Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted
Construction industry faces capacity challenges from ageing workforce and Brexit, impacting remediation acceleration.
Conclusion
We asked witnesses if the construction industry had the capacity to support the acceleration of remediation. The HBF told us acceleration was happening, but that it would be challenging. It outlined some of the challenges facing the sector, including an ageing construction workforce and Brexit, where stricter visa requirements have meant that some European builders have been unable to work in the UK. The Local Government Association (LGA) told us that developers, local councils and housing authorities were competing for the same limited pool of resources and that developers could probably outbid the others. MHCLG told us that it had not seen a shortfall in the capacity of the construction industry but said it was working closely with the Construction Leadership Council to provide modular training, for example, on façade engineering and cladding.32
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the observation and commits to updating the Committee by the end of July 2025 on its work to increase capacity and skills across the building sector to accelerate remediation. It details existing efforts including funding for the Building Safety Regulator and working with mayoral areas to drive remediation.
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.