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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the (a) resourcing and (b) powers of Local Authority building inspectors.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) registers and sets competency standards for all building inspectors. As part of that work, it is clear that there are capacity issues across the sector. We have invested £16.5 million to support capacity building in local authorities and continue to encourage all authorities to invest in this area.

We will keep the powers of building inspectors under review and are working to see if there are ways in which they should be strengthened. For all higher risk buildings, the BSR remains the building control authority.

The role of local authorities within the building control system is linked to recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report. The Government is carefully considering all such recommendations, and we will respond by March.