Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of licensing building companies.

The Grenfell Inquiry recommended that principal contractors wanting to work on higher-risk buildings should need a licence, which would be managed by the construction regulator. It also recommended that when applying for building control approval for these buildings, the principal contractor should include a personal undertaking from a company director or senior manager. We accept this and will work on creating a licensing system that works for the industry and the public.

We support stronger accountability and competence of principal contractors and are considering how to achieve this without creating unnecessary layers of regulation and barriers to the supply of new homes.