Latest news with #accommodation
Telegraph
13 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
‘Dire' military homes to get £7bn refurb to attract more families
The Defence Secretary has vowed to fix the 'dire' state of military homes as part of a £7 billion accommodation reboot to attract more people to join the military. Under the new scheme, thousands of Armed Forces personnel and their families will benefit from more than £1.5 billion of additional funding to improve military accommodation. The latest funding for accommodation means more than £7 billion will be spent by Labour on service family accommodation and new build single living accommodation. It comes amid a recruitment and retention crisis engulfing the military, with just 72,510 full-time troops in the Army, its smallest size since the Napoleonic era. John Healey said the move, which has been announced ahead of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) on Monday, would 'renew the nation's contract' for those who serve their country. He said: 'Our Armed Forces personnel make extraordinary sacrifices to serve our country. 'For too long, many military families have lived in sub-standard homes, but this Government is taking decisive action to fix the dire state of military accommodation and ensure that our heroes and their loved ones live in the homes they deserve. 'We are investing and acting fast to fix forces housing and renew the nation's contract with those who serve and deliver on our Plan for Change.' Review to transform defence Through the upcoming SDR, more than £1.5 billion of new investment will be put into tackling the poor state of military housing. The report will say the Ministry of Defence (MoD) should improve the overall standard of military accommodation, including prioritising sites that are in most urgent need of repair. The SDR was launched last year to show how Labour should transform defence over the next decade, with a focus on cyber, space and the future technology that will be needed to fight new wars. The MoD hopes the latest investment in housing, which will increase from this year, will help to support recruitment, retention and morale. Recent figures showed that in six years, military families lodged almost 53,000 complaints about their housing. The worst year was 2022, when 11,593 families complained about the standard of their housing. In 2023, a report into military housing by the Kerslake Commission found that Armed Forces families were living in damp, mouldy homes with faulty boilers and pests. Urgent repairs The new investment in service family housing will include urgent repairs and maintenance, from fixing unreliable boilers and leaky roofs to sorting damp and mould, alongside the development of new forces housing. This will be guided by the forthcoming defence housing strategy, which has already seen the announcement of a new consumer charter to strengthen housing standards for military families. The delivery of the Government's new consumer charter will see immediate investment in urgent renovation of 1,000 homes most in need of repair. The charter will also see basic consumer rights rapidly introduced for military families, including essential property information and higher move-in standards, more reliable repairs, a named housing officer for every family, and access to a robust complaints system. It comes after the Government's deal earlier this year to bring back 36,000 military homes into public ownership, as part of the Prime Minister's pledge to deliver homes fit for heroes. Spending commitment Defence spending at 3 per cent of GDP by 2034 is a firm commitment, Mr Healey has said. The Government has previously set out its 'ambition to reach 3 per cent in the next parliament', after meeting its pledge to ratchet up defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by April 2027. But the Defence Secretary has promised a 'certain decade of rising defence spending', according to The Times, and said there was 'no doubt' the UK would meet its target. Mr Healey told the newspaper: 'It allows us to plan for the long term. It allows us to deal with the pressures.' The Government is looking at the roles, capabilities and reforms required by the Armed Forces as part of its SDR. It will explore 'deliverable and affordable' solutions 'within the resources available to defence within the trajectory of 2.5 per cent'. When Sir Keir Starmer announced the targets earlier this year he said: 'In an ever more dangerous world, increasing the resilience of our country so we can protect the British people, resist future shocks and bolster British interests, is vital.' The new defence money will be found by reducing UK overseas aid from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent of gross national income, according to the Government.
Finextra
3 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
Lloyds adds travel booking feature to app
UK bank Lloyds has teamed up with travel technology platform Hopper to let customers book flights and accommodation directly from its app. 0 Hopper's AI-driven platform lets Lloyds app users book their holiday and ensure they get a best price guarantee, recommendations on when to book flights for the best price, and price drop protection. Once booked, customers can keep track of their trips directly in the Lloyds app. Tamara van den Ban, MD, customer propositions, Lloyds, says: 'Working with Hopper, we're the first UK bank to offer our customers unparalleled convenience, value and peace of mind when planning their travels, all of which can be managed in the palm of their hand, through our mobile app.'
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Rough sleeper feels 'lucky' to have new home in Peterborough
A housing facility that provides accommodation to homeless people with complex needs has been praised by one of its first residents. Off the Streets Accommodation, on Eastfield Road, Peterborough, can support 17 people for whom hotels and B&Bs may not be site opened in April and has been providing eight people with temporary of the residents called Paul, who has previously suffered with addiction, said the project had helped him quit drinking and "become a better person". "In temporary accommodation, such as guest houses, I didn't really have the stability to conquer personal problems," he said."Being vulnerable and having mental health problems I don't think I'd have done it on my own, so I feel lucky to be looked after here."I feel lucky in my current situation – so far so good." 'The best intervention' The scheme is a collaboration between Peterborough City Council and My Housing Options Community Interest is being funded for 12 months by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of the rough sleeping initiative properties are designed to ensure those living in them are given intensive support to help them gain a pathway into permanent Wright, from My Housing Options, said: "The outreach team could find someone at 07:00 BST and the room could be provided by 09:00."Some people are here for weeks, some people with complex needs might be here for longer. But we can get them the best intervention to see where they can go." Alison Jones, a cabinet member for housing and communities at Peterborough City Council, described the programme as "unique", adding that those who use it received "the wraparound support they need"."Sometimes that's life skills that we take for granted such as cooking or budget skills, or perhaps it's visits from health specialists," she said."I can only see it as a positive for people in the city who might need that extra care - and we have to treat them as individuals."We believe that bringing them into this safe space will help them breathe and develop. Although this is not 'their home' we want them to feel like it is one." Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
ABC News
5 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Disability accommodation company NDISP shut down leaves investors and contractors scrambling
More people have been left scrambling in the wake of a disability accommodation company shutting down operations, including subcontractors, a former AFL footballer and a finance group from Asia. NDISP, which ceased operating this month, has also faced complaints from investors whose properties it oversaw, and from a parent over the care of his son who has a disability. The company ran more than 140 disability homes in Queensland before this month transferring the leases to a new company, Sigma SDA, amid a winding up lawsuit from the Australian Taxation Office. As the ABC reported last week, it faced remonstrations about issues including properties going vacant from retiree investors who owned the homes it managed. The company argued that dissatisfied investors represented four or five homes out of 150. It maintained the vast majority of investors were happy and the risks were fully disclosed, rejecting any suggestion of misconduct. The ABC can reveal a Melbourne-based property development group run by former Essendon midfielder and current club vice-president Andrew Welsh has built specialist disability accommodation managed by NDISP, as has Asia-based finance group OCP Asia. Other investors came via Australia-based funds. Former soldier Gavin Boggitt has also encountered difficulty with NDISP, whose Townsville-based son Braydon is in a wheelchair with limited speech. Braydon, 25, was placed in an NDISP administered home in 2023. Since then, Mr Boggitt said he experienced a frustrating lack of communication with the company — he said they were difficult to contact and multiple people would deal with issues. "You didn't know who to talk to from one moment to the next," Mr Boggitt told the ABC. The problems, he said, included a lack of grab rails in areas including showers. At one stage Mr Boggitt said he told NDISP in writing that Braydon would be leaving, but then the decision was made for Braydon to stay. He said when they contacted NDISP to rescind the departure decision, the company staffer was not even aware that Braydon had planned to be leaving. While Braydon is now in a new home with a new manager, Mr Boggitt said problems still occurred. Mr Boggitt said the government NDIS was a great system overall, but many things ran slowly, including getting repairs for Braydon's wheelchair after 18 months. The National Disability Insurance Agency, which oversees the NDIS, said it was boosting the experience for participants via improved processes and increased frontline resources. A lawn mowing contractor working on NDISP properties also told the ABC of struggles in getting paid for invoices to NDISP and a related maintenance company. In email correspondence, company staff promised to ensure payments would be made — sometimes a Christmas backlog was blamed, or new employees were involved in training. At one stage, the contractor said the bill from a related company for outstanding work grew to more than $13,000 late last year. While that was mostly repaid, he said, billing recently shifted to NDISP and he estimated a $6,000 payment has become past due. While he does have other work, he said the lack of payment stings. "I've got a family to feed … I've got mortgages to pay," he said. Asked about client and contractor complaints, NDISP director Darryl Richards blamed issues including an entity the company hired having botched the implementation of a $150,000 enterprise software program for his organisation. He also lashed out at the introduction of a sector-wide NDIS billing system, which has attracted complaints across the sector in the past couple of years as a "disaster". He added his organisation "always had multiple qualified accountants running the finance department internally", and payments of subcontractors were handled without NDISP directors being directly involved. Relationship managers and senior regional staff would have been easily contactable, he maintained. "They would have organised someone to install rails etc if they were needed," he said. Among institutional fund backers of specialist disability accommodation was OCP Asia, which in 2022 announced plans to put up to $200 million, potentially as debt, into the sector, eyeing up to 40 homes in a deal involving NDISP. It ultimately contracted NDISP to run an undisclosed number of homes but has declined to answer questions from the ABC about what happened with its investment. NDISP also leased multiple properties from Mr Welsh's Mr Welsh declined to comment. An unknown number of other investors bought homes run by NDIS through funds run by James Brooker's Social Impact Funds Management and Kevin Nolan's DHI Fund Management. Queensland land title records show nine properties in the state are owned by Sydney-based Boutique Capital, which is the trustee of the funds. Boutique Capital, which is run by Tim Baker, the husband of TV star Georgie Gardner, did not respond to the ABC's questions. Attempts to obtain comment from Mr Brooker were unsuccessful. Mr Nolan said the DHI funds had "two operational SDA buildings now managed by Sigma with seven out of our 10 apartments occupied". "Please note that DHI Fund Management has not raised capital since 2022 and has no intention to do so," he said.
ABC News
5 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Queensland government company chair stayed with 'fur-baby' in 'VIPooch' hotel for board meeting
The chair of a Queensland government-owned company has faced questions over his stay with his dog in a special five-star "VIPooch" hotel costing $500 a night during a work trip. The cost of the accommodation for the chairman, his wife and his "fur-baby Vito" at Brisbane's inner-city Ovolo hotel last year was queried by the company's operations director, who feared it was above the state's recommended rate of $181 a night for stays in Brisbane, according to emails sighted by the ABC. The internal correspondence from Queensland Capacity Network Pty Ltd (QCN) — a subsidiary company of Queensland government power supply corporations — has also revealed how some government energy corporation board members are able to fly business class on internal Queensland flights. In one case, it was nearly four times the price of economy flights. The emails were sent between executives and staff at QCN, which is 51 per cent owned by Powerlink — a state government-owned corporation (GOC) — and 49 per cent by Energy Queensland. QCN sells access to fibre networks on Powerlink's spare telecommunications network along the east coast of Queensland. It seeks to improve digital capacity and data services for customers in remote Queensland communities and is not required to publish any annual report or financial statement. Some of the emails were sent last year in the lead up to QCN board meetings and reveal how a company employee had been asked to make a special pet hotel booking for QCN chair Greg Young, who was attending a board meeting in Brisbane in November 2024. The email said Mr Young's booking was "for himself, his wife and their fur baby (Vito)". Later correspondence confirmed the booking went ahead for the special dog room at Brisbane's five-star Ovolo Hotel in Fortitude Valley. The hotel's dog room is promoted as the "VIPooch" package, with "luxury pet friendly accommodation" that includes "1 x fur baby", premium grain-free dry dog food, a mealtime mat and water bowl, and "a fun little toy for your dog to keep, because who doesn't love a present". Dog treats, a super comfy bed and dog-friendly staff are also thrown in. The booking was to allow Mr Young — who lives on the Sunshine Coast, about 100 kilometres north of Brisbane — to attend a Brisbane board meeting for QCN. The emails reveal that while the booking was approved last year, Mr Young's request for the same accommodation early this year raised flags with operations director Anne Wilson. Ms Wilson expressed concern in an email, querying whether the $500 a night rate and accompanying dog met with government guidelines. "Before we make any bookings, I wanted to flag that in September last year, the government released an updated government domestic travel rates directive (which applies to government departments and GOC's) … as you'll see in the directive the recommended room rate for Brisbane CBD is $181 a night," the email read. "Given this rate, I'm not sure that the Ovolo, which was $507 last time (with your pet) meets the government's guidelines". Ms Wilson went on to state: "I am also a little concerned that for government funded travel you might be exposing yourself to scrutiny with QCN paying for you to bring along a pet (which cost an extra $100 per night at the Ovolo)." She also pointed out measures brought in by the new government. "Given the new government in Queensland and its focus on government spending, I feel there may be more scrutiny on discretionary spending such as travel and wanted to flag this risk to you,'' she wrote. The emails also revealed that power company board members were being allowed to fly business class on internal flights within Queensland. One email sent by Ms Wilson revealed that Powerlink board members were flying business class for domestic travel. Ms Wilson revealed the policy when she responded to a request from Mr Young to take a return business class flight from Proserpine to Brisbane. He had requested the business class flight because he was holidaying in the Whitsundays the week of the board meeting and had asked for return flights. Do you know more about this story? Email Ms Wilson replied: "We don't specifically say anything for class of travel domestically so it's up to the CEO, in PQ [Powerlink] the board do travel business class." One quote for Mr Young's flights revealed that the proposed business class flight was more than $400 dearer for the Proserpine to Brisbane leg, and over $200 higher from Brisbane to Proserpine. Mr Young declined to comment and referred the ABC's questions to the power company's media team. A Powerlink spokesperson said Mr Young's travel with his dog involved extenuating circumstances related to "personal family circumstances, which are private". "This trip, along with all travel done by board members across all three entities, are completed according to the respective government owned corporation's policies,'' he said. "It's important to note these trips are audited regularly to ensure they are all compliant with these policies. "We strongly reject the assertions made against him." The spokesperson said QCN's travel policy allowed directors to fly business class domestically. He said only one business class trip was claimed in the last year — Mr Young's Proserpine-Brisbane travel. The Powerlink spokesperson said the government-owned corporation's board travels domestically one to two times a year and flights are a "mixture of economy and business class". Energy Queensland said its directors other than the chair are booked on economy flights. A spokesperson for Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki, the shareholding minister in the boards of Powerlink and Energy Queensland, said the government expects "all government-owned corporations to show respect for taxpayers' money and abide by the highest corporate governance practices". QCN did not respond to questions about what fees board members, including the chair, were paid. The QCN board meets six times annually and is made up of three independent directors and two member directors. It has 11 full-time staff.
