Official Statistics

Background Quality Report for the Single Living Accommodation Lived Experience Survey 2024

Published 5 September 2024

1. Contact

The Responsible Statistician for the Single Living Accommodation Lived Experience Survey is the Head of the Accommodation Analysis Team. Email: [email protected].

2. Introduction and Statistical Presentation

The Single Living Accommodation (SLA) Lived Experience Survey was designed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to produce statistics that would help to inform decisions on the future design of SLA. In particular, the survey was intended to understand what Service personnel (SP) in the UK Armed Forces want and need from SLA and how SLA is currently being used.

This is the second publication of these statistics which are released every two years.

For the 2024 survey, data collection was conducted between May and June 2024. The survey was open to all current SP (Regular and Reserves) in the UK Armed Forces.

SP serving in the UK Armed Forces are entitled to subsidised accommodation as a condition of service as outlined in the MOD Tri-Service Accommodation Regulations (JSP 464)

SLA is normally provided in the form of accommodation blocks inside military bases. It is available to single and unaccompanied personnel undertaking initial training or those serving on a regular engagement with the Armed Forces. It can be used as a permanent residence for some SP or on an ad hoc basis by others, where they have an additional residence, for example their own home.

In 2020, the National Audit Office (NAO) undertook an audit on SLA provided to SP. It examined whether the Ministry of Defence is providing SLA that, as far as possible, meets its needs and those of SP, in a way that delivers value for money.

The NAO recommended:

‘The Department should carry out and make use of work on the ‘lived experience’ to better understand what personnel want from SLA and inform future accommodation plans. The Department should look at how it can regularly collect data on experiences of SLA. The Department should also make better use of available data such as AFCAS [Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey], to understand how SLA provision links to retention, where necessary amending survey questions to capture the data required’ (Recommendation 4: Lived Experience).

In 2021, following the NAO report, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) took evidence from the MOD and reported on this with several recommendations. It recommended:

‘The Department should set out clearly in its Defence Accommodation Strategy (DAS)… how it plans to gather the views of Service personnel on Single Living Accommodation’ (Recommendation 2C).

The SLA Lived Experience Survey was introduced in 2022 in response to the recommendations of the NAO and PAC to collect data on the views of SP about SLA. It is also intended to inform and shape the future building design of SLA, produce robust evidence to inform accommodation policy design and to be used to understand if wants and needs vary about SLA over time.

The SLA Lived Experience Survey 2024 report contains the following sections:

• Main report: a narrative and graphical report outlining the main findings and methodology.

• Reference tables: tables of estimates and margins of error for questions asked in the survey, broken down by Service (Royal Navy/Royal Marines, Army, Royal Air Force) and by rank (Officers and Other Ranks/Ratings). Significant differences to the 2024 estimate (95% confidence interval) are reported in the tables.

• Questionnaire: as administered for the 2024 survey.

3. Statistical Processing

The SLA Survey is conducted every two years for which there are eight main stages. Each of the stages are briefly described below.

Stage 1: Questionnaire design

The questionnaire was designed by Government Social Researchers from the MOD Accommodation Analysis Team working with Accommodation Policy colleagues and members of the SLA Expert Group (SLAEG) and Accommodation Coherence Group (ACG). The SLAEG and ACG include members of the Front Line Commands and Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO). The research protocol was given favourable review by the Royal Navy Scientific Advisory Committee.

Stage 2: Sample design

All SP (regular and reserves) were invited to participate in the survey. SLA can be used by any SP, at any time, therefore the MOD did not wish to exclude any SP from participating.

Stage 3: Survey distribution and communications

The SLA Survey was distributed as an online survey. Survey participation was publicised internally to SP using a variety of established communications channels (for example, via weekly routine orders and Defence Connect) and on social media platforms. It is recognised that not all SP may have been able to access the internet and complete the survey, for example due to being on overseas deployment.

Stage 4: Data input

Online survey responses are held securely on Ministry of Defence servers.

Stage 5: Data validation

All responses were downloaded from the survey platform. Any invalid responses were removed and do not contribute to the response rate. A response was considered invalid if it was completely blank or did not contain a response to the following questions: ‘Which Service do you serve in?’ and ‘What is your current Rank?’.

Stage 6: Data compilation and results production

Where appropriate, questions were recoded to simplify the output. For example, all 5-point Likert scale responses were recoded into a 3-point positive, neutral, negative scale.

Responses were then weighted by rank and Service. This accounts for bias caused by differing levels of response. The calculations for weighted proportions have been updated since 2022 to account for differing numbers of responses to each question. For example, due to survey routing some respondents will not have been asked some questions. This is now reflected in the weighted proportions calculated.

To calculate the weighted proportion of combined classes (e.g., Army), the weighted proportions of each sub-class (e.g., Army Officers and Army Other Ranks) were summed. The weighted proportion for each sub class were calculated by multiplying the unweighted proportion of the sub-class with the weight (W) for that sub-class, such that: 

W = Population for sub-class / Total class population 

Finally, the tables of results were produced using Microsoft Excel. Where year-on-year comparisons were possible, Z-tests at the 95% confidence level were carried out. To enable Z-tests to be calculated, some changes were made to the 2022 methodology. The purpose of conducting Z-tests is to identify statistically significant changes in the population and therefore give evidence of any changes over time. This has improved the quality and value of the statistics presented.

Each estimate also carries a margin of error to enable users to observe the level of uncertainty in the estimate.

Stage 7: Quality assurance

There are several stages of manual validation built into the data cleaning process.

Each section of tables, along with the content of the narrative report, underwent several layers of quality assurance. This included crosschecking by members of the Accommodation Analysis Team as well statisticians in the Surveys Team. Quality assurance checks at this stage included ensuring that the unweighted counts were sensible, calculations in Excel were correct, reference tables matched the outputs in Excel, historical figures matched, and the report commentary aligned with the tables.

Stage 8: Publication

The SLA Lived Experience Survey is published on the MOD statistics external webpage on GOV.UK.

4. Quality Management

4.1 Quality Assurance  

The MOD’s quality management process for Official Statistics consists of three elements: (1) Regularly monitoring and assessing quality risk via an annual assessment; (2) Providing a mechanism for reporting and reviewing revisions/corrections to Official Statistics; (3) Ensuring BQRs are publishing alongside reports and are updated regularly.

5. Relevance

The principal users of the SLA Lived Experience Survey publication are the MOD Accommodation Policy Team, Front Line Commands and Defence Infrastructure Organisation. The statistical information is used to inform the development of the Armed Forces accommodation policy and physical building design of service accommodation. The information can also be used to answer parliamentary questions and Freedom of Information requests.

These statistics are the only means through which SP wants and needs from SLA are captured.

The survey is anonymous and confidential.

6. Accuracy and Reliability

6.1 Overall Accuracy

The survey was open to all Regular and Reserve SP, whether in receipt of SLA or not so that all SP could take part. A number of questions are asked only of a subset of respondents, and they typically carry a larger margin of error. For example, questions on satisfaction with accommodation are only asked to those currently living in SLA or have lived in SLA within the last five years.

The SLA Survey is designed to give an up-to-date snapshot of the attitudes and perceptions of our Armed Forces towards SLA. While the SLA Survey is reported every two years, it should be considered that these attitudes and perceptions are liable to change within the calendar year, as a result of events or due to the time of year that the responses were collected (a seasonality effect).

Where year-on-year comparisons are possible, 95% confidence level Z-tests are carried out. This level is used to minimise the possibility of finding false positive differences that can be expected when performing a large number of significance tests.

The Accommodation Analysis Team do not present any results where the responding group size is less than 30 as results for groups of this size are considered too unreliable.

6.2 Sampling error/Non-sampling errors

As the SLA survey did not achieve 100% response rates there is always the risk that those who returned questionnaires have differing views from those who did not. We assume that all non-response is Missing at Random (MAR) within each weighting class. This means we have assumed that the perceptions and attitudes of those people who did not return their questionnaires do not differ from those who did respond.

If those who did not respond have different attitudes to those who did respond, then the observations in this report will be biased and will not represent the attitudes of all Armed Forces personnel; rather our observations would only represent the views of the responding population.

One area of concern is low response rates among certain groups. Response rates tend to be lower for Other Ranks, compared to Officers. This may be due to distribution issues, as Officers tend to have easier access to MOD IT to access the survey, despite the survey being accessible from any device. Members of the Armed Forces who are deployed overseas may not have been able to access and complete the survey.

This year saw a slight drop in the overall response rate from 3.8% in 2022 to 3.4%. Despite this decrease, the number of responses yields estimates with a good level of precision. A margin of error is provided for each estimate at a 95% confidence interval. Several questions are only asked of a subset of respondents; therefore, they typically carry a larger margin of error. Tables of corresponding margins of error for each estimate are published alongside the reference tables.

The results were weighted to account for the differing response rates. This ensures that the results reflect the distribution of Service and rank within the Armed Forces population. A lower response rate was observed in ‘Other Ranks,’ which means that proportions for ‘Other Ranks’ had higher weightings compared to Officers.

The population figures for weighting calculations were derived from MOD Quarterly service personnel statistics 2024 as these were the most up to date statistics available at the time of analysis.

6.3 Data Revisions

Data revisions are handled in accordance with the MOD’s Official Statistics Revisions and Corrections Policy.

Revisions have been made to all previously published estimates in 2022. The following corrections have been reflected with ‘r’ markers in the reference tables and used in the updated report:

Revision 1: A revision to all 2022 estimates due to use of incorrect Reservist population figures in weighting calculations. The original calculation was made using Future Reserves statistics and did not include the full UK Reservist population statistics. This has now been updated so that the weightings calculations use the population data from the full UK Reservist population Statistics available in the MOD Quarterly service personnel statistics 2022.

Revision 2: A revision to all 2022 estimates following a new release of population statistics which impacted the weighting calculations. Previously, population figures used for weightings calculations were derived from the January 2022 release of the MOD Quarterly service personnel statistics however these figures have now been taken from the April 2022 release of these statistics. This means that they align with the period of data collection and ensures that the results are directly comparable to 2024.

There have been no considerable impacts to the overall findings following these revisions. In most cases, the estimates presented in the 2022 SLA Survey publication were either unaffected or impacted by a small percentage as a result of the revisions made.

In addition to the revisions explained above, data validation methods have been improved to enhance the quality assurance processes.

There has also been a methodology update to questions regarding SP’s satisfaction with different aspects of SLA. These questions are now only asked to those currently living in SLA and those who have lived in SLA within the last five years. The 2022 raw counts and estimates for this question have been updated in the reference tables and report to allow for comparison to 2024 results.

There are no further revisions scheduled for the SLA Survey. Any required corrections in addition to the above will be released in updated reports and/or reference tables, along with the reasons for the corrections, on the GOV.UK website.

7. Timeliness and Punctuality

7.1 Timeline

The SLA Survey took approximately 11 months from agreeing the questionnaire to publishing the report. The questionnaire was agreed in December 2023 by the Accommodation Coherence Group. The research proposal was given a favourable review by the Navy Scientific Advisory Committee in December 2021 and as there were no substantial changes to the survey in 2024, an additional review was not required. There was a gap of three months between the close of fieldwork and report publication, so findings are not current.

Data collection took place from 1st May 2024 to 3rd June 2024.

7.2 Punctuality

The release date for this publication was preannounced on the GOV.UK Official Statistics Release Calendar. All preannounced publication deadlines have been met.

8. Coherence and Comparability

8.1 Coherence

The SLA survey was designed to examine what SP in the UK Armed Forces want and need from SLA and how SLA is currently being used. There are no other data sources that collect the same information with which to ensure coherence.

8.2 Comparability over Time

SLA Lived Experience surveys are considered to be comparable over time. However, the 2024 question set was reviewed in the questionnaire design stage which resulted in some minor wording changes and the addition or removal of a small number of questions. This has impacted the ability to conduct time-series analysis on a small number of questions. Where relevant, has been highlighted in the main report and reference tables. For two questions (V6 and F1), each of the responses saw considerable increases since 2022. The structure of these questions was changed slightly for participants so it is possible that this could have impacted the changes observed.

9. Accessibility and Clarity

9.1 Accessibility

The SLA Lived Experience Survey report and questionnaire are available free of charge in fully accessibly formats on the GOV.UK website. Copies of the statistical tables in Microsoft Excel format are also available on the GOV.UK website.

9.2 Clarity

In addition to this Quality Report, the SLA Lived Experience Survey report contains the main findings at the start of the report, a narrative section which aids users’ interpretation of the data, a methodology section including target population, information on the sample, respondents, weighting, statistical tests used, and notations and definitions used.

Detailed results are presented in reference tables in the MS Excel spreadsheet and include tables containing margins of error. Relevant notes are included to indicate any filters that have been applied to the data or any issues with the data.

10. Trade-offs between Output Quality Components

The main trade-off is between timeliness and quality. The tables are only broken down by Service and rank status for all survey questions. The trade-off is so that the basic statistical information can be made available to policy users and the public as soon as possible in a clear and accessible format. Additional analysis for policy users is available on request and external requests for further information would be considered under the usual Freedom of Information process.

11. Cost and Respondent Burden

The report was delivered by MOD Government Social Researchers in the Accommodation Analysis Team as part of routine business, with no additional financial cost to the MOD.

Response to the SLA Survey was voluntary. Participant information was provided within the questionnaire to encourage informed consent. The survey was estimated to take around 10 minutes to complete.

12. Confidentiality and Security

12.1 Confidentiality – Policy

The SLA Lived Experience Survey was anonymous. SP were not asked to provide their Service Number, so their response could not be directly linked to them. Only a small number of individuals in the Accommodation Analysis Team have access to the record-level data. No record-level data is provided to anyone not directly involved with the analysis, unless covered by a Data Access Agreement. No person from any respondent’s Chain of Command can access individual level data. A Data Protection Impact Assessment was completed for this survey to minimise the risk to confidentiality, in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

12.2 Confidentiality – Data Treatment

Results where the responding group size is less than 30 are not presented as they are considered too unreliable and may be disclosive.

12.3 Security

All staff involved in the SLA Lived Experience Survey report production process adhere to the MOD and Civil Service data protection regulations. In addition, staff involved in the production of this report have to follow the relevant codes of practice for their professional groups; the Government Statistical Service (GSS) and the Government Social Research (GSR) Profession. All data is stored, accessed, and analysed using the MOD’s secure IT system.