Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase the number of claims processed by the Building Safety Regulator.

We are aware that there have been delays for applicants in Gateway Two. The Building Safety Regulator have told applicants to currently plan on the basis of 20 weeks to clear Gateway Two, although we are seeing signs that this processing time is improving. This is compared to the Service Level Agreement of 12 weeks for new builds. We also understand there are specific applications which exceed current average processing timescales.

The new regulatory approach for building control on higher-risk buildings represents a fundamental shift in the approach to building safety. The introduction of the new regulatory regime initially resulted in a lot of poor quality and incomplete applications. The BSR are supporting applicants to ensure they are meeting the functional requirements of the building regulations. It is worth noting that the requirements in the regulations are not new and rejected applications contribute to the processing time of compliant applications.

We recognise the changes are still bedding in, however it is clear that the sector must also take responsibility for the projects they deliver. Guidance is available to support them in understanding their duties.

MHCLG and BSR have taken the following actions to enable applications to be processed more efficiently:

• The BSR has recruited additional personnel and they are starting to process applications.
• The department has granted funding to HSE this financial year to improve its infrastructure, training and processes to maximise the BSR’s efficiency and effectiveness.
• MHCLG and the BSR are also reviewing how the multidisciplinary teams which assess applications are resourced, to enable faster stand-up times.
• We are aware of the wider issues with capacity and capability faced by the sector and the Government has invested £16.5 million in new local authority building control inspectors to support the BSR. The Government has also provided funding to support 111 additional Fire and Rescue staff to support the BSR. Work to recruit and train these additional staff is well underway.
• BSR continues to review guidance to industry on compliance with the building regulations.