
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17 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
In 2016, the Department expected the DEO Portfolio would reduce the size of the built...
In 2016, the Department expected the DEO Portfolio would reduce the size of the built estate by 25%, and that other sales would reduce it by 5%. However, since 2016 the Department has shifted emphasis from primarily identifying land to … Read more
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18 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
We remain extremely concerned that the Department has still not developed sufficient data to make...
We remain extremely concerned that the Department has still not developed sufficient data to make informed decisions on estate management, including which sites to sell. It is now 11 years since this Committee identified problems with the lack of estate … Read more
Government Response
4: PAC conclusion: The Department’s ability to make informed decisions on estate management and on which sites to sell remains constrained because it still lacks good management information on its … Read more
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department told us that when DIO was established, its knowledge of the estate was...
The Department told us that when DIO was established, its knowledge of the estate was not held in one place and that it has worked to understand what estate it holds and its condition. Despite this, the Department confirmed that … Read more
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20 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department’s failure to develop a comprehensive asset management system is yet another example of...
The Department’s failure to develop a comprehensive asset management system is yet another example of the poor information that underpins how it manages its estate.30 This latest admission comes soon after we highlighted the Department’s lamentable failure to bring the … Read more
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21 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department’s vision is to achieve a more affordable estate and part of its rationale...
The Department’s vision is to achieve a more affordable estate and part of its rationale for disposing of sites is to cut running costs. Its estate is costly to run and maintain, with the Department spending £4.6 billion on its … Read more
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22 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department forecasts that site disposals in its DEO Portfolio will deliver net savings of...
The Department forecasts that site disposals in its DEO Portfolio will deliver net savings of £0.65 billion by 2040—measured in terms of disposal proceeds and reduced running costs, offset by rehousing costs. The Department emphasised that its estate disposal programme … Read more
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23 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
Further, the Department does not fully understand the cost of achieving site disposals, creating the...
Further, the Department does not fully understand the cost of achieving site disposals, creating the risk that benefits will disappear. The 2020 Spending Review provided the Department with an additional £16.5 billion of defence funding, following which it announced that … Read more
Government Response
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2022 5.2 As with any large portfolio it was initially planned to use the best knowledge and assumptions … Read more
HM Treasury
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24 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
In addition, the budget for the Department’s disposal programme is based on it reducing building...
In addition, the budget for the Department’s disposal programme is based on it reducing building costs by £1 billion by 2039–40. This creates risks for the programme’s affordability. For example, as more detailed planning is undertaken and the extent of … Read more
Government Response
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2022 5.2 As with any large portfolio it was initially planned to use the best knowledge and assumptions … Read more
HM Treasury
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25 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
Defence is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in central government, and the Department realises...
Defence is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in central government, and the Department realises it must manage its estate in accordance with the government’s sustainability policies. The Department acknowledged the importance of a sustainable estate for achieving its net … Read more
Government Response
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2022 5.2 As with any large portfolio it was initially planned to use the best knowledge and assumptions … Read more
HM Treasury
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26 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
Since our hearing, the Infrastructure Projects Authority, which monitors the delivery of major projects, graded...
Since our hearing, the Infrastructure Projects Authority, which monitors the delivery of major projects, graded the DEO programme as Amber/Red in its July 2021 Annual Report on Major Projects.38 According to the IPA, projects are rated Amber/red when successful delivery … Read more
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27 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The condition of living accommodation is vitally important for the Armed Forces’ ‘lived experience’, yet...
The condition of living accommodation is vitally important for the Armed Forces’ ‘lived experience’, yet the latest annual survey on personnel’s views and experiences shows continuing dissatisfaction with accommodation and its maintenance. In May 2021, satisfaction by service personnel on … Read more
Government Response
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2022 6.2 The department is refreshing building design standards to ensure that it only constructs accommodation and offices … Read more
HM Treasury
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28 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department told us that an additional £740 million funding over the next four years...
The Department told us that an additional £740 million funding over the next four years was allocated to infrastructure investment in the 2020 Spending Review, which will enable it to address estate priorities and move more of the estate onto … Read more
Government Response
The Department told us that an additional £740 million funding over the next four years was allocated to infrastructure investment in the 2020 Spending Review, which will enable it to … Read more
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29 Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Optimising the …
The Department continues to grapple with a range of estate-related projects.
The Department continues to grapple with a range of estate-related projects. The pilots of the Future Accommodation Model have been delayed, and it remains uncertain whether the outcome will provide service personnel with what they want, especially post-COVID.44 The Department … Read more
Government Response
The Department continues to grapple with a range of estate-related projects. The pilots of the Future Accommodation Model have been delayed, and it remains uncertain whether the outcome will provide … Read more
HM Treasury
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