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 potential impact of the Building Safety Regulator's process delays on the delivery of infrastructure improvements to hospitals.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) are working closely with NHS Estates and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to understand the potential impact of the new more stringent, higher-risk building control regime on building work in hospitals. We have taken several steps to ensure that building control applications are processed as smoothly as possible, including:

• Inviting the NHS Estates to share a forward look of planned projects relating to hospitals so that BSR can prepare to process applications.

• Undertaking detailed engagement with DHSC and NHS England to assess issues related to hospitals in the building control process and find short-, medium- and long-term solutions.

• Working with NHS England to produce guidance and a supporting webinar to help Trusts understand where building work is regulated by the BSR versus where it is regulated by a Registered Building Control Approver or Local Authority.

• Working with NHS England supporting them in producing targeted guidance for trusts on making building control approval applications.

• Introducing a dedicated team within the BSR focused on building control approval applications for hospitals.