Building Control Gets Funding Boost and Reform

Announcing £55 million for building control, and another £15 million for other building safety professions, government is contacting Local Authorities to urge them to boost building control units.

Alexandra Parish, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) wrote to Local Authority CEOs advising of the extra workforce funding, charging reforms and new digital processes for greater consistency and transparency in financial management and reporting.

Taken together, these measures are intended to support local authorities to ensure safe housing delivery, remediation, regeneration, net zero and public safety.

The government funding will help local authority building controls to recruit and train new Registered Building Inspectors and upskill existing inspectors, including for more complex higher-risk buildings.

Local authorities will not incur a direct cost, as trainees will be employed by LABC for up to two years while in training and seconded to local authorities. Authorities are not then committed to employ trainees at the end of their training, but local capacity will nevertheless be expanded.

Charging Reforms

Alongside this, reforms to local authority charges for building control work will be introduced. Last updated in 2010, the reforms will aim for fuller cost-recovery including a proportion of overheads and costs, such as for recruitment, training and development.

The reforms are intended to support more financially sustainable services, improved compliance with building regulations and continued investment in professional capability and capacity.

A digital programme will explore how a data standard could support more effective charging and publication of annual building control financial statements. This will help a better understanding of the cost and sustainability of building control services.

Reform regulations will shortly go through Parliament. Local authorities interested in accessing the funded workforce opportunities should contact LABC at info@labc.co.uk.

New Model

Other MHCLG funding will be used to explore new models of building control delivery. Inviting local authorities interested in considering different approaches to service delivery, MHCLG sees this as part of local government reorganisation and wider public service reform.

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