{"id":479117,"date":"2023-05-11T13:08:42","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T12:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=479117"},"modified":"2023-05-11T13:09:14","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T12:09:14","slug":"industry-relief-as-vital-safety-laws-saved-from-brexit-cull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/health-and-safety\/industry-relief-as-vital-safety-laws-saved-from-brexit-cull-11-05-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Industry relief as \u2018vital\u2019 safety laws saved from Brexit cull"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ministers have scaled back plans that would have seen some construction safety laws scrapped.<\/p>\n

The EU Retained Law Bill was set to automatically “sunset” thousands of rules introduced while the UK was part of the bloc.<\/p>\n

But business secretary Kemi Badenoch (pictured) said yesterday (10 May) that instead of regulations being automatically removed at the end of this year, the bill will instead scrap 600 specific, named laws.<\/p>\n

Those that industry bodies had raised concerns around losing<\/a>, such as the Construction Design and Management Regulations, Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, Work at Height Regulations and the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at Work Regulations are not on the list to be scrapped.<\/p>\n

Badenoch wrote in the Daily Telegraph<\/a><\/em> that the new approach provided \u201ccertainty\u201d for business. \u201cWe will retain the powers that allow us to continue to amend EU laws, so more complex regulation can still be revoked or reformed after proper assessment and consultation,\u201d she added. \u201cI will make it a priority to inject new impetus into the project to identify and scrap even more unnecessary regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that when governments tie business up in red tape it holds them back, reduces their competitiveness in global markets and hampers national growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who warned against the effect of the bill on safety in construction welcomed the move.<\/p>\n

Scaffolding Association chief executive Robert Candy said: \u201cI am delighted that [the] announcement appears to confirm that common sense has prevailed and that these vitally important regulations will be retained.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur relentless engagement with ministers and officials over recent months has helped them to understand the consequences of scrapping these regulations. I am grateful that they acted in the interests of construction-worker safety.”<\/p>\n

Bill Dunkerley, a regulatory lawyer and associate partner at law firm Pannone Corporate, said: \u201cThis will come as a huge sigh of relief to all those involved in workplace health and safety, and while today\u2019s announcement is not the end of the matter, it does allow the government more time to fully appreciate and consider the implications of the bill, and to take steps to ensure that those EU-derived regulations relating to site heath and safety are preserved on the statute book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federation of Master Builders chief executive Brian Berry echoed the comments, saying: \u201cMany of these laws are used by our members every day to keep people safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything from environmental protections, workers\u2019 rights, through to health and safety regulations, were set to have been discarded, with no clear plan for equivalents to replace them. This is a case of government rhetoric meeting with reality and I\u2019m glad sensible heads have prevailed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some backbench Conservative MPs took a different view, however.<\/p>\n

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was briefly business secretary under prime minister Liz Truss, said: \u201cRegrettably the prime minister has shredded his own promise rather than EU laws. This seems to me to be a real blow to Brexit, a problem for Brexit, not giving us what we want, and not giving us the fruits of deregulation that we voted for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ministers have scaled back plans that would have seen some construction safety laws scrapped. The EU Retained Law Bill was set to automatically “sunset” thousands of rules introduced while the UK was part of the bloc. But business secretary Kemi Badenoch (pictured) said yesterday (10 May) that instead of regulations being automatically removed at the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43915,"featured_media":473757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[564,565,581],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n