Recommendation 23

The National Audit Office found that there has been a shortage of skills or personnel needed to complete remediation work.72 However, shortages are not restricted to the removal and replacement of cladding. The Local Government Association wrote to us outlining the “chronic shortage of fire engineering and safety expertise, both in the enforcement and 61 Hansard HC, Written Question 71711, 09 July 2020. 62 Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Advice for Building Owners of Multi-storey, Multi-occupied Residential Buildings, January 2020, para 1.5. 63 Qq 134, 138 64 UK Finance, (RDC0010) 65 Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Updates on Building Safety Reforms, 02 April 2020. 66 Q 134 67 Q 107 68 Qq 104–105, 119 69 Qq 57–58, Association of Residential Managing Agents (RDC0002) 70 Qq 56, 106 71 Association of British Insurers (RDC0007) 72 C&AG’s report, para 1.16 Progress in remediating dangerous cladding 15 inspection field and in the private sector”.73 The supply has also impacted on the External Wall Fire Reviews process for valuations, which requires sign-off by a fire safety expert. The difficulties experienced in acquiring professional indemnity insurance have slowed the pace of the valuation process, which is compounded further by a backlog of cases to address. We raised our concerns with the Department that it can take 12 months or more for the valuation process. The Department told us that this is part of the cross-body work on the External Wall Fire Reviews process.74 We asked the Department to clarify in writing the professional bodies that are qualified to issue the statements of compliance, as this was unclear during the session.75 In a follow-up written response, the Department confirmed that this has been superseded by the External Wall Fire Review and EWS1 form, which requires RICS surveyors and appropriately qualified fire engineers.76