Accommodation
Sadly, 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 with our people is severely damaged – culminating in a savaging from the Public Accounts Committee. Despite statistics showing recent improvement, the ‘lived experience’ of far too many SFA occupants remained poor throughout much of 2016, causing stress and frustration that, for some families, was the final straw. Our people are genuinely angry about the current provision and unsurprisingly feel unprotected and ill-treated – by both the company and by DIO. We do not believe that elements of the current contract are fit for purpose in some respects, and the DIO and MoD need to ensure that lessons learned are applied to the new contract in whatever form that takes.
The revised Combined Accommodation Assessment Scheme (CAAS) was introduced for SFA in April 16 and, whilst there have been glitches with grading, the main complaint has concerned the wholly inappropriate decision to implement charge increases for the vast majority of occupants at a time of appalling contract performance by CarillionAmey. This has exacerbated the sense of anger around the whole accommodation offer and the feeling of many that increases in charges are not being matched equitably by tangible improvements in quality and service.
There is increasing nervousness about the Future Accommodation Model (FAM), which has the potential to change radically the way that accommodation is provided in the future. Our people are worried too about the potential impact of FAM on other aspects of Service life, ranging from welfare support to the loss of ‘patch life’. FAM is presented as offering greater freedom of choice and more flexibility about how people choose to live but the current system is both unaffordable and unsustainable and FAM therefore represents an opportunity to cut costs as well. Until more detail is provided to our people about the likely options, the space is being filled with rumour that SFA will become largely unavailable and that quality will fall and prices rise, whichever option is selected.
Many of the issues apply also to 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: Leaking roofs, no heating for months at a time, broken facilities left unrepaired and poorly maintained - such as gymnasiums and clubs - have all eroded (for many) a real sense of feeling valued. Importantly, new recruits - well-qualified, intelligent young people with high expectations of a technically sophisticated Air Force - have been especially quick to express surprise and disappointment. As one young aircraft technician offered: “5th generation aircraft, 5th generation technical areas but 1st generation barrack blocks”.
wwww.raf-ff.org.uk ww.raf-ff.org.uk
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