Crime and regulatory - market insights Q3/Q4 2024

Grenfell Tower Inquiry - Phase Two Report

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry published the final part of its report on 4 September 2024.

The 1,571-page document presents 59 recommendations for enhanced fire safety for high risk buildings. If implemented, these changes will significantly impact the construction environment, especially those involved in building and/or managing high rise structures.

Focusing on policy change, the report recommended that fire safety policy is developed “in an holistic and coherent way”. Bearing this in mind, key recommendations include:

• The creation of a single construction regulator to report to a single Secretary of State responsible for fire safety within construction
• The construction regulator to oversee a new, independent body whose remit will cover:
  • The regulation and testing of construction products
  • The licencing of contractors for work on high risk buildings
  • The mandatory accreditation of fire risk assessors/engineers
  • Building control oversight
• A review of the definition of high risk buildings in the Building Safety Act 2022.

For construction professionals to meet the recommended building control oversight, the report recommended a statement from the principal design team that all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that, on completion, the building as designed is safe as required by building regulations. If implemented, this will increase the risk profile for the project architect, engineer and design team generally.   

For the construction industry on the whole, the report has recommended a significant “shift in culture and behaviour in the built environment sector”. The report envisages that the proposed new legislation and government policy will spur this transition.

We have also identified the Grenfell report as a key update in the Professional liability section.

COVID-19 Public Inquiry 

The COVID-19 Inquiry's Module 1 report on Resilience and Preparedness was published on 18 July 2024. Key findings include:  

• The UK primarily prepared for an influenza pandemic, which proved inadequate for a novel virus like COVID-19
• That despite warnings from experts, the government was slow to react to the growing threat of COVID-19. 

The report makes several recommendations to improve the UK's preparedness for future pandemics, including holding a UK-wide pandemic response exercise at least every three years.   

In total, at least nine reports are expected, covering everything from political decision-making to vaccines. There is no specific timescale for how long the inquiry will last, but the Chair, Baroness Hallett, aims to hold the final public hearings in 2026. 

Gender bias in PPE 

Calls for personal protective equipment (PPE) to be designed for female workers are long standing, and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as the workplace regulator has recently acknowledged ill-fitting PPE as an issue.   

To ensure compliance, duty holders may have to seek out a range of alternative suppliers or change their procurement practices to ensure a wider selection of suitably inclusive equipment. This means avoiding suppliers who do not provide a range of sizes and seeking to ensure their suppliers have properly assessed the appropriateness of their equipment for everyone.   

Manufacturers and suppliers must also play their part in providing a full range of PPE for men and women at a similar cost. 

We have also identified PPE as a key update in the Employers’ liability and Healthcare section.

An update in the fleet world….moving away from paper   

From 29 April 2024, heavy goods annual test MOT pass certificates are no longer printed at the point of test as a default. In a move to streamline the process and reduce delays, operators can see the results on the MOT history service as soon as the test is completed. The information will then be available to download. The change forms part of the DVSA’s digital transformation project for heavy goods vehicle testing. 

Investigations into water companies

On 6 August 2024, Ofwat announced that it is proposing fines of £17m for Northumbrian Water, £47m for Yorkshire Water and a record-breaking fine of £104m for Thames Water. This follows an investigation which concluded that these companies failed to adequately invest in and maintain their networks, leading to repeated releases of raw sewerage into the country’s waterways. 

Ofwat’s proposal will now go to public consultation whilst its largest ever investigation into water company performance continues. A further eight water and waste water companies remain under investigation with further updates expected in the coming year. 

New government bills

• The Crime and Policing Bill
• The Hillsborough Law
• The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill
• The Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill 
• The Water (Special Measures) Bill