Building Safety

Chris Stephens Excerpts

Monday 30th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Leaseholders have no better champion in this House than the Father of the House, and we absolutely will proceed along the lines that the Law Commission has outlined. I know that colleagues in His Majesty’s Treasury will appreciate the benefits that will accrue to the whole national economy through reform. The points that my hon. Friend makes about the insurance sector are well made, totally understood and will be acted on.

[Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)]

I thank the Secretary of State for giving me advance sight of his statement. He has rightly said the quiet part out loud—namely, that faulty and ambiguous Government guidance is to blame, alongside those who exploited a broken system. But his statement was light on the support that will be given to those who are carrying out remediation works. He knows that I have a constituency interest in this regard, with Bell Building Projects carrying out work. What help will be given to companies carrying out remediation works in relation to insurance? He rightly says that insurance companies are throttling the market, so can he say a bit more about what he is doing to assist those who are carrying out the remediation work? Will he give us an assurance that they will be paid on time by Homes England, for example, and that their issues will be timeously dealt with? Will he meet me to discuss some of the issues that this company has been faced in the recent past?

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to the hon. Member. The statement refers specifically to action in England, but we have been working with the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to see what can be done to make buildings safe in those jurisdictions. On his point about remediation work, a number of companies in the private sector across the United Kingdom are contributing to this work and I have already raised with the chairman and chief executive of Homes England the importance of ensuring that they are paid for their work in a timely fashion. I will investigate further to make sure that progress is being made, particularly in the areas of insurance that the hon. Member mentions.