Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many candidates have (a) registered for and (b) begun the External Wall System Assessment Training Programme in (i) Birmingham and (ii) the West Midlands as at 21 April 2021.

To speed up valuations where EWS1 forms are justified, the Government is providing nearly £700,000 funding to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to train up to 2,000 more assessors in 2021.

When applying for the External Wall Systems Assessment Training Programme potential candidates are asked to state the geographic area, or multiple areas, where they intend to work. Of the 967 applications to date, 261 indicated that they expected to take on work in the West Midlands. Of the 722 candidates currently enrolled on the course, 213 indicated that they expected to take on work in the West Midlands. We do not hold this information specifically for Birmingham.