A message from DIO’s Head of Accommodation, Air Commodore James Savage
We are currently preparing for the introduction of the new Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) Accommodation contracts that will replace the National Housing Prime (NHP) contract and will fulfil the Defence requirement for the delivery of effective and responsive accommodation services for Service personnel and their families. More information about FDIS and the new suppliers can be found here.
The new contracts are due to come into service on 1 March 2022 and DIO and its partners have been working towards this date. However, a risk has emerged that some of the key IT systems on which FDIS would depend might not be ready to deploy on 1 March 2022.
Although this risk is not high, DIO and our suppliers are committed to putting the interests of Service families first and it is crucial that we get this right, because improving the lived experience for families is at the heart of the new contracts. Therefore, we are seeking formal approval to change the in-service date by a month to 1 April 2022, in order to ensure the new systems are fully ready.
Although the approval process will take a little time, we have agreed with Amey and MOD Head Office that we should extend the current National Housing Prime Contract to 31 March 2022 to ensure that we can continue to deliver services in the meantime. An early decision was necessary to ensure Amey could give its supply chain adequate notice. The proposed change to the in-service date of FDIS should then allow time to ensure all of the key systems are fully tested and proved prior to going live. We will provide a further update once the approvals process has completed.
Accommodation is such an important part of family life for Service personnel, which is why we collaborated closely with representatives of our people and their families to develop these contracts and ensure that their needs are fully considered. These new contracts offer the opportunity to break decisively from the past and to build on the commitments made by all suppliers to innovate and deliver more responsive and flexible services to the Armed Forces and their families.
The new contracts will require suppliers to work differently, such as fixing faults on an initial visit to a property and undertaking simple preventative maintenance while attending properties to reduce disruption to families.
I look forward to continuing working with Pinnacle, Vivo and Amey to transition smoothly from the NHP to the new FDIS contracts, and to ensure delivery performance is maintained. More details will become available as we approach the in-service date, with comprehensive guides to the new contracts to be issued to all families in SFA in good time before the contracts go live in April. Please do keep checking Gov.uk as all the latest SFA FDIS guidance is there, and we will be updating those pages as appropriate.
Accommodation is such an important part of family life for Service personnel, which is why we collaborated closely with representatives of our people and their families to develop these contracts and ensure that their needs are fully considered. These new contracts offer the opportunity to break decisively from the past and to build on the commitments made by all suppliers to innovate and deliver more responsive and flexible services to the Armed Forces and their families.
The new contracts will require suppliers to work differently, such as fixing faults on an initial visit to a property and undertaking simple preventative maintenance while attending properties to reduce disruption to families.
I look forward to continuing working with Pinnacle, Vivo and Amey to transition smoothly from the NHP to the new FDIS contracts, and to ensure delivery performance is maintained. More details will become available as we approach the in-service date, with comprehensive guides to the new contracts to be issued to all families in SFA in good time before the contracts go live in April. Please do keep checking Gov.uk as all the latest SFA FDIS guidance is there, and we will be updating those pages as appropriate.