FEDERATION
Matters Accommodation
By Stan Brathwaite, RAF FF Housing Specialist
Sadly the issues that have dominated my in-tray over the past few months are again those of Move-in Standards and CAAS banding. From our perspective, a common denominator in the failure of move-ins is a lack of supervision and of consistency of standards across some regions. CarillionAmey have repeatedly stated that they have instigated improvement measures, which include better training; unfortunately we have yet to see much evidence of that, even though we are now 2 years into the contract. If you think otherwise, or if you have had a move in issue, please get in touch as your evidence is vital in helping us to keep the pressure on.
Whilst it appears that the introduction of CAAS has been broadly accepted by families, there are a number of cases (5.2%) where there have been challenges, and subsequent appeals. Of 38000 grading letters issued in the initial tranche, 1988 challenges and appeals were received, of which 180 have been upheld to date.
The following is what we told the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB) on accommodation:
“Accommodation remains by far the number one issue reported to the RAF Families Federation: CarillionAmey performance has been so poor that the company’s reputation is now irrevocably damaged – culminating in a savaging from the Public Accounts Committee earlier this year. Despite statistics showing recent improvement, the ‘lived experience’ of far too many SFA occupants’ remains very poor, causing stress and frustration that, for some families, is the fi nal straw.
“Many of the issues apply also to single personnel in SLA: Quality still remains patchy and the divisive lottery of grade 4 and grade 1 accommodation allocated on the same unit is not uncommon.
“Similarly, we have heard more in the last 12 months than ever before about issues with infrastructure on units in poor condition and not being maintained: Leaking roofs, no heating for months at a time, broken toilets left unrepaired and limited access to facilities such as gymnasiums and clubs.”
SFA Winterisation – This shouldn’t come as a surprise and by now most have taken these precautions. However, I think it worthwhile
22
Winter 2016
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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