Will Forster MP: “We Need Stronger Accountability for Construction Failures—Now”

Building Safety and Retrospective Accountability

Following recent events in my constituency of Woking, it is evident that there is a stark need for stronger retrospective accountability for failures in construction.

In the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the Government introduced much-needed reforms through the Building Safety Act 2022. However, as we see in towns and cities across the country, these reforms do not go far enough in addressing past and ongoing failures, nor in ensuring justice for affected residents and businesses.

The Hilton Hotel in Woking town centre, built by Sir Robert McAlpine Limited, stands as a glaring example in my constituency. This 20+ story building was supposed to put Woking on the map as an economic hub. It has certainly put Woking on the map, but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.

Multiple cladding failures not only delayed the building’s opening from October 2020 to Halloween 2024 – an ominous sign of what was to come – but have also caused the repeated closure of Victoria Way, our town's main thoroughfare. These road closures have disrupted local businesses, massively inconvenienced residents in their day to day lives and garnered national media attention.

Earlier this year, the road was reopened for just 11 days before another cladding panel came off during Storm Éowyn, forcing it to close again. This closure is now expected to last until after Easter, with the full works not expected to be completed until the summer. This was the fourth time in very short succession, including over the Christmas period – the key time of the year for most shops and businesses.

One family-owned restaurant told me their bookings had dropped, and unfortunately, they had to cut staff hours. A carers agency said that their staff were constantly being delayed in delivering necessary care to vulnerable people.

According to the Charted Institute of Building - under the common law of negligence, losses that are purely economic are generally not recoverable. However, they could be under contract law.

Why is this not standard practice for public building projects?

This is a systemic issue and there is pressing need for stricter oversight, stronger retrospective enforcement, and clearer accountability for those responsible.

In Woking, there is another glaring reminder of terrible impact failures of the construction industry can have on residents and businesses. In late 2023, over 100 residents of the building Eastgate were evacuated from their homes after an appraisal report identified significant structural defects and stated it is not safe.

Those residents and businesses have still not been able to return, yet the developer has not been held accountable.

The persistent issues surrounding the RAAC concrete scandal mean that the hospital where I was born, Frimley Park, is currently crumbling – an issue so bad that the Government has committed to rebuilding it as a matter of urgency.

This is a facility with a vast catchment area. A facility that now poses a risk to the very patients it is there to help.

Woking’s Community Hospital is expanding to house a new state-of-the-art diagnostic centre. It was meant to be opened by now but delays due to slow construction meant it hasn’t. This is directly impacting patient care for my residents and the rest of Surrey. 

Al Pinkerton, Liberal Democrat MP for Surrey Heath, has spoken recently about fraudulent EWS1 forms, and the scandal he has uncovered regarding Tri-Fire, which continues to affect property owners, including some in my constituency.

Not only that, but we know from the Grenfell report, that there was systematic dishonesty about the production and sale of the cladding. A key factor that resulted in the deaths of 72 adults and children.

The construction industry and developers need to be held accountable for this myriad of failures that continue to affect the daily lives of millions of people across the country.

The Building Safety Act does not go far enough. As it stands, the construction industry is unregulated by an overseeing body.

I know that the UK Government has proposed establishing a Construction Industry Regulator to oversee building safety, but this isn’t until 2028. That is 11 years after Grenfell. It needs to urgently be brought forward.

As a result, construction companies are cutting corners and passing the buck onto businesses, residents, and local councils – anyone but them.

We need to ensure that going forward, especially when we’re trying to build 1.5 million homes in this Parliament, we hold them accountable for their failures.

I believe that the Government needs to take immediate action to: strengthen retrospective accountability measures within the Building Safety Act, ensure that developers, not leaseholders or the public, bear the financial burden of remediation, accelerate safety inspections and repair timelines for buildings with identified safety risks, and introduce stronger penalties for contractors who fail to meet safety and construction standards.

The Federation of Master Builders has been calling for the introduction of a mandatory licensing scheme for UK construction firms, to remove rogue traders from the industry to deliver the high levels of protection from poor quality builders and tradespeople that consumers deserve.

On top of this, I believe the Government should consider holding developers criminally liable for negligence, as Building Inspectors can be under Section 57 of the Building Safety Act 1984.

I am on the Housing Communities and Local Government Select Committee and have been a councillor for many years and I know from experience that councils, are all too often left to pick up the pieces when developments go wrong.

From stepping in to enforce safety measures to dealing with the wider economic and social consequences of failed or delayed projects, local authorities, already struggling under the weight of chronic underfunding, are bearing responsibilities they simply do not have the resources to handle.

We cannot expect councils to manage the fallout. The Government must act urgently and introduce a regulator without delay to ensure that developers take full responsibility for the safety and quality of the buildings they construct. I have met with Alex Norris, the Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Local Growth to press the Government for immediate action on this issue.