Agenda item

To receive a report (copy attached) by Audit Wales from the Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services on Cracks in the Foundations – Building Safety in Wales.

The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services introduced the report (previously circulated) to the Committee.

The report provided an overview of the Audit Wales Report on ‘Cracks in the Foundations – Building Safety in Wales and the subsequent management response to local authority recommendations.

Following the events of the fire at Grenfell Tower in 2017, an independent review into Building Regulations and Fire Safety was undertaken and the findings were published in 2018. The review raised serious concerns about the existing building safety regime and subsequently recommended a new framework to be implemented i.e the Building Safety Act 2022.

The introduction of the Act marked the most significant change to building safety regulations since 1984 with a number of significant responsibilities assigned to Local Authorities and Officers.

The new Building Safety Act 2022 aimed to improve the safety of high rise and non- standard construction buildings by establishing additional regulations for the design, construction, maintenance, and occupation of such buildings. The Building Safety Act 2022 also introduced new requirements to ensure that all Building Control Officers demonstrated their competency at one of three levels (Domestic, General, and Specialist).

In order to understand the current position of Local Authorities and with the intention to demonstrate compliance with the new Act, Audit Wales published the report ‘Cracks in the Foundations – Building Safety in Wales’ (previously circulated). The report considered all Building Control in Local Authorities in Wales, taking into account their capacity to implement the new requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022. Key findings from the report (in respect of all Welsh Local Authorities) raised concerns about the competency of Officers and highlighted a shortage of qualified professionals. Therefore, the report highlighted that the responsibilities and requirements contained within the Act may not be delivered as intended. The report also included eight recommendations, four were assigned to Welsh Government and four to Local Authorities which was appended to the report in Appendix 2.

The Chair thanked the Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services for the report and welcomed questions from Members.

Members questioned why Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was not mentioned within the report. The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services stated that it was his understanding that RAAC fell under the department of Property and Education, and he would liaise with the property department to provide a note on the Council’s response to RAAC following the meeting (EJ to action).

Members questioned if the report now meant that the procurement / use of all cladding across Wales was safe. The Acting Building Control Manager stated that there were now controlled measures which were controlled by new competency standards in place. The Competency Standards were broken down into Domestic, General and Specialist criteria and officers were supported to reach these standards to ensure competency levels and safety.

Questions were raised regarding who was responsible for the safety of high rise buildings, the Local Authority or the contractor. The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services explained that it was very complex. Local Authorities were clear on what their responsibilities were in regard to cladding and fire safety and worked in partnership with Welsh Government of this. The Acting Building Control Manager added that no buildings would be signed off and occupied without the correct compliance being evidenced, this started from the design stage through to the completion of works on site.

Members raised contaminated land issues however, the Chair stated that this was outside the scope of the report and suggested the issue be taken to the next Scrutiny Chairs and Vice- Chairs Group (SCVCG) meeting for consideration which was agreed by members. The Monitoring Officer agreed to circulate a draft proposal form to the Chair which would then be sent to and considered at the next SCVCG meeting (GW to action).

The Chair sort assurance that some companies that had been named publicly as being investigated in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster had not been engaged by the Council.

The Chair referred to recommendation 5 of the report and asked if, in regard to additional and specialist staff, account had been taken of possible recruitment and retention difficulties.  The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services acknowledged that recruitment was difficult, but that work was ongoing with Human Resources to address this risk. He did not see retention as a significant current issue.

In respect of recommendation 7 of the report the Chair asked if more collaborative working with the private sector was feasible. The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services replied that stated that while collaborative working was being investigated with neighbouring authorities, the Local Authority were ultimately in competition with the private sector.

Following a detailed discussion the Committee:

RESOLVED: that –

                          I.         the Audit Wales Report: Cracks in the Foundations – Building Safety in Wales report be received and noted and

                        II.         the Governance and Audit Committee referred the report for Scrutiny and also an item on Contaminated Land.