Today the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, announced the government is implementing all of the Hackitt recommendations.
The statement said: The government will create a stronger regulatory framework that will provide national leadership to drive improvements in building safety… The government wants the new regulatory structure to draw on the expertise of key existing regulators: the HSE, Fire and Rescue Authorities and local authority building control.
The government will establish a new Joint Regulators Group to help us develop and pilot new approaches and, in due course, to assist with the transition to a new regulatory framework, starting as soon as practicable…This Group will draw together the expertise of the HSE, LABC, the Fire and Rescue Services through the NFCC, LGA and others as needed.
LABC welcomes this announcement and is working with colleagues from the Local Government Association (LGA), National Fire Chief’s Council (NFCC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to accelerate progress and to identify and run pilots.
LABC chief executive, Paul Everall, commented: “The Secretary of State has shown leadership by recognising the need for systemic reform of the building safety regime by implementing Dame Judith Hackitt recommendations in full.
“LABC has pledged to provide full support to the new Joint Regulators Group and we are ready with resources, people and expertise. LABC already has the largest group of experienced building control surveyors with demonstrable competency in fire safety in England and Wales – all validated by the Institution of Fire Engineers. And we have been heavily investing in standards and competencies – supported by our UKAS accredited quality management systems. This has combined with a 16% rise in recruitment across public service building control which means we are ideally placed to provide the expert support this shadow regulator needs.”
