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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department intends to develop Safety Schemes in Procurement and the Common Assessment Standard to reduce duplication in safety accreditation requirements for contractors.

As part of our wider work on building professions, trades and occupations, we will consider the role that schemes such as Safety Schemes in Procurement and the Common Assessment Standard can play in supporting competence and reducing unnecessary duplication. We continue to develop options to deliver the Grenfell Inquiry recommendation on principal contractor licensing to ensure principal contractors working on higher-risk buildings are appropriately qualified and competent. Future reforms will be informed by the duty holder review and our call for evidence, including consideration of how existing assurance arrangements support competence. We expect to publish the findings from the review in late 2026.