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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of professionals available to complete EWS1 forms; and what steps he is taking to increase the number of people who are qualified to undertake that role.

The Department is aware that there are capacity challenges with the availability of professionals to undertake fire safety assessments of external wall systems. We are working with industry on measures that will boost the number of professionals who can undertake this work.

The Department is also working with the insurance industry on solutions to address constraints in private indemnity insurance that impact professional capacity.