Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North & Leith, Labour)

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

The new clause deals with compliance with building regulations. I believe that Members across the House are aware that building regulations, in particular part L, play a key role in the promotion of energy conservation and measures to reduce carbon emissions. This issue was specifically acknowledged in the 2003 White Paper. Recent revisions to part L have included the introduction of tighter glazing standards and a requirement from April last year for all new and replacement boilers to be A or B rated. From April this year, further changes to part L will be introduced, including mandatory testing for air pressure leakage.

All those things can make a major contribution to energy conservation, but for many years there has been widespread concern about whether the welcome part L provisions were being complied with. I believe that that concern is shared throughout the industry, among building control practitioners and in the ODPM at the highest level. Indeed, a recent study of new homes conducted by the Building Research Establishment and National Energy Services suggested that almost half of all new houses did not comply with part L, even though they had been formally signed off by building control officers as compliant.

Obviously, that issue is of extreme concern in ensuring that building regulations are to be relied on to deliver carbon savings. The ODPM expects nearly  1 megatonne of carbon savings every year as a result of the latest changes to part L, but it is clear that that figure will be reduced if measures are not taken to ensure compliance. DEFRA has estimated that better enforcement of building regulations could yield up to 0.1 megatonnes of extra carbon saving every year. In a more popular form, that is the equivalent of installing 20 million energy-saving lights or insulating 375,000 cavity walls every year. That is what we will lose if we do not have proper compliance.

For that reason, the new clause contains two principal provisions. First, the purpose of proposed subsection (1) is to solve the problem of the short time limit for launching enforcement proceedings for offences under part L of the building regulations. Under the proposal, the time limit would run from the time when the offence was discovered rather than from when it was committed. That could be extremely important.

Proposed subsection (2) is intended to act as a launch pad for a more comprehensive Government assessment of non-compliance and the reasons for it. It would impose a statutory requirement on the Government to undertake a full analysis of a problem and to provide a comprehensive range of measures to address it. Measures along the lines of those set out in the new clause have widespread support throughout the industry. I commend the new clause to the Committee.

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