Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have raised the issue of fire safety in high-rise dwellings in any international meetings; and what proposals, if any, have been brought forward to share lessons learned and to co-ordinate an international response to improve fire safety between member states of (1) the UN, and (2) the Council of Europe.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Government regularly looks at construction practices in other jurisdictions, seeks to learn from any significant incidents and, where appropriate, are always willing to share our experiences with other countries and collaborate further. We should be mindful though that construction practices and methods can be quite different across different countries and so the actions and mechanisms that the UK has put in place would not necessarily be directly transferrable. Experts from the UK participate in both the CEN and ISO committees which facilitate the sharing of international standards. The UK is a member of the Inter-jurisdictional Regula-tory Collaboration Committee (IRCC) which promotes effective international collaboration concerning ‘best current practice’ building regulatory systems.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received about international action to improve fire safety in high-rise dwellings following the Grenfell Tower disaster; and what action they have taken.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Government regularly looks at construction practices in other jurisdictions, seeks to learn from any significant incidents and, where appropriate, are always willing to share our experiences with other countries and collaborate further. We should be mindful though that construction practices and methods can be quite different across different countries and so the actions and mechanisms that the UK has put in place would not necessarily be directly transferrable. Experts from the UK participate in both the CEN and ISO committees which facilitate the sharing of international standards. The UK is a member of the Inter-jurisdictional Regula-tory Collaboration Committee (IRCC) which promotes effective international collaboration concerning ‘best current practice’ building regulatory systems.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government what communication they have had with the governments of (1) Italy, and (2) Spain, about the regulation of building materials used in the construction of high-rise dwellings.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Government regularly looks at construction practices in other jurisdictions, seeks to learn from any significant incidents and, where appropriate, are always willing to share our experiences with other countries and collaborate further. We should be mindful though that construction practices and methods can be quite different across different countries and so the actions and mechanisms that the UK has put in place would not necessarily be directly transferrable. Experts from the UK participate in both the CEN and ISO committees which facilitate the sharing of international standards. The UK is a member of the Inter-jurisdictional Regula-tory Collaboration Committee (IRCC) which promotes effective international collaboration concerning ‘best current practice’ building regulatory systems.