Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Building Safety Bill
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Closed
Legislative scrutiny
The Draft Building Safety Bill was published on 20 July 2020 and will, according to the Secretary of State, “deliver the biggest changes to building safety for nearly 40 years and make residents safer in their homes.” The draft Building Safety Bill takes forward the Government’s commitment to fundamental reform …
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53
Recommendations
23
Conclusions
1
Report
5
Oral sessions
14
Letters
5
Events
Activity timeline 21 events
7 Sep
2021
2021
19 Jul
2021
2021
13 Jul
2021
2021
7 Jul
2021
2021
24 Nov
2020
2020
Report published
23 Oct
2020
2020
23 Oct
2020
2020
19 Oct
2020
2020
Oral evidence
16 Oct
2020
2020
16 Oct
2020
2020
6 Oct
2020
2020
5 Oct
2020
2020
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 5 sessions
19 Oct 2020
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Oral Evidence
Chandru Dissanayeke · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Michael Wade OBE · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Lord Greenhalgh · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
5 Oct 2020
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Oral evidence
Dame Judith Hackitt · Building Control Independent Panel
Peter Baker · Health and Safety Executive
Sarah Albon · Health and Safety Executive
28 Sep 2020
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Oral evidence
Dr Nigel Glen · Association of Residential Managing Agents
James Dalton · Association of British Insurers (ABI)
Martin Boyd · Leasehold Knowledge Partnership
Richard Silva · Long Harbour
Victoria Moffett · National Housing Federation
21 Sep 2020
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Oral evidence
Dr Debbie Smith OBE · BRE Group
Dr Scott Steedman · British Standards Institution
Mrs Lorna Stimpson · Local Authority Building Control
Peter Capelhorn · Construction Products Association
Steve Wood · National House Building Council
The Lord Porter of Spalding CBE · Local Government Association (LGA)
14 Sep 2020
View on parliament.uk
Oral Evidence
Adrian Dobson · Royal Institute of British Architects
Graham Watts OBE · Construction Industry Council
Roy Wilsher · National Fire Chiefs Council
Sir Ken Knight · Building Safety Independent Expert Advisory Panel
Reports 1 report · click to expand
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fifth report: Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Building Safety Bi… | HC 466 | 24 Nov 2020 | 76 | Responded |
Recommendations & Conclusions
12 results
26
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We are persuaded that the role of principal designer in the CDM regulations differs from...
We are persuaded that the role of principal designer in the CDM regulations differs from the one envisaged for the new dutyholder regime and that this could cause confusion in the industry.
Government Response
The government acknowledges the Committee's conclusion that the role of principal designer in CDM regulations differs from the new dutyholder regime and could cause industry confusion.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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28
Recommendation
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We are persuaded that dutyholders at the design and construction phase could struggle to access...
We are persuaded that dutyholders at the design and construction phase could struggle to access professional indemnity insurance, although we think this will depend on how the Government chooses to exercise its powers in clause 38. For this reason, we …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's concern that dutyholders may struggle to access professional indemnity insurance and agrees that it depends on how clause 38 powers are exercised, but does not commit to early publication of general duties.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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30
Recommendation
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
It seems to us that few measures are more important to raising levels of industry...
It seems to us that few measures are more important to raising levels of industry competence than a system of third-party accreditation and registration for design and construction professionals and that the Government must include provision in the Bill itself …
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Government Response
The government agrees on the importance of a third-party accreditation and registration system but does not explicitly commit to including provision for it in the Bill itself, as recommended.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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33
Recommendation
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We are concerned that the Government’s proposed extension of permitted development rights would allow many...
We are concerned that the Government’s proposed extension of permitted development rights would allow many building projects to bypass Gateway one and thereby weaken the whole regulatory framework for the design and construction of higher-risk buildings. We urge the Government, …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges concerns that the proposed extension of permitted development rights could bypass Gateway one, and states it is carefully considering this issue as policy evolves, but provides no specific commitment to retain Gateway one benefits.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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41
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We are concerned at the lack of detail in the draft Bill, or any draft...
We are concerned at the lack of detail in the draft Bill, or any draft regulations, identifying how the accountable person regime will operate in the case of multiple and complex ownership structures and repairing obligations, particularly where there are …
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Government Response
The government acknowledged that multiple Accountable Persons may be responsible for a single building and may have limited control over safety risks. However, they did not commit to any specific action to address the lack of detail in the Bill regarding complex ownership structures.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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43
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We are concerned about how the relationship between accountable persons and responsible persons will work...
We are concerned about how the relationship between accountable persons and responsible persons will work in practice and are disappointed the Government have not taken the opportunity to rationalise all aspects of building safety—at least as regards fire risk—within a …
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Government Response
The government recognises the Committee’s concerns about the practical relationship between Accountable Persons and Responsible Persons and the overlap in their roles.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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47
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We think that the duty on the accountable person to take all reasonable steps to...
We think that the duty on the accountable person to take all reasonable steps to prevent a major incident lacks clarity and that without statutory guidance, especially on the meaning of “all reasonable steps”, the provisions will likely be a …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the Committee’s concerns regarding the lack of clarity in the Accountable Person’s duty to take “all reasonable steps” and the high threshold set by the definition of “major incident.”
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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50
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We agree that the role of building safety manager and the supply of adequately skilled...
We agree that the role of building safety manager and the supply of adequately skilled individuals to fill the role will be critical to the success of the new building safety regime for higher-risk buildings. We also agree that without …
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Government Response
The government agrees on the importance of clarifying key elements of the new regime during the Bill's passage and intends to publish further details on aspects like the Gateways process and construction products, but does not explicitly commit to publishing the building safety manager competence framework.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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52
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We think that a national system of accreditation and registration for building safety managers will...
We think that a national system of accreditation and registration for building safety managers will be critical if stakeholders, particularly accountable persons, are to have confidence in the competence of persons undertaking that role, and that any accreditation should be …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee's conclusion that a national system of accreditation and registration for building safety managers, to agreed common standards, is critical for stakeholder confidence.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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58
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We are concerned that resident engagement provisions could be too onerous a responsibility on accountable...
We are concerned that resident engagement provisions could be too onerous a responsibility on accountable persons and that in many cases it would be done inadequately or not at all. We also agree that the Bill establishes a top-down model …
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Government Response
The government welcomed the committee's recognition of resident engagement, agreeing that resident groups empower residents, and committed generally to ensuring residents have a stronger voice in the new building safety regime, without detailing specific actions to lighten the burden on accountable persons.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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59
Recommendation
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We recommend that the Government consider facilitating, possibly in the Bill itself, the formation of...
We recommend that the Government consider facilitating, possibly in the Bill itself, the formation of resident groups in every higher-risk building and that these groups be required to include representatives of every type of resident in the building.
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Government Response
The Government welcomes the importance of resident engagement and agrees that resident groups can empower residents, stating its commitment to giving residents a stronger voice. However, it does not commit to facilitating their formation in the Bill or mandating specific representation.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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60
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Fifth report: Pre-legislative scru…
We think the power in clause 87 to order residents to give access is wide...
We think the power in clause 87 to order residents to give access is wide enough to cover the risks within the scope of Part 4, and the duties of an accountable person under clauses 72 and 73.
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee's assessment that the power in clause 87 is wide enough to cover the specified risks and duties of an Accountable Person.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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Government Response AI assessment · 76 of 53 classified
Accepted
36
Acknowledged
12
Deferred
2
Rejected
13
Total
53 recs + 23 conclusions
Correspondence 14 letters
7 Sep 2021
To committee
Letter from the Minister for Building Safety to the Chair dated 31 August 2021 concerning the Government response to the Committee's pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
19 Jul 2021
To committee
Letter from the Chair to the Minister for Building Safety dated 19 July 2021 concerning pre-legislative scrutiny of the Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
13 Jul 2021
To committee
Letter from the Minister for Building Safety to the Chair dated 5 July 2021 concerning the introduction of the Building Safety Bill into the House of Commons
Parliament page
23 Oct 2020
To committee
Letter from Dr Jonathan Evans to the Chair dated 20 October 2020 concerning building safety and regulation
Parliament page
23 Oct 2020
To committee
Letter from the Chief Executive of the Health & Safety Executive to the Chair dated 21 October 2020 following the evidence session on 5 October
Parliament page
16 Oct 2020
To committee
Letter from Long Harbour to the Chair dated 5 October 2020 concerning pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
16 Oct 2020
To committee
Letter from the Minister for Building Safety to the Chair dated 1 October 2020 concerning pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill, with additional fact sheets
Parliament page
6 Oct 2020
To committee
Letter from the Chair to the Minister for Building Safety dated 5 October 2020 concerning pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
29 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from the Chair to Lord Blencathra dated 28 September 2020 concerning the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
29 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from Sir Ken Knight to the Chair dated 16 September 2020 following up his oral evidence on 14 September
Parliament page
15 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from the Chair to the Minister for Building Safety and Communities dated 14 September 2020 in response to his letter of 9 September
Parliament page
14 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from the Minister for Building Safety and Communities to the Chair dated 9 September regarding the draft Building Safety Bill, with additional factsheets
Parliament page
8 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from the Minister for Building Safety and Communities to the Chair dated 29 July 2020 concerning pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page
8 Sep 2020
To committee
Letter from the Chair to the Minister for Building Safety and Communities dated 31 July 2020 regarding pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Building Safety Bill
Parliament page