Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The Building Regulations set out high-level functional requirements that most building work – including all new build housing – must meet. The regulations are supported by statutory guidance in the form of Approved Documents (ADs) which set out in more detail how to meet the functional requirements.

It is the responsibility of the building designer to comply with the requirements of the Building Regulations. The relevant building control authority will determine whether building work meets those requirements.

The Building Safety Act and the Government’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry set out how we will strengthen building control procedures, including establishing an independent panel to review the way in which building control is delivered in England. In October 2023, new procedures came into force which provide strengthened regulatory oversight of Building Regulations before, during, and on completion of higher-risk building work. This will ensure safer, better-quality buildings, without systemic defects.

To further reinforce standards, we remain committed to introducing a statutory New Homes Ombudsman scheme that developers will have to join, with an accompanying Code of Practice about the standards of conduct and standards of quality of work expected of members.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The Building Regulations set out high-level functional requirements that most building work – including all new build housing – must meet. The regulations are supported by statutory guidance in the form of Approved Documents (ADs) which set out in more detail how to meet the functional requirements.

It is the responsibility of the building designer to comply with the requirements of the Building Regulations. The relevant building control authority will determine whether building work meets those requirements.

The Building Safety Act and the Government’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry set out how we will strengthen building control procedures, including establishing an independent panel to review the way in which building control is delivered in England. In October 2023, new procedures came into force which provide strengthened regulatory oversight of Building Regulations before, during, and on completion of higher-risk building work. This will ensure safer, better-quality buildings, without systemic defects.

To further reinforce standards, we remain committed to introducing a statutory New Homes Ombudsman scheme that developers will have to join, with an accompanying Code of Practice about the standards of conduct and standards of quality of work expected of members.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government funds the independent Fire Standards Board (FSB) to develop and maintain a comprehensive set of professional standards for fire and rescue services in England. The FSB has published 19 national standards for fire and rescue services: these cover a range of topics relating to operational management, leadership and ethics.

The Government has accepted, in principle, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendation to establish a national college of fire and rescue. The Inquiry report suggested a range of potential functions for a college to fulfil, including the development of policies and procedures to ensure both the effectiveness of fire and rescue services and the safety of firefighters and the public. The Government response to the Inquiry’s report notes that a necessary first step in the process will be to consult on the functions a college should have and how it could best be structured and delivered. We expect to launch this consultation later in the year.

Any future college function relating to national standards would build on the work already undertaken by the FSB.

Answering body: Home Office

Government funding for fire and rescue services is provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) through the Local Government Finance Settlement in the form of revenue support grant (RSG) and retained business rates.

As a recommendation in phase 2 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Prime Minister has announced a Machinery of Government change, which will see all responsibility for fire and rescue transfer to MHCLG from 1st April.

Overall, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. Additionally, Government supports fire and rescue authorities in responding to flood incidents by providing national resilience High Volume Pump (HVP) capability comprising 45 HVPs. These are available to be used by fire & rescue services across the country during major flood incidents.

The Government maintains regular engagement with the National Fire Chiefs Council to monitor and review sector led improvements to wildfire response and mitigation. In addition, the Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to protect communities.

Answering body: Home Office

Government funding for fire and rescue services is provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) through the Local Government Finance Settlement in the form of revenue support grant (RSG) and retained business rates.

As a recommendation in phase 2 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Prime Minister has announced a Machinery of Government change, which will see all responsibility for fire and rescue transfer to MHCLG from 1st April.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

As confirmed in the government’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendation 25, the government will establish a record on GOV.UK of all recommendations made by public inquiries since 2024, and will consider making this an enduring legal requirement. We will update parliament about this in due course.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The government is committed to increasing transparency in the social rented sector, including by enabling residents of Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs) to request access to information about the management of their homes in the same way as other social tenants.

We will work closely with TMOs, local authorities and residents of homes managed by TMOs to consider how best to implement the requirements. Our priority will be to ensure tenants can access as much information as possible on their housing services. We will set out next steps in due course.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

As confirmed in the government’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendation 25, the government will establish a record on GOV.UK of all recommendations made by public inquiries since 2024, and will consider making this an enduring legal requirement. We will update parliament about this in due course.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The government has accepted all the findings of the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report, and we will take forward all of the recommendations. We are committed to fixing all of the problems highlighted by the recommendations, including those we have accepted in principle. We will make sure that we achieve the best outcomes for the public where the implementation of a recommendation requires further consideration, such as through public consultation.

Where the delivery of recommendations or wider commitments we have made in the response document require legislation, we will deliver these measures as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The government has accepted all the findings of the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report, and we will take forward all of the recommendations. We are committed to fixing all of the problems highlighted by the recommendations, including those we have accepted in principle. We will make sure that we achieve the best outcomes for the public where the implementation of a recommendation requires further consideration, such as through public consultation.

Where the delivery of recommendations or wider commitments we have made in the response document require legislation, we will deliver these measures as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Answering body: Ministry of Justice

The Government is committed to improving transparency and accountability in the state’s response to learning from investigations involving state-related deaths and more widely. To this end, we are actively considering how we can most effectively address concerns about the lack of oversight and monitoring of recommendations and findings from public inquiries, inquests and other investigation processes.

For example, in the context of the recent response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report (Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report: Government response (HTML) - GOV.UK), we have undertaken to establish a publicly accessible record of all recommendations made by public inquiries since 2024; we will ensure that this becomes standard practice for all future public inquiry reports; and will consider putting the requirement to maintain such a record on a statutory footing.

In addition, the Ministry of Justice is undertaking a programme of work in light of the Justice Committee’s recent recommendations for the coroner service, including those aimed at better learning from death investigation and other fact-finding processes. This will include further work to improve accessibility to information from coroners’ Prevention of Future Death reports; and to ensure, particularly across government, that lessons from these reports are learned; that learning is disseminated as quickly and widely as possible; and that it is effectively monitored and evaluated. We are also working with the Chief Coroner to identify ways to further improve the transparency and availability of the published reports and accountability for responses to them.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Government has committed to implement a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities. The details of this Bill will be announced in due course.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Residential personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) for which my Rt Hon Friend the Home Secretary currently retains responsibility until the Machinery of Government change comes into effect on 1 April will be introduced through legislation yet to be laid before Parliament. We expect that enforcing authorities under the Fire Safety Order, including Fire and Rescue Authorities, who have a duty to enforce Responsible Persons’ compliance with their duties will also enforce duties in relation to Residential PEEPs.

Under the Building Safety Act, Accountable Persons are required to assess and manage the building safety risks in their building. In doing this they are required to consider the impacts on residents, carry out engagement with residents, and set out in the Residents’ Engagement Strategy and Safety Case report the arrangements for how residents will respond to emergency situations, which can be expected to include the arrangements for putting in place and managing Residential PEEPs once required.

Answering body: Home Office

I met with Anthea Sully, the Chair of the National Fire Chief’s Council’s (NFCC) Independent Challenge and Support Panel, prior to the report’s publication to discuss the panel’s work and its findings.

I welcomed the work of the panel, and its importance given my previous involvement with this work as the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee and now in my ministerial role.

The Government is committed to working with the fire and rescue sector to drive meaningful culture change.

Both the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and several independent reviews of culture in specific fire and rescue services have concluded that poor culture can lead to operational incompetence and therefore present a risk to public safety.

Following the publication of this report, the Government will work where appropriate to support the sector in the delivery and implementation of the 7 calls to action set out in the report to stop racism, misogyny, and other forms of criminal and unacceptable behaviour in the workplace.

Answering body: Ministry of Justice

The Government is clear that Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports are vital in contributing to public safety through learning from death investigation. We expect recipients to have a framework in place for considering any reports they receive, and to take their responses – and related actions - very seriously.

However, we recognise that more needs to be done to improve accessibility to information from PFD reports; and to ensure, particularly across government, that lessons are learned; that this learning is disseminated as quickly and widely as possible; and that it is effectively monitored and evaluated.

We are addressing this issue as part of the reformed, forward-looking framework for coroner services which we intend to deliver in light of the Justice Committee’s recent Inquiries into the Coroner Service, working closely with the Chief Coroner, local authorities and other key partners. The Government’s formal responses to the Committee were provided on 10 September 2021 and 10 December 2024 respectively.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

I want to provide the House with an update on the Government’s work with the Grenfell community and on my decision about the future of Grenfell Tower.

Supporting the community

Learning the lessons from the Grenfell tragedy and ensuring lasting change are key priorities for the government. In his statement to this House in September, the Prime Minister committed to supporting the community now and always, and to building a legacy of change in their name.

I am committed to supporting bereaved families, survivors and immediate community, and working to ensure that we never see a repeat of the tragedy. Since my appointment, I have valued hearing directly from the community about the issues that matter to them.

Grenfell Tower

I am responsible for Grenfell Tower and for making a decision about its future. I understand that this is a deeply personal matter for those affected, and I am keeping their voice firmly at the heart of this decision making.

I would like to update the House that over the last week I have met bereaved families and survivors, and residents in the immediate community to explain my decision that Grenfell Tower will be carefully taken down.

Listening to the community

I have reached this decision after listening carefully to the community, and I am grateful to everyone who has shared their personal stories and views, especially bereaved and survivors.

In November last year, I explained to families that I would listen to their views and make sure their voices were heard, as well as to consider expert information before making a decision on the future of the Tower in February.

From November I offered bereaved and survivors the opportunity to meet in-person in North Kensington and Whitehall, or online, at different times and individually when families felt more comfortable with this. I have also spent time with representative groups, residents’ associations, schools and faith leaders. I am grateful to everyone who shared their view – whether directly with me, with the Minister or officials – and especially to the bereaved and survivors.

The Tower was the home of the 72 innocent people who lost their lives, and of survivors whose lives were forever changed. It is clear from conversations it remains a sacred site. It is also clear that there is not a consensus about what should happen to it.

For some, Grenfell Tower is a symbol of all that they lost. The presence of the Tower helps to ensure the tragedy is never forgotten and can act as a reminder of the need for justice and accountability. Being able to see the Tower every day helps some people continue to feel close to those they lost. For others it is a painful reminder of what happened and is having a daily impact on some members of the community. Some have suggested that some floors of the Tower should be retained for the memorial, others have said that this would be too painful.

Expert advice

I also considered independent expert advice. Engineering advice says that the Tower is significantly damaged. It remains stable because of the measures put in place to protect it but even with installation of additional props, the condition of the building will continue to worsen over time. Engineers also advise it is not practicable to retain many of the floors of the building in place as part of a memorial that must last in perpetuity.

Taking the engineering advice into account I have concluded that it would not be fair to keep some floors of the building that are significant to some families, whilst not being able to do so for others and knowing that, for some, this would be upsetting.

How the Tower will be taken down

The government is committed to taking the next steps respectfully and carefully. There will be continued support for, and engagement with, the community throughout the process.

In the coming months, the government will confirm the specialist contractor that will develop a detailed plan for taking the Tower down. The work will be led by technical experts with specific health and safety responsibilities and will include a methodology that includes environmental, health and safety measures and a detailed programme of work. The views the community have shared already will inform the plans. The department will continue to work with them, for example on arrangements to pay their respects.

There will be no changes to the Tower before the eighth anniversary.  It will likely take around two years to sensitively take down the Tower through a process of careful, progressive deconstruction that happens behind the wrapping.

We continue to support the independent Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission as the community choose a design team to work with them on designing a memorial.

I will ensure that parts of the Tower or materials from the site can be carefully removed and returned for inclusion as part of the memorial, if the community wishes.

The department has regularly consulted the Metropolitan Police, HM Coroner and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry to ensure decisions about the site do not interfere with their important work in pursuit of justice and accountability. The Police and HM Coroner have again recently confirmed they have everything they need.

Continued commitment for the community

My commitment to the community continues. I will ensure bereaved families, survivors and residents continue to have opportunities to speak with me and the Building Safety Minister on issues that matter to them most.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

We are considering the recommendations set out in the Grenfell Inquiry report. The Prime Minister has committed to respond in full to the Inquiry’s recommendations within 6 months and to update Parliament annually on our progress against every commitment made.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Currently, the fire engineering profession is undefined and not regulated in law. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry report makes a number of recommendations in respect of fire engineering sector including the recommendation that the profession be recognised and protected by law and that an independent body be established to regulate the profession, define the standards required for membership, maintain a register of members and regulate their conduct.

Following the publication of the Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry Report, the Department is reviewing the findings and recommendations in relation to the fire engineering sector. No assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Institution of Fire Engineers as a regulatory body for fire engineers.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) registers and sets competency standards for all building inspectors. As part of that work, it is clear that there are capacity issues across the sector. We have invested £16.5 million to support capacity building in local authorities and continue to encourage all authorities to invest in this area.

We will keep the powers of building inspectors under review and are working to see if there are ways in which they should be strengthened. For all higher risk buildings, the BSR remains the building control authority.

The role of local authorities within the building control system is linked to recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report. The Government is carefully considering all such recommendations, and we will respond by March.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) registers and sets competency standards for all building inspectors. As part of that work, it is clear that there are capacity issues across the sector. We have invested £16.5 million to support capacity building in local authorities and continue to encourage all authorities to invest in this area.

We will keep the powers of building inspectors under review and are working to see if there are ways in which they should be strengthened. For all higher risk buildings, the BSR remains the building control authority.

The role of local authorities within the building control system is linked to recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report. The Government is carefully considering all such recommendations, and we will respond by March.

Answering body: Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office is undertaking a review of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s findings for evidence of supplier failures, and is identifying if organisations involved in the tragedy are still in government supply chains as subcontractors. The government will support action on these findings, which could include issuing guidance on exclusions to the public sector where appropriate.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

It is important that government carefully considers the findings and recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report in full. When the report was published in September, the Prime Minister indicated that the government will respond to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s 58 recommendations within six months and update Parliament annually on progress against every commitment made.

Answering body: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Our assessment remains that building safety related remediation works are required in a very small number of buildings under 11m in height. We already expect building owners to undertake assessments of their buildings to identify internal and external wall fire safety defects and remediate them at pace where they are life critical.

Those developers that have signed the Developer Remediation Contract are required to remediate internal fire safety defects arising from design and construction, we will continue to make sure that developers meet the contract obligations and are auditing their fire risk assessments and will hold them to account.

We maintain that the responsibility for the costs of fixing historical cladding and building fire safety defects should rest with building owners. They should not pass these costs on to leaseholders but should seek to recover costs from those who were responsible for building unsafe homes.

Alongside taking action to increase the pace of remediation, following consideration of the phase 2 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, we will announce further measures to protect leaseholders.