Amey, a critical supplier of infrastructure services to the public sector and UK Defence, has mobilised two new MOD accommodation contracts set to deliver improved maintenance services for military housing.

The new contracts, known as the Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services (RAMS), have replaced the previous National Housing Prime contract and will include statutory and mandatory checks, repair and maintenance services and the preparation of allocated properties for Service families.

Amey was awarded the contracts for the Central and North region in June 2021. The Central region includes Central England and Mid and South Wales and is worth £124m in total. The Northern region includes Scotland, Northern Ireland and North Wales and is worth £83m. It is expected that the contracts will create or sustain 500 jobs across the two in the regions.

In addition to the core services, the two RAMS contracts will deliver improvement projects and refurbishment work to Service family homes, with an estimated value of up to £340m.

The RAMS service model will focus on putting military families first.  This includes providing ‘first time fixes’ and quicker response times for repairs to reduce disruption for Service families.  It is hoped that 25,000 military families will benefit from improved maintenance, which will also work to enhance customer service and community engagement activities.

Craig McGilvray, Managing Director for Amey Secure Infrastructure, commented; “Having provided facilities services to the defence sector for over 100 years, we understand the impact military life can have on individuals and families. We are fully committed to putting families at the heart of what we do and have been working hard to transform the skills and behaviours of our people to ensure the FDIS contract marks a stepped change to how

Service Family Accommodation is maintained. We’re also putting a greater focus on building better links with forces communities through partnerships such as the one we have developed with e50k – and will work to improve the local environment, and create opportunity and prosperity wherever we can.”

Air Commodore James Savage, DIO Head of Accommodation, said: “Our Armed Forces and their families have no real choice where they serve, no matter how remote, and when and how frequently they move, so it’s vital we ensure their homes are of the right quality and available for them wherever and whenever they are assigned.

“Their needs must be at the heart of what we do.

“These contracts are designed to be very different. They have been developed with Service Personnel and families firmly in mind to better meet their needs.

“Enhancing customer service will be their focus, with clear customer satisfaction targets for suppliers to meet, financial consequences for falling short and incentives to exceed the minimum standards.”

The contracts make up part of the MOD’s £3bn Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) programme. Each regional contract is for a seven year duration with an option to extend for up to three years, depending on contractor performance.