Written questions by Bailey.

Communities and Local Government, if his Department will consider implementing a rule of one approach to building safety remediation, whereby each affected building is remediated once to a standard set by the Department and certified by an independent fire engineer appointed by the Department rather than the developer.

The Remediation Acceleration Plan Update, published in July 2025 announced the Government’s intent to embed in law the standards and robust assurance practices used in the Government’s cladding remediation programmes. This will include making it a legal requirement for relevant Fire Risk Appraisals of External Walls (FRAEWs) to follow the British Standards Institute (BSI) methodology for assessing external wall defects (PAS 9980), with approved audits to ensure consistency and quality. This aims to establish a clear, legally enforceable standard – using a consistent framework set by the BSI and already used in government remediation programmes – to define the remediation works required at each building, providing clarity and confidence. This will be achieved as part of the Remediation Bill, to be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows. The developer remediation contract sets the standard that developers must meet when remediating buildings covered by the contract. Remediation of external defects must be undertaken in line with PAS 9980 and remediation of internal defects must be undertaken in line with relevant industry standards and applicable law. Remedial works must reduce life-critical fire safety defects in the building to a tolerable level, in line with these standards. The developer remediation contract provides the necessary powers for the Government to audit developers’ assessments to assure quality and consistency of assessments.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the risk of wildfires crossing the rural-urban interface in London.

Outdoor fires, especially wildfires, are expected by many academics to increase in frequency and impact in the future, predominantly driven by climate change. Wildfires are difficult to predict as risk is based on many factors - such as weather and human activity - and can happen across a wide range of landscapes. Each fire and rescue authority, including the London Fire Commissioner, is required to plan for the foreseeable risks in their area (including wildfire), through their Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP), and having regard to the views of other key local responders. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) works closely with a wide range of stakeholders including the National Fire Chiefs Council, England and Wales Wildfire Forum and other Departments and Agencies including DEFRA and the Met Office to promote planning and prevention for wildfire incidents in England. This includes working closely with partners to consider options for enhancing forecasting, monitoring and public communications around wildfire.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken between developers signing the remediation contract and cases reaching the works contract signing stage on leaseholders.

Living in or owning an unsafe home without knowing when and how it will be made safe can have significant impact on the lives of residents and leaseholders. That is why we expect developers and owners to sign works contracts and make buildings safe as quickly as reasonably practicable, and to keep residents and leaseholders informed throughout in line with guidance in the Code of Practice for the Remediation of Residential Buildings. As part of the joint plan that we published in December 2024, developers committed to accelerate this work and government committed to support them in overcoming barriers such as disputes between developers and building owners over access license agreements and scope of remedial works.