Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason (a) version 2 of the Construction Leadership Council’s guidance stated that no construction work should be carried out on site if social distancing could not be enforced and (b) that guidance was relaxed in version 3 of that publication.

The Construction Leadership Council has developed Site Operating Procedures (SOP), which align with Public Health England (PHE) guidance on social distancing. The SOP provides practical advice to those seeking to implement the guidance on construction sites.

Following consultation with the industry, Version 3 was published to better align with PHE guidance. Version 3 provides more detailed advice on safe working, based on the latest guidance and incorporating an approach based on the Health and Safety Executive Hierarchy of Controls for work planning to mitigate risks.