Committee publication · Correspondence · 14 May 2025
Letter from the Chair to the Secretary of State and the Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Local Growth dated 14 May 2025 concerning the Committee's finding and recommendations on Grenfell and Building Safety
From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Inquiry: Grenfell and Building Safety
Summary
The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee writes to the Secretary of State and Minister for Building Safety following its inquiry into Grenfell and building safety. The Committee welcomes the Government's acceptance of Phase 2 Grenfell Inquiry recommendations but emphasises urgent need for independent oversight mechanisms, adequate building control sector capacity, clear regulatory boundaries, BSR operational improvements, building remediation acceleration, leaseholder protections, and attention to fire service culture issues.
Key findings
- Independent oversight mechanism lacking: despite Government acceptance of Phase 2 recommendations, witnesses (INQUEST, Grenfell United, Grenfell Next of Kin) stressed urgent need for formal, independent monitoring; gov.uk tracker and annual parliamentary updates are insufficient.
- Community engagement gaps: Grenfell survivors report Phase 2 inquiry missed recommendations on tenant voice; bereaved family members from minority ethnic backgrounds (85% of deceased) feel overlooked and under-represented in memorial and demolition consultations.
- Building control sector capacity crisis: 50%+ of surveyors in their 50s; 150 recruited in 2 years but many lost; austerity legacy and lack of training impede recruitment; Building Safety Regulator must be appointed urgently to address future of sector.
- BSR operational bottlenecks: rejecting 70% of Gateway 2 applications, invalidating 40% before assessment; delays up to 48 weeks for sign-off; applications show poor quality and understanding of fire/structural safety management.
- Remediation and funding: Building Safety Levy delayed to autumn 2026; £3.4bn target at risk; social landlords face funding access barriers; leaseholder protections remain inadequate; care home sprinkler mandate excludes existing buildings despite fire safety concerns.
Recommendations
- Establish formal implementation monitoring system for all public inquiry recommendations, considering inclusion in 'Hillsborough Bill'; system must be in place before 10 June 2027 (tenth anniversary of Grenfell fire).
- Consider establishing Parliamentary Public Inquiries Committee as recommended by Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee.
- Prior to future Grenfell site decisions, maintain full up-to-date contact list of those affected (including bereaved living abroad) and ensure all contacted for input.
- Encourage Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission to review processes for ensuring diversity of voices, particularly bereaved family members abroad.
- Appoint independent panel on building control as soon as possible; consider giving it statutory footing; panel must deliver recommendations by autumn 2025 with plan for recruiting and funding building control professionals and fire engineers.
- Consult on Construction Products Green Paper; ensure new single construction regulator's role is clear and distinct from Building Safety Regulator and Office for Product Safety and Standards.
- Review how to support Building Safety Regulator's day-to-day operations; consider changing remit to allow organisation-by-organisation enforcement; work with BSR and sector to improve quality of building control applications.
- Write to Committee explaining how Government will address developer concerns about Building Safety Levy impact on housing supply before autumn 2026 implementation; provide updated revenue estimate; if lower than £3.4bn, set out steps to fund gap through other sources (preferably developer contributions).
- Ensure social housing providers have equal access to remediation funding as private landlords to enable maintenance of existing and construction of new social housing.
- Allocate sufficient Spending Review funding to responsible parties for Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans for all disabled residents in high-rise buildings.
- Urgently review decision to mandate sprinklers in new care homes but not existing; if policy persists, set out inspection plans for building owner fire safety arrangements in existing care homes.
- Publish refreshed Remediation Acceleration Plan (summer 2025) accounting for Public Accounts Committee conclusions on leaseholder protections.
- Keep Committee updated on Home Office-to-MHCLG fire responsibility transition; report any issues and resolution plans.
- Implement Home Affairs Committee's recommendations on fire and rescue service workplace culture; ensure new Minister advances commitment to address bullying and harassment.
Tone
CriticalTopics
building-safetygrenfellpublic-inquirieshousing-regulationfire-safety
Key actors
Angela Rayner (Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government), Alex Norris (Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Local Growth), Deborah Coles (Executive Director, INQUEST), Edward Daffarn (Grenfell United survivor and spokesperson), Karim Khalloufi (Grenfell Next of Kin bereaved family member), Lorna Stimpson (Chief Executive, Local Authority Building Control), Philip White (Director of Building Safety, Building Safety Regulator), Andy Roe (London Fire Commissioner)
Notable line
“It is very clear that the bereaved and survivors want meaningful, structural change to happen … yet the need for a more robust system to scrutinise the implementation of report recommendations, [the Government] only accepted in principle. That is a real betrayal.”
Key Quotes
“It is very clear that the bereaved and survivors want meaningful, structural change to happen … yet the need for a more robust system to scrutinise the implementation of report recommendations, [the Government] only accepted in principle. That is a real betrayal.”
“We have been told by her repeatedly that [ … ] this is something that is going to happen, yet when we try to actually establish a timeline for it [ … ] we are told that it is something that is likely to happen down the track, and I am afraid that is just simply not good enough.”
“85% of the people who died were black and brown people. The immediate families of these people didn't have a lot of say in the inquiry […] We continue to have obstacles and we continue to have hostility.”
“Over 50% of building control surveyors are in their 50s. [ … ] we need to bring more people into the profession as soon as possible. [ … ] we need to draw on those people's experience before we lose them .”
“… quite serious failings in terms of the fact we have to reject nearly 70% of building control applications for the Gateway 2 process…nearly 40% of applications have to be invalidated before they even get assessed”
“If a single person says we failed, that matters much more than what I think [ … ] To improve that in future we are trying to have much better systems so that people are not falling between mailing lists.”
“… today we are talking about high-rise and medium- rise buildings…[but] there is a much more complex landscape of risk…We effectively are custodians of 3.8 million separate dwellings in London, 1 million businesses, and over 500 transport hubs and major infrastructure.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗