While changes to building safety and building control are welcome, those responsible for implementing them are not well placed to deliver them and are unable to effectively carry out their enhanced roles to ensure buildings in Wales are safe.
That is the stark conclusion of a report by the Auditor General for Wales into building safety. The report focusses on assessing the preparedness of bodies to take on their new and enhanced responsibilities, the resilience of existing services, and the robustness of building safety assurance systems.
Following the Hackitt Inquiry, both the Welsh and UK governments started work to address the inquiry’s findings, culminating in the publication of the Building Safety Act 2022, which represents the biggest shake-up of building safety regulation since 1984 in England and Wales.
“Our overall conclusion is that responsible bodies – particularly local authorities and fire and rescue – are unable to effectively discharge their responsibilities and ensure buildings in Wales are safe,” concludes the report.
The report sets out that the Welsh Government prioritised responding to the Grenfell disaster, working with the UK Government. This resulted in the Building Safety Act 2022 which seeks to address longstanding problems in the regulation and oversight of building design and construction.
The report says that the Welsh and UK governments are diverging in key policy areas, and some doubt remains on how the Act will be implemented in Wales – mainly because decisions in key areas are yet to be decided and agreed. This is creating uncertainty, with most local authorities and fire and rescue services yet to develop comprehensive plans to deliver their new responsibilities.
The report goes on to say that as a profession, building control and building safety face “significant staffing challenges”. An ageing workforce, poor succession planning, and a wider lack of investment in services and training and development highlight that these services are “neither resilient nor fit for the future”.
The Auditor General also has concerns with the financial management of building control and concludes that in some authorities, current practices are “potentially unlawful” with services not operating in line with regulations and guidance.
The report states that the absence of a national framework for monitoring and evaluating building control and building safety means that local authorities are not working to agreed appropriate outcomes, targets or benchmarks. Together with “limited scrutiny and evaluation” and “poor management of risk”, assurance systems are inadequate.
The report recommends that the Welsh Government should:
The report goes on to recommend that local authorities should:
“My report highlights major concerns with the implementation of the new system for building safety,” said Adrian Crompton, Auditor General for Wales. “Although it’s heartening to see the passion and commitment from those working in the sector, I am concerned that not enough priority is being given to these services on the ground. The absence of robust plans, clear decision-making and adequate resources raises real fears that the new legislation will not be delivered, and the problems it is seeking to address will remain.”
Read the full report: Cracks in the Foundations – Building Safety in Wales
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