UK Construction and Law
55m pounds for building control trainees employed for two years at no direct cost to councils, and charging regulations unchanged since 2010 are to be laid shortly
By Staff Writer | 11 September 2026
A letter to every local authority chief executive in England, dated 10 September, sets out three linked measures for building control: 55 million pounds of a 70 million pound building safety professions fund for recruiting and training registered building inspectors, with trainees employed by the sector's representative body and seconded to councils for up to two years; reformed charging regulations, expected in Parliament shortly, allowing fuller cost recovery including overheads and training; and a discovery on a data standard for charging schemes and annual financial statements.
The letter comes from Alexandra Parish, Deputy Director for Building Professions at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and is addressed to the chief executives of district, borough, metropolitan and unitary authorities in England, copied to the chief executive of LABC, the representative body for local authority building control in England and Wales. It was published on 10 September 2026 alongside the department's circular on the Building Safety Levy and building control procedure. She asks that the opportunities be considered at senior level in each authority.
The workforce money
The government has announced 70 million pounds to address shortages in building safety professions, of which 55 million pounds is for building control. Working with LABC, the department is supporting the recruitment and training of new registered building inspectors and the upskilling of existing inspectors, including so that they can work on more complex and higher risk buildings. The letter describes the opportunity as time limited.
Participating local authorities will not incur a direct cost, as trainees will be employed by LABC for a period of up to 2 years while in training and seconded to local authorities.
Alexandra Parish, Deputy Director, Building Professions, letter of 10 September 2026
Authorities are not committed to employ trainees at the end of the period, but the letter presents doing so as the practical route to growing local capacity. Authorities that want access to the funded places are directed to LABC.
Charging, and the data behind it
The charging regulations were last substantially updated in 2010. The letter says the operating context has changed a great deal since then and that many services face pressure on capacity and financial sustainability. The reforms, subject to parliamentary approval, will allow authorities to charge for a wider range of building control functions on a fuller cost recovery basis, including a reasonable proportion of overheads and the costs of recruitment, training and development. Further detail will follow when the regulations are laid, which the department expects shortly.
Subject to Parliamentary approval, the reforms will allow local authorities to charge for a wider range of building control functions on a fuller cost-recovery basis.
Alexandra Parish, Deputy Director, Building Professions
A discovery has been launched into a data standard that would support better charging schemes and the annual publication of building control financial statements, so that councils and central government can see the cost and sustainability of the service on a consistent basis. Building control and finance officers who want to contribute are asked to contact the department's building professions engagement mailbox.
The department has also committed funding to explore new models of building control delivery. Details are promised in due course, and the letter invites early engagement from authorities considering different approaches, particularly in the context of local government reorganisation and wider public service reform.
Why it matters to applicants
The same department's circular of the same day warns local authorities of a surge of notices and applications this month ahead of the Building Safety Levy. A funded intake of inspectors employed elsewhere for two years is the department's answer on capacity. A charging regime that can recover overheads and training is its answer on money, and applicants will pay it. The regulations, once laid, will show the rates.