COLCHESTER’S MP has critcisied the Government for failing to give soldiers adequate housing.

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Bob Russell questioned why the Government could not find the money to refurbish homes for the town’s 16 Air Assault Brigade.

The Lib Dem said troops had been left angry by the problem with homes in the Layer Road area.

He said: “The morale of the soldier is uppermost.

“The Government has found money through the Department of Communities and Local Government to modernise former Ministry of Defence housing on one side of a road in which civilian families are now moving in.

“Yet on the other side of the road, there are houses that are identical, but unmodernised, occupied by the families of soldiers who this time last year were serving in Afghanistan. Why can’t the Government find money for the homes of soldiers, if it can find money for the homes that used to be Ministry of Defence?’’ Armed Forces’ Minister Nick Harvey blamed the “very regrettable pause” in refurbishing soldiers’ homes on budget cuts. He said: “The majority of family houses in the defence estate are in the upper two quality bands.

“Obviously, it remains the commitment of any Government to get all the housing into those two top bands in the longer course.’’ Mr Harvey said repairs and maintenance at the homes would continue and improvements to bathrooms and kitchens would also go ahead.

He said ministers were prioritising “ruthlessly” how to spend funds.