Government response to the Grenfell Report
The government have stuck to their commitment to respond to the Grenfell Phase 2 report in full, and the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner made a statement to the House of Commons detailing the response on 26 February 2025.
This is in addition to the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer releasing a statement confirming that the government was bringing responsibility for building safety and fire under a single Secretary of State.
The response is over 75 pages long, but some of the key takeaway points are:
- There’ll be a single regulator and department overseeing building safety and the construction industry.
- There’ll be a review of what constitutes a ‘higher-risk’ building to make it easier to define and identify.
- As mentioned, fire safety functions will be moved under one Secretary of State as opposed to three to improve oversight.
- There’ll be requirements for manufacturers to provide full testing history of products taken to market and to be able to evidence all their claims about fire performance on request.
- Competency bodies for fire risk assessors will be introduced, but the government haven’t provided details on these requirements or how this will be implemented – when we know more, we’ll keep you updated.
- A Chief Construction Adviser post and department will be created.
- ‘Fire Engineer’ will be a recognised and protected qualification with an independent body set up to uphold standards within the industry.
- Approved document B (which is a document concerning fire within the building regulations) will turn into a ‘living’ document and will be kept under constant review.
There are also a number of topics covered in the report that aren’t direct responses to the Phase 2 report, including:
- The government want to accelerate the remediation of affected buildings
- Reforms for training and professional standards for firefighters
- Better engagement with residents through mechanisms like stronger legal protections
There are other changes within the report, and we’re looking into how these will be implemented, but the government hasn’t provided detail on these items so far. We’ll keep you posted as we find out more.
The full response is detailed here.
