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Hyde boss gets role on official panel to implement new safety regime
The boss of Hyde Housing has been chosen as part of a new steering group led by Dame Judith Hackitt to drive the government’s Building Safety Programme.
Elaine Bailey, chief executive of Hyde Housing, has been named alongside 14 other industry leaders as part of the newly formed Industry Safety Steering Group (ISSG) responsible for driving improvements in building safety and cultural change in the construction sector following the Grenfell Tower fire.
The ISSG will be chaired by Dame Judith, the author of the Building a Safer Future review, which called for an overhaul of the regulatory regime for tower blocks.
In December the government pledged to take forward all of the recommendations in the Hackitt Review, and committed to a “programme of reform” over the next few years which would include tougher sanctions on building owners and companies that show a disregard for building safety.
The group was first trailed in July by housing secretary James Brokenshire when he announced he would be reviewing building fire safety guidance.
Other names in the ISSG include: Nick Coombe, vice chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council protection committee; Dr David Snowball, acting chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive; and Jeremy Pocklington, director general, housing at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) (see below).
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The names were revealed in a document published last week by the MHCLG, which also set out the terms of reference for the newly formed group.
The group will be charged with providing strategic oversight for cross-industry work to deliver the Building Safety Programme, promote broader systemic change and hold the industry to account over changes.
The ISSG will advise the government on possible action to accelerate industry culture change, with Dame Judith reporting directly to the housing secretary.
The group will oversee the work by other sub-groups set up to drive building safety change such as: the Industry Response Group, the Industry-led Competence Steering Group and the Social Sector (Building Safety) Engagement Best Practice Group.
It will also work with the Early Adopters Group, made up of companies such as: L&Q, Salix Homes, Willmott Dixon and Kier, which will trial ways of working in line with the recommendations of Dame Judith’s review of building regulations.
The group will meet every eight weeks for the next two years, and will also be able to call emergency meetings if required.
Ms Bailey joined Hyde Housing as its chief executive from outsourcing firm Serco back in March 2014 where she was managing director of its housing affairs arm. She is a chartered civil engineer and has spent 15 years in the construction industry, including as the head of the HM Prison Services construction unit.
She told Inside Housing: “I’m delighted to be working with experts from across a number of sectors to radically improve standards across the building sector and hold organisations accountable for the safety of buildings.”
The government has committed to a series of consultations in the spring as part of the Hackitt Review implementation programme, including looking at the scope of the new regulatory framework, details of duty holder’s responsibility, a stronger enforcement of a sanctions regime and options for residents to raise concerns over fire safety in their blocks.
Members of the Industry Safety Steering Group
- Chair - Dame Judith Hackitt - Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety
- Atula Abeysekera - Professor of Practice (Risk Management), Imperial College London
- Dr David Snowball - Acting chief executive, Health and Safety Executive
- Dame Deirdre Hutton DBE - Chair, Civil Aviation Authority
- Elaine Bailey - Group CEO, Hyde Housing
- Jeremy Pocklington - Director General of Housing and Building Safety, MHCLG
- Professor John Cole - Construction and Procurement Industry Expert, Royal Institute of British Architect
- John Roberts - UK Construction Industry Leader, Willis Towers Watson
- Ken Rivers - President, The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)
- Nick Coombe - Protection Vice Chair, National Fire Chiefs Council
- Paul Nash - Past President, Chartered Institute of Building
- Dr Scott Steedman - Director of Standards, British Standards Institution (BSI)
