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PM challenged over slow progress in removing cladding from tower blocks
Theresa May has been challenged over why dangerous cladding is still on tower blocks across the country eight months after the Grenfell Tower fire.
During Prime Minister’s Questions today, Labour MP Steve Reed claimed it is the government’s responsibility to ensure cladding that has failed the government’s fire safety tests is removed.
Mr Reed has the Cityscape tower block in his Croydon North constituency, where leaseholders were recently taken to a tribunal to determine who will pay for dangerous cladding to be removed. The tribunal judgement is expected in the next few weeks.
The government recently admitted that only three tower blocks out of 299 with cladding have had it removed.
Theresa May said action was being taken through the Hackitt Review of building regulations and fire safety and that fire authorities had been working with landlords to determine the fire safety work needed in each tower block.
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Mr Reed said: “It’s over eight months since the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower but thousands of people are still living in blocks with dangerous flammable cladding, including Cityscape in Croydon. Now this dangerous cladding was allowed to go up because of flawed government guidance and there’s still on average one fire every month linked to this cladding.
“It’s clear that this is the government’s responsibility. So why is she running the risk of a second Grenfell Tower when she could act and take this dangerous cladding down?”
The prime minister said governments under both Labour and the Conservatives had looked at building regulations over the years and that enforcement arrangements were last changed by the last Labour government.
She added: “What we did immediately following the appalling fire at Grenfell Tower was to ensure that all those local authorities and others worked with their fire authorities to inspect towers to look at the cladding; [and] there’s not just issues with the cladding, it’s about how it’s affixed to the buildings as well.
“Action was taken by local fire authorities in those areas where they thought it was necessary to do that. That is why we saw, for example, people in Camden having to leave the tower blocks while action was being taken. My right honourable friend the housing secretary has put in place that review of the regulations – it was urgently put in place and action is being taken as a result of that review.”
