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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 29 July 2024 to Question 815 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, what steps she plans to take to empower (a) regulators and (b) local authorities to act.

The pace of remediation has been unacceptably slow. Work is underway through existing programmes to bring together local actors, enforcers and partners to drive efficiencies in the current operation. In parallel, we are developing a comprehensive action plan that will tackle the root causes of the problem, and we will be announcing these in the autumn.

The government’s Recovery Strategy Unit continues to take action against the most egregious actors to force them to fix their buildings and hold them to account for the cost of remediation. To date, the Unit has successfully obtained 10 remediation orders against Grey GR, a subsidiary of Railpen, and Wallace Estates Ltd ensuring 900 homes will be safer. The Unit is now seeking to recover c£72 million of taxpayer and leaseholder funding through remediation contribution orders from Yianis Group, Hollybrook Homes and Urban Splash. Further action will follow.

Buildings in remediation programmes that require additional action are escalated by the department to regulators, as additional pressure from local regulators can help to unblock buildings. Local authorities, fire and rescue services, and the Building Safety Regulator have a range of tools to compel building owners to fix their unsafe building. Regulators have long-standing powers under the Housing Act 2004 and Fire Safety Order 2005. The Building Safety Act 2022 bolstered these powers by introducing remediation orders and remediation contribution orders.

We provide funding to local authorities directly, to support their enforcement action, with more than £14 million in funding given to local authorities since November 2022. We also fund the Joint Inspection Team, a specialist team of building safety experts who support councils on building safety inspections.

The Deputy Prime Minister wrote to mayoral authorities on 13 September to support and empower them to deliver local remediation acceleration plans, using their convening powers, relationships and local knowledge. I will convene roundtables to bring together metro mayors with the Building Safety Regulator, National Fire Chiefs Council, Local Government Association, and other key partners, to support and drive forward this critical work.