Government announces £42m in funding for new building and fire inspectors

The new recruits will support the work of the new Building Safety Regulator in overseeing the safety and standards of the design, construction and management of higher-risk buildings, as well as strengthening the sector as a whole, the government said in a press release. 

Lee Rowley, the minister for building safety, said:  “The government is delivering important reforms under the Building Safety Act, including introducing the new Building Safety Regulator to oversee building safety and performance. 

“This taxpayer funding will give additional resource to local regulators who will support the work of the regulator in making buildings safer.”

Previous cuts in staff numbers followed a decision to impose ‘self-financing’ requirements on the building control departments of local authorities. Where they could not maintain services through fees paid by builders, staff numbers were reduced. 

Fire service enforcement officer roles have also been cut over the past decade. An investigation by The Guardian newspaper found that the number of enforcement and inspection roles in 26 fire services had fallen from 924 to 680, a loss of 244 officers, between 2011 and 2017.  

Peter Baker, chief inspector of buildings at the Health and Safety Executive, said:  “Local authority and fire and rescue services are vital to the delivery of the new safety regime for higher-risk residential buildings.

“I welcome the work to quickly increase capability and capacity so our regulatory partners can deliver their important roles. Our common goal is ensuring the success of the new regime in keeping residents safe in their homes, now and in the future.”

Lorna Stimpson, chief executive of LABC, a group which represents local authority building control staff as well as providing training and certification services, said: “We are delighted to have secured this funding to provide much-needed additional resources for our local authority members in England. 

“Building control surveyors are a scarce commodity and so it’s important that we start to invest in this previously underfunded but vital public service role.

“We welcome the role that local authority building control will have as part of the new Building Safety Regulator’s multi-disciplinary teams, and in helping to implement the reforms recommended by Dame Judith Hackitt.” 

LABC came under prolonged scrutiny at the Grenfell inquiry because of certificates it had provided which wrongly suggested both of the combustible insulation products used on the tower met the required standards for high-rise buildings, when they did not. 

The inquiry saw that when members of staff at LABC debated the wording of the certificate in 2014, Ms Stimpson jokingly wrote: “These issues have been burning for a LONG time though, hasn’t it?”

When insulation manufacturer Kingspan appeared close to signing up for a number of certificates, Ms Stimpson wrote “fanbloodytastic!!!!!”, while her colleague, Cathal Brennan, said: “We’ll save this failing company yet!”

Under the new regime, building control inspectors, fire inspectors and fire engineers will be the local partner regulators of the new Building Safety Regulator in the Health and Safety Executive.    

The Building Safety Regulator will have new powers and responsibilities to ensure the safety of all buildings and will have additional responsibilities for how higher-risk buildings should be constructed and safely maintained.