Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Accepted
Specialist skill shortages for remediation, particularly fire engineering expertise, remain a concern.
Conclusion
In 2020, the previous Committee warned that shortages of specialist skills to support remediation would increase owing to an expected increase in the number of buildings included in the government’s remediation programmes. Following the creation of the Building Safety Fund in 2020, this rose from around 450 buildings with ACM cladding to include a further 1,700 estimated buildings with other types of cladding. As well as a shortage of skills and personnel needed to complete remediation works, the previous Committee heard evidence of a “chronic shortage of fire engineering and safety expertise”, both for enforcement and inspection of buildings with unsafe cladding.26 Responding to the Committee, MHCLG said it had engaged with 23 Qq 1–2; RDC0145, Written evidence submitted by End Our Cladding Scandal; Letter from End Our Cladding Scandal to Chair, Committee of Public Accounts, 17 February 2025; C&AG’s Report, para 1.14 24 Qq 109–114; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Press release, Government to protect leaseholders with new laws to make industry pay for building safety, February 2022 25 Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Redress measures: information sheet, 18 October 2022 26 Committee of Public Accounts, Progress in remediating dangerous cladding, Sixteenth Report of Session 2019-21, HC 406, 16 September 2020, paras 23-25 14 industry from the outset of the programme to ensure sufficient capacity exists, was aware of challenges with fire expertise and had a number of workstreams in train to address these issues.27
Government Response Summary
The government committed to updating the Committee by July 2025 on its ongoing work to increase capacity and skills across the building sector to accelerate remediation, including providing additional funding for the Building Safety Regulator and working with mayoral strategic areas.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: July 2025 The government agrees to update the Committee on the work it is doing to increase capacity and skills across the building sector to accelerate remediation, by the end of July 2025. Progressing remediation and ensuring that residents are safe in their own homes is a priority for this government. Whilst the government accepts that the context is challenging, it does not accept that it has been complacent about the risks identified by the Committee. Examples of the work MHCLG has done to increase capacity and skills across the sector supporting government’s remediation and housebuilding objectives include: providing additional funding to boost the Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) capacity of case officers; improve infrastructure, training and processes to maximise BSR’s operational efficiency; bringing in additional experienced and qualified building control inspectors from private sector Registered Building Control Approvers to bolster its capacity to deal with both remediation work and Gateway applications for new High-Rise Buildings. The department is also working with mayoral strategic areas to drive remediation through Local Remediation Acceleration Plans – bringing together expertise, local knowledge and resources to create single area strategies. In terms of capacity and skills in the construction sector, the department continually monitors and reacts to changes and capacity in the remediation supply chain, via market capacity surveys, supplier engagement forums and through continual liaison and collaboration with delivery partners.