Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government and
Building Safety (): I am today informing the House of four proposed
changes to the indemnity the government provides for the Joint
Inspection Team (JIT). The JIT currently provides support and
advice for local authorities (LAs) on the enforcement process
under the Housing Act 2004 against private sector, high-rise
residential buildings with known cladding issues. Their work
includes supporting LAs with inspecting buildings, serving
enforcement notices, and prosecuting landlords that do not comply
with the notices.
We are proposing expanding the scope of the indemnity so that the
JIT can:
o Support enforcement against medium-rise buildings
o Support enforcement against social housing providers;
o Support LAs to use new enforcement powers under the Building
Safety Act 2022;
o Support enforcement against buildings without requiring advance
evidence of an external wall defect.
I am laying a Departmental Minute providing further details of
the change to the contingent liability. More details on the JIT
were previously set out in statements and associated Departmental
Minutes of 11 December 2018 (Hansard reference: HCWS1169(opens in a new
tab)) , 25 June 2019 (Hansard reference: HCWS1654(opens in a new
tab)) and 11 March 2021(Hansard reference: HCWS842(opens in a new
tab)).
