Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release, updated on 18 April 2024, whether any buildings have made new applications to the Waking Watch Replacement Fund since 25 May 2023.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Yes.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many independent audits his Department commissioned under the Developer Self Remediation Terms in relation to building assessments from April 2023 to April 2024.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
To date, the department has commissioned 83 independent audits of assessments obtained by developers. The Government is intending to say more on the status of developer remediation in the weeks ahead.
A developer whose Scheme membership has been revoked would become subject to the prohibitions set out in regulations.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of buildings over 11 metres requiring non-cladding remediation works where the building owner meets (a) the developer test (b) the contribution condition.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 21818 on 23 April 2024.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of publishing monthly data on the number of independent audits conducted on buildings under the developer self-remediation scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
To date, the department has commissioned 83 independent audits of assessments obtained by developers. The Government is intending to say more on the status of developer remediation in the weeks ahead.
A developer whose Scheme membership has been revoked would become subject to the prohibitions set out in regulations.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department can take in the event that a building assessment under the developer self-remediation scheme fails to pass an independent audit on more than one occasion.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
To date, the department has commissioned 83 independent audits of assessments obtained by developers. The Government is intending to say more on the status of developer remediation in the weeks ahead.
A developer whose Scheme membership has been revoked would become subject to the prohibitions set out in regulations.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to extend protections under schedule 8 of the Building Safety Act 2023 to leaseholders irrespective of when service charge demands were issued.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act 2022 already apply irrespective of when service charge demands were issued.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on how many occasions he has used his powers to call in new planning proposals by developers on the basis of their lack of progress in remediating fire safety defects in legacy buildings.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Any announcements will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of classing building insurance as a relevant cost that leaseholders can seek to recover through a remediation contribution order.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The purpose of a Remediation Contribution Order is to contribute to remediation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities how many and what proportion of full-time equivalent roles in his Department related to the Building Safety Programme on 30 April (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Building Safety Programme and initiatives are staffed by civil servants working within the Safer and Greener Buildings section of the department.
As at 30 April 2023, there were 3170.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) roles in the department of which 305.1 FTE roles were within the Safer and Greener Buildings Group.
As at 30 April 2024, there were 3669.5 FTE roles in the department of which 466.7 FTE roles were within the Safer and Greener Buildings Group.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has issued recent guidance to building owners on the timeframe in which they should confirm Cladding Safety Scheme eligibility outcomes to leaseholders.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Cladding Safety Scheme guidance requires the responsible entity to provide regular updates to leaseholders and residents at any time upon their request, including the eligibility outcomes. Further milestones requiring communications to leaseholders are published on GOV.UK for applicants.
It is essential that life safety fire risks associated with cladding are addressed as quickly as possible to ensure that residents are safe and feel safe in their homes. Most applicants have signed the Grant Funding Agreements in a timely manner. For those not signing in reasonable timeframe, Homes England takes additional escalation steps to ensure that the Grant Funding Agreement is signed. This includes frequent communications with the applicant to understand potential blockers, resolve them, and if necessary, escalation to senior stakeholders for action.