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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what engagement he has had with the Building Safety Regulator since his appointment.

The new Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy recently met with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) leadership, in recognition of the critical role the regulator plays in ensuring the safe design and construction of high-rise buildings.

We understand delays to the assessment of applications are unacceptable, which is why we announced reforms to the BSR on 30 June, including plans to carve out the BSR from the Health and Safety Executive and establish a standalone body with a clear focus on building safety.

In recognition of the performance challenges, and in line with announcement in June, the BSR has already started to make operational and policy changes to speed up decision making particularly on building control approval, including through the introduction of an Innovation Unit. We are seeing early signs of improvement, with all applications in the Innovation Unit so far on track to exceed or meet the 12-week SLA as they progress through the application process.