Draft Building (Public Bodies and Higher-Risk Building Work) (England) Regulations 2023

Matthew Pennycook Excerpts

Monday 27th March 2023 General Committees

[Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Robert. I thank the Minister for that concise explanation. The regulations, as he said, simply ensure that building control on higher-risk buildings can no longer be undertaken by local authorities and other public bodies with a building control procedural exemption, but must instead be supervised by the new Building Safety Regulator. The regulations are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the new building safety regime. The Opposition will support them.

As the statutory instrument before us is narrow, technical and uncontroversial, I do not intend to detain the Committee for any length of time in debating its specific provisions. I do, however, have two questions for the Minister—I had to work hard to get the questions on this one. First, I note that a full impact assessment has not been produced for the instrument, given that it is judged to have no significant impact, but have the Government made any estimate of how many fewer public body notices are likely to be required under the new regime?

Secondly, and more importantly, the Government sought views on the matter of restricting the activities and functions for building control bodies as part of their consultation on changes to the building control profession and the building control process for approved inspectors. The consultation closed only on 14 March and, according to gov.uk, the feedback submitted is still being analysed. While it is laudable that the Department should seek to move at pace to make amendments to the Building Act 1984 in connection with higher-risk building work carried out by local authorities and any other public bodies, the fact that we are passing the regulations before the consultation responses have even been analysed prompts the question of why the Government asked for feedback in the first place. Will the Minister therefore clarify whether the responses to the consultation have informed the drafting of the statutory instrument in any way, given that none of us would presumably wish to see consultees waste time making submissions that are effectively ignored?

[Lee Rowley]

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s questions. I wrote down his first question, but I have lost it among my documents. Will he remind me of it?

[Matthew Pennycook]

It was about the impact assessment.

[Lee Rowley]

The position is that, because the public body notices are not being utilised and the use of them is therefore minimal, the impact of their usage or the future need for them will also be minimal. On the second point, I am happy to write to the hon. Gentleman, in order not to detain the Committee any longer.

Question put and agreed to.