IET respond to the Queen's Speech
The IET, together with the engineering profession, will continue to work hard to support the delivery of real solutions to these challenges and ensure a safer and more sustainable future for us all.
In response to the Queen’s Speech, IET Head of Policy, Joanna Cox, states:
“We welcome the implementation of new building safety standards and the creation of a new independent Building Safety Regulator, however, these reforms need to go beyond the initial recommendation of only applying to buildings over 18 meters (six storeys). As we know from the recent Worcester Park fire a few weeks ago, devastating fires can also happen in multiply occupied building of a lower height. We need to ensure all multiple occupancy buildings are safe irrespective of arbitrary height limits and fire safety measures should be on the basis of the overall risk assessment of the building and appropriate to its individual circumstances. Ultimately we need a ‘golden thread of information’ for building information, creating a reliably audit chain of the building with integrated building management systems. At this stage it is unclear when these standards will be in place and what the timescales are so we need to see a roadmap of the government’s overall programme on building regulations.
“Increased funding for science and infrastructure will bring a much needed boost to the UK's scientific capability. We need to secure the next generation of engineers and scientists who will have the skills, insights and ingenuity to help tackle many of the global challenges we face.
“We are disappointed to hear very little detail on the government’s plans to “tackle climate change” and any firm commitments to provide a roadmap of action required to address the significant challenges to decarbonising the UK. Commitments to protecting the environment are welcome, however, we are concerned that singling out just plastic pollution, misses out far greater issues regarding resource efficiency across all consumable products. We at the IET, together with the engineering profession, will continue to work hard to support the delivery of real solutions to these challenges and ensure a safer and more sustainable future for us all.”
