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Minister refuses to give date for delayed response to construction product safety review
Housing minister Lee Rowley has said the government is “committed” to tackling construction product safety, but refused to say when it will respond to a major post-Grenfell review published nine months ago.
In evidence to MPs yesterday, Mr Rowley said the response to the ‘Testing for a Safer Future’ review would come “soon” but was unable to commit to a date.
The 174-page review, authored by former government construction advisor Paul Morrell and barrister Annelise Day, was strongly critical of the current construction product regime. It argued that many standards are “outdated, inconsistent or non-existent”.
The report, published last April, was commissioned in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people and thrust construction product safety into the spotlight.
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Speaking in front of MPs on the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities yesterday, Mr Rowley said: “I want to give you my commitment and the secretary of state’s commitment that we are committed to reforming this area.
“We recognise that you are keen to see what’s coming out of government as soon as possible. I can’t give you a date today.”
The delay in the government’s response has drawn frustration from Mr Morrell. Appearing before the committee last month as part of the inquiry into fire safety, he also complained about a lack of engagement from ministers since the report was published.
Mr Rowley, who was re-appointed as housing minister in November, said: “We are literally working through how to make this public statement, but I’m not in a position to talk about what that public statement is just yet.”
He said the government may choose to “reserve our position on some elements”, which would mean it is a “multi-stage” response instead of one single document.
Appearing alongside Mr Rowley, Chandru Dissanayeke, director of regulatory reform at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said: “The (Morrell/Day) report identifies several weaknesses within the current regime and the intention is to address those weaknesses.”
Later in the evidence session, Mr Rowley was pushed on whether new safety standards would be applied retrospectively.
Again, he was unable to give a clear answer. “I’m sorry to take on the question,” Mr Rowley said. “I don’t want to get into a retrospectivity discussion because I want the buildings to be safe and I want the actions to be undertaken now. Buildings need to get to the relevant standards now so there isn’t the safety issue.”
At the end of last year, with stories about structural safety mounting up, an Inside Housing investigation looked at whether the UK was heading towards another building safety crisis.
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