Recommendation 20

HM Government Acknowledged

48. The Government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation that it keep the objectives of the Building Safety Regulator under review, and we believe the draft Bill already contains the appropriate mechanisms for review. 49. We are grateful to the Committee for recognising the strong case for the Building Safety Regulator starting its life with clear objectives around securing safety and improving building standards. The Government believes these are the right statutory objectives for the Building Safety Regulator at the present time. 50. The Government does not believe that it would be necessary or beneficial to make property protection a statutory objective of the Building Safety Regulator, at this time. Our view is that the priority should be safety of people and standards of buildings. A focus on property protection would risk undermining those objectives and diluting the focus of the regulator. 51. The Government will regularly review the Building Safety Regulator’s objectives, alongside the effectiveness of the Regulator and the building regulatory system. Clause 34 of the draft Bill therefore, requires that the Government regularly commissions an independent review of the effectiveness of the provisions set out in the Bill and the Building Act 1984, and of the effectiveness of the Building Safety Regulator. 52. As required under clause 34 of the draft Bill, the independent reviewer will consider the Building Safety Regulator’s objectives, and how well it is performing against them. The first review will occur no more than five years after Royal Assent. We believe that would be the appropriate point to consider whether there is a case for extending the Building Safety Regulator’s obj