Building Safety Bill (Third sitting)

Debate between Ian Byrne and Kate Osborne

Tuesday 14th September 2021 Public Bill Committees

[Ian Byrne]

Q Jayne, would you like to add anything to that?

Councillor McCoy: It is essential that there is an accountable person. Trying to find somebody to hold to account for some of the failings that have gone on has been problematic. There needs to be clarification about whether that will be an individual person. It can be an organisation or a representative of the organisation, particularly where councils are landlords, but we need to know who that person will be. Will it be the chief executive or the housing portfolio holder? We need clarification about who that should be. Obviously, they will need to be supported with expertise and skills, and I would expect them to rely on external sources for that expertise; it is important. There are also issues with special purpose vehicles, which have quite complex ownership. To ensure that the work is done and someone is held responsible for getting it done and for ensuring the building is safe, there needs to be a clear line of accountability.

[Kate Osborne]

Q Staying on the subject of accountable persons, they will need access to residents’ premises to fully discharge their responsibilities. How big a problem do you think that could be, and do you think the provisions on that point are appropriate?

Councillor McCoy: That is a key concern of London Councils. We welcome the additional powers that have been put in here, but we do not think they go far enough, especially given that, when you are trying to deal with safety issues, you want to deal with them quickly. At the moment, if people are not co-operative, you have to take people to court and get the access that way. It places some responsibilities on residents, but for an accountable person to be fully accountable for the safety of the building, it has to cover all areas.

We have a problem currently. A leaseholder of a flat in a large building could have all sorts of problems within the flat that, in theory, compromise the safety of the whole building. No one can be accountable for that if they cannot even access the property, so we think that needs to be looked at and worked on with the industry in order to figure out how to address that problem. Without those powers, a person cannot really be held accountable.

Andrew Bulmer: We take a similar view. Ultimately, you are balancing safety against somebody’s right to deny access to their home, and Ministers must decide whether you have to have a court order to go in. That is how it is written now. Getting a court order can be slow, expensive and obstructive, but perhaps that is the right approach if we are to respect people’s rights to the privacy of their own home. From a property manager’s point of view, being purely selfish, it would be much easier if the Bill were written so that we could just go in, but we must recognise that that is potentially an infringement of liberty, and that is for Ministers to decide.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ian Byrne and Kate Osborne

Tuesday 28th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

10. What recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of life expectancy.

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

22. What recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of life expectancy.