A dozen or so members of parliament joined a Westminster Hall debate yesterday to vent fury and frustration at the scourge of rogue builders
The debate was initiated by Mark Garnier, Conservative MP for Wyre Forest, who said: 鈥淲hat I am seeking to do is get the government to come up with a scheme of compulsory licensing for SME building firms working in the renovation and domestic improvement space.鈥�
He cited a 2018 report by the Federation of Master Builders that said that 77% of SME builders and 78% of consumers agree with the FMB鈥檚 proposed licensing scheme.
However, the government appears unpersuaded.
Kate Dearden, minister for employment rights and consumer protection in the Department for Business & Trade, said: 鈥淟icensing or registration schemes exist in the US, Australia and New Zealand and aim to improve quality, protect consumers from incompetent contractors, and provide consumers with redress for poor-quality work鈥�. The available evidence suggests that they can deliver some benefits, such as increased quality, but that they can also have detrimental effects, including increasing prices for consumers. There is also no clear evidence that the existence of licensing schemes reduces the incidence of poor-quality work.鈥�
There was a strong contribution to the debate from Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, who said that the solution to the problem of rogue builders was to fix TrustMark, citing the spray foam insulation scandal聽under the government鈥檚 Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme.
鈥淭rustMark was established to ensure that only qualified and competent contractors were permitted to carry out work under government-funded schemes, yet here we are with hundreds, if not thousands, of homeowners left with defective installations,鈥� Gordon said.
He added: 鈥淭o put it simply, TrustMark is not fit for purpose. If the government are to tackle the issue of rogue builders, they must start with those that they endorse under their own schemes.鈥�
Another LibDem, North Cornwall MP Ben Maguire said that it was the cost and complexity of the legal system that was to blame. 鈥淭he government should ensure that there are accessible redress routes, such as small claims courts and ombudsman schemes, that work quickly and fairly for everyone,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey should also support alternative dispute resolution mechanisms that save consumers time, stress and money, giving them a fair outcome without the burden and cost of going to court.鈥�
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