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Reserves and cadets to benefit from new Hard FM arrangements

Land December 13, 2023

Ministry of Defence (MOD) sites used by reserves and cadets will benefit from new Hard Facilities Management arrangements following an amendment to contracts.

Approval has been given to bring sites which make up the Volunteer Estate into the MOD’s existing Built Estate contracts, which already provide Hard FM services to Defence facilities across the UK.

The Built Estate contracts were awarded to Mitie, VIVO Defence Services and VINCI by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) in 2021.

The amendment will see 1,622 sites, which are supported by the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (RFCA), receive key maintenance work, repairs, servicing and hard facilities management through the existing MOD Built Estate contracts.

The adoption of the Built Estate arrangements across the Volunteer Estate will not only achieve better value for money, but also deliver a higher standard of service for users by enabling the Volunteer Estate to build on the benefits of the contracts already in use across the Regular Estate.

These include the adoption of industry best practice maintenance standards, improvement in health and safety compliance and the use of improved technology to inform and manage the delivery of services.

Mobilisation of the new arrangements will follow the same best practice approach that was used to successfully mobilise the Built Estate contracts and will be completed for all four regions by 1 August 2024.

James Crosfield, DIO’s Senior Responsible Owner for the Volunteer Estate Value For Money Study said:  “I’m delighted that the MOD Built Estate contracts will now be adopted by the Volunteer Estate to deliver Hard Facilities Management for the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations.

“This move supports the strategic alignment of the Volunteer Estate with the wider MOD Estate, generating a ‘one defence’ ethos and offers the opportunity to transform the approach to maintaining the Volunteer Estate.

“Mobilisation of these new arrangements will now commence following the best practice operational readiness approach, which was used to successfully mobilise the Built Estate contracts.”

Maj Gen (Retd) Jamie Gordon, Chief Executive, Council Reserves Forces’ and Cadets’ Association said:  “I see the delivery of Hard Facilities Management on the Volunteer Estate by the Built Estate suppliers providing the RFCAs with the opportunity to transform the approach in assuring statutory and mandatory compliance and providing a safe place for reserves and cadets to work and train.

“It also keeps the RFCAs front and centre in its role of maintaining and developing the Volunteer Estate.

“This is but one of the changes that the RFCAs have enacted to deliver their vital support of the reserves and cadets over the last 115 years.”

Jerry Moloney, Managing Director of VIVO Defence Services, said: “We are proud to work for the UK military and its partners through the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and are committed to ensuring the services we provide help enable our country’s defence capability.

“Extending our Hard FM services to the Volunteer Estate, via the important work we already do on the military’s Built Estate across the central and southwest regions, is a natural progression and we are very much looking forward to mobilising and working with this critical part of the MOD as well.”

Grant Cristall, VINCI Facilities Regional Director, Defence, said: “We are very pleased to have secured the Hard FM services to the Volunteer Estate. This great opportunity brings the learnings from the FDIS framework and regional estate mobilisation and service delivery and will support the ambition to improve the estate and provide safe places to work and train.

“We look forward to working with the RFCA team in the development of these important strategic infrastructure assets.”

Brian Talbot, Managing Director, Central Government & Defence, Mitie, said:  “We’re proud to be supporting the Ministry of Defence by extending our services to include the Volunteer Estate.

“We’re committed to supporting our military personnel, including the important role our cadets and reservists play, and look forward to bringing our technology-led facilities transformation services to ensure they have safe and sustainable sites to meet their needs.”

The decision to change the contract arrangements followed significant consultation with stakeholders and the completion of a Value for Money Study to determine if Hard FM requirements could be more cost effectively met by Built Estate suppliers than through the existing arrangements.

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Post written by: Matt Brown