Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department takes to monitor the response times of complaints made against registered architects to the Architects Registration Board.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Architects Registration Board (ARB) is an independent regulator. As the sponsoring department, MHCLG regularly engages with the ARB to stay abreast of its activities. This includes consideration of performance figures, which the ARB publishes quarterly, and any potential risks regarding compliance with its statutory responsibilities. However, MHCLG has no role in the oversight of individual cases or ARB’s operational decisions, to maintain ARB’s regulatory independence.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to take steps to monitor the adequacy of the professional indemnity insurance required for architects; and what steps her Department is taking to help support consumers with consumer recourse.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is important for all architects to maintain appropriate financial protection against liability so that clients and building users have a route to redress in the event of a negligence claim. The independent regulator, the Architects Registration Board (ARB), has set expectations for architects to hold adequate insurance arrangements. MHCLG is supportive of the ARB’s work on this topic and has no plans to implement a monitoring regime for architects’ professional indemnity insurance at the moment.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing water reed to be used as an alternative to thatching straw for protected thatched roofs.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing water reed as an alternative thatching material for historic buildings.
Any works to demolish any part of a listed building or to alter or extend it in a way that affects its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest require listed building consent. It is for local planning authorities to decide whether to grant listed building consent depending on the particular circumstances of each case.