Welsh ministers to introduce a Welsh Fire Safety Bill (in 2025)

Welsh ministers to introduce a Welsh Fire Safety Bill (in 2025) 8 years after Grenfell.

"Higher-risk buildings" in the new system (in Wales) will include all buildings (of all heights) containing two or more homes, with some exceptions, not only those of 18m or above.

Wed 13 November 2024 at 11:30 pm GMT

Wales’ housing secretary confirmed plans to bring forward a welsh building safety bill in 2025, eight years after 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London. Wales’ housing secretary Jayne Bryant MS told the Senedd that accountability will be at the heart of the bill, which will reform the regulation of safety risks in multi-occupied residential buildings.

Ms Bryant, appointed in July 2024, said the new system (in Wales) will include all buildings containing two or more homes, with some exceptions, not only those of 18m or above.

The Welsh Housing Secretary described progress on fire safety in Wales as comparable to England, with Scotland and Northern Ireland both significantly behind.

Ms Bryant MS promised to emphasise the urgency of remediating fire safety issues during a meeting with developers this week.

The Conservatives’ Janet Finch-Saunders MS said only 2 per cent of buildings have completed the required safety work despite many promises by the Welsh Government.

The Aberconwy MS (Janet Finch-Saunders) pointed out that ministers’ plans to pass a building safety bill by 2026 will come more than eight years after the Grenfell Tower disaster.

She said those affected feel completely despondent: “Let's not forget, these people are living in unsafe, at-risk-of-fire properties, and they're unsellable – they are stuck in that situation.”

Mark Isherwood, the Tory shadow housing secretary, warned delays and gaps persist despite claims progress is being made on building safety reforms.

Mr Isherwood said people’s safety concerns should be prioritised rather than side-lined in bureaucracy.

Siân Gwenllian MS, Plaid Cymru’s shadow housing secretary, raised concerns about tenants and residents living under clouds of uncertainty and risk for too long.

Siân Gwenllian MS said: “We need to ensure that developers keep to their commitments but also that the government has clear outcomes for any developers that fail to reach the standards.”

Ms Gwenllian called for clarity on consequential funding for Wales after the UK Government budget, with investment in remediation set to rise to more than £1bn in 2025/26.

Jane Dodds MS, the Liberal Democrats’ leader in Wales, said it is unacceptable that addressing fire safety has taken so long following the Grenfell tragedy.

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The Statement and the minor debate on the issues in the proposed bill in the Senedd (Welsh Parliament)

Jayne Bryant16:36:46 Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government

Diolch, Deputy Llywydd. (Llywydd = “Speaker” of the Senedd) The Grenfell Tower inquiry phase 2 report published in September 2024 reiterates the need for urgent and decisive action. Officials are carefully considering the report’s recommendations, but our initial view is that the recommendations align well with our intended reforms in Wales. I am therefore pleased to have this opportunity to share the progress being made to address building safety in Wales, including progress to reform the design, construction and occupation of buildings, as well as progress on remediating buildings in Wales.252

I’d like to start with an update on the new building control regime in Wales. As members will be aware, a review of building safety in Wales was conducted by the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, the recommendations of which were published in August 2024. The Welsh Government accepted the recommendations, and we are reviewing the findings to take the necessary works forward. To date, we have introduced tighter regulations of higher risk buildings, as well as a new regulatory system for registration and oversight of the building control profession, including building control approvers and building inspectors working in both the private sector and local authorities.253

The next stage of reforms to the building control regime in Wales will deal with dutyholder roles, gateways, golden thread of information, mandatory occurrence reporting and compliance, and stop notices. A consultation on these reforms is scheduled for spring 2025. Today, I am pleased to confirm the building safety (Wales) Bill will be introduced before summer recess in 2025. The Bill will establish a new regime in Wales focusing on the occupation phase of a building’s life cycle. It will cover the regulation of building safety risks in multi-occupied residential buildings. The new (welsh) regime will include, with some exceptions, all residential buildings that contain two or more residential units, and not just those of 18m and above.254

Deputy Llywydd, accountability is at the heart of our proposals. Our plans include the introduction of accountable persons, who will be responsible for assessing and managing building safety risks in these buildings. Responsibilities will differ depending on building height, but across all in-scope buildings the proposals will place statutory duties on accountable persons, with a principal accountable person for each building having certain key duties.  Certain houses in multiple occupation will be in scope of the fire safety provisions in the Bill. However, they (HIMOs) will not be subject to the wider duties that will be introduced through the Bill, such as registration, as they are already regulated.255

I'm pleased to confirm local authorities will regulate the new occupation phase regime, including holding the register of in-scope buildings. They will work closely with the fire and rescue authorities, who will remain responsible for regulating many of the fire safety measures that will form part of the Bill. As the regulators for the new regime, it is important local authorities contribute to the development of our policy for the Bill. To this end, we have held a series of workshops, attended by local authorities and the fire and rescue authorities, that have helped inform our thinking. I'm grateful to those that have attended these sessions for the time they have given to support this work.256

This month, we will be delivering further workshops with local authorities to focus on resourcing implications of the new regulatory duties. We will be discussing strategies needed to ensure local authorities are ready to take on their new duties. We have commissioned an analysis of the cost and resourcing implications of the proposals, which will inform these ongoing discussions. Considerable engagement with wider stakeholders, including leaseholder representatives, managing agents and residents, has also been undertaken. Officials recently held webinar sessions, which I understand were very well attended. This engagement is crucial to ensure we have a regime that meets the needs of residents and is fit for the future.257

Deputy Llywydd, I want to ensure that the new regime empowers residents by placing their lived experience, safety and well-being at its heart. The regime will set out clear requirements to support residents with enhanced rights and a stronger voice in building safety matters affecting their homes.  In support of this approach, we commissioned independent researchers to engage with residents living in multi-occupied residential buildings in both the social and private sectors. The findings reinforced the importance of placing residents at the heart of our proposals. I encourage you to read the report of this engagement work, which was published on the Welsh Government’s website on 5 November. 258

I'm pleased to report the joint inspection team undertook their first inspection in September 2024, in Cardiff. A risk assessment tool has been developed to prioritise buildings for inspection. It is anticipated that approximately 30 buildings will be inspected by March 2026.  An evaluation of the joint inspection team is planned, with procurement under way, to ensure lessons learned from the inspections are taken forward into the new regime. Deputy Llywydd, to date, we have identified 407 buildings in our building safety remediation programme, but we know there are more. The work of the joint inspection team will support the identification of new buildings, directing them to submit an expression of interest as a first step to obtain support from the programme.259

I would like to take this opportunity to provide an update on our building safety remediation programme. Forty-three per cent of these buildings have either been completed, had works started, or do not require fire safety works. Remediation plans are in development on 37 per cent of the buildings, and we are working with the remaining 20 per cent of the buildings to identify remediation work. I'm also pleased to confirm Watkin Jones plc is the twelfth developer to sign our contract. I look forward to Watkin Jones working at pace to rectify in-built fire safety issues in buildings they have developed in Wales.260

Deputy Llywydd, I will be meeting developers this week and will impress upon them the urgency of remediating in-built fire safety issues. Please be assured that even if you're not seeing people in hard hats doing works, we are working closely with managing agents and developers to ensure contractors are on site and works are completed as quickly as possible.  Regular updates on our remediation programme are available in our (Welsh) building safety newsletter, and I would encourage anyone with an interest in the programme to sign up for these updates. Diolch.261

Mark Isherwood 16:44:57

Following the Grenfell Tower disaster, there was a clear and urgent need to reflect on arrangements for building safety in Wales and across the United Kingdom, and to establish whether the building safety sector is meeting its purpose. The UK Government's response to the Hackitt inquiry was contained in the Building Safety Act 2022, Part 3 of which also applies to Wales, including allowing Welsh Ministers to define a higher risk building, requiring councils in Wales to carry out work on higher risk buildings and requiring the registration of building control staff. The principal difference between England and Wales is the role of a new building safety regulator, which will be carried out by local authorities in Wales. However, the Auditor General for Wales's report on building safety in Wales last year stated that responsible bodies, particularly local authorities and fire and rescue, are unable to effectively discharge their responsibilities and ensure that buildings in Wales are safe. So, what action are you taking with local authorities to address the concerns expressed by the auditor general about the absence of robust plans, clear decision making and adequate resources, so that they can ensure that buildings in Wales are safe?262

The Welsh Government announced a consultation on the second phase of the new building control regime in Wales, due to be launched towards the end of 2024, to include duty-holder roles, including for contractors, clients and designers, gateway mechanisms during the design and construction process, and information and mandatory occurrence reporting. A consultation will also be launched regarding the planned Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, and new guidance for fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats is being developed. What update can you therefore provide on the timelines for these, whether and when any resulting actions will be taken and how these will then be monitored and evaluated?263

You confirmed today that the building safety (Wales) Bill will be introduced before the summer recess in 2025, which will presumably mean different building regulations between Wales and England. How will you therefore ensure that this won't disincentivise developers and builders from building in Wales, especially given the Chartered Institute of Building's recent report, which found that some Welsh companies prefer to seek work across the border due to bureaucratic red tape, while new policy and legislation is not filtering down to smaller construction companies? End of quote.264

The Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, which I chair, published its 'Building Safety in Wales' report in August. We heard about the workforce and service planning issues that face the industry that require further intervention and investment. It is vitally important that more is done to ensure that the industry remains an attractive place to work and attracts new candidates who can be the future of the sector. We believe that intervention from central Government is necessary to effect positive change in this area and the committee feels that the Welsh Government could quickly have a positive impact. How, therefore, do you respond to the statement in the committee report that the flow of staff from council to approved instructors has slowed in recent years, with the auditor general noting that private sector firms were now also beginning to struggle to recruit sufficiently qualified and experienced staff?265

As our report states, a mixed market of both public and private sector building control services has existed in England and Wales since 1984, and the Welsh Government noted both that it would further review the mixed-market approach, pending research from the UK Government, and that a decision was taken to only allow local authorities to discharge building control functions for buildings classified as being of higher risk, in line with the recommendations of the Hackitt inquiry. Although the Welsh Government accepted our recommendation that it should develop a national building safety workforce plan, what are the timelines for this? When will it be implemented? And how will it then be evaluated and monitored?  The Welsh Government accepted our recommendation that it should work with stakeholders in the building control sector to implement a nationwide scheme for the recruitment of trainees and apprentices. What are the timelines for this and when will it be implemented and how will it then be monitored and evaluated?266

Finally, what action, if any, do you propose to address the situation in which leaseholders in England are able to bring action to force developers to pay their fair share of the costs of remediation, but those in Wales are having to navigate layers of bureaucracy in order to achieve similar results?267

Jayne Bryant16:50:08

Diolch, Mark, and thank you for the series of questions within that. You started off with the issues around Grenfell, and we, as the Welsh Government, are committed to ensuring the highest standards of building safety for residents in Wales. We welcome the publication of that Grenfell inquiry phase 2 report, and we are carefully considering the findings and recommendations. We are working closely with officials at the UK Government, and further information on the Welsh Government's response to those recommendations will be announced in the new year.268

You moved on to some other issues around engagement and the audit report. The Welsh Government is confident in the approach we have taken to identify buildings, with responsible persons submitting expressions of interest to the Welsh building safety programme since September 2021. However, if there is more work to do to identify every building in scope within that, we will do it. We're working closely with managing agents, as well as our recently formed joint inspection team, to target and identify further buildings, and I'd encourage responsible persons who have yet to submit expressions of interest to do so as soon as possible.269

Again, with a number of points, you talked about local authorities. Our landscape of buildings and the scope of our proposals are different to England. We've only got 171 buildings of 18m and above, with up to five new buildings of this height annually. Most of these buildings are concentrated in Swansea and Cardiff. Unlike England, our proposals extend to multi-occupied residential buildings of less than 18m, so we need to tailor the regulation function to meet the needs of Wales. We do see local authorities as best placed to take the lead in regulating for wider building safety. Local authorities already hold a significant amount of experience in engaging with residents and in overseeing registration requirements for other regimes, so I think they are very much best placed to do that work.270

Again, there were other points you raised around the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee. The Welsh Government, as you know, has responded to and accepted all of those recommendations.

Work is ongoing with the Welsh Local Government Association and other supporting bodies to progress those recommendations.

I'm pleased to confirm that eight building control trainees have been recruited in Wales since earlier this year, with match funding from the Welsh Government and local authority building control. It's really good to see those coming through, and I look forward to more in the future, because it is really important that we have that skill set within our local authorities.