Welsh committee chair seeks clarity on why safety work has not been completed on 98% of buildings
The chair of the Senedd’s Local Government and Housing Committee has raised concerns over the pace of fire safety remediation work in Wales after meeting a group of affected residents.
John Griffiths said he had met members of the Welsh Cladiators group, which represents hundreds of residents caught up in the fire safety remediation crisis.
In a letter to Jayne Bryant, Welsh cabinet secretary for housing and local government, Mr Griffiths requested confirmation that resolving unsafe cladding issues was not progressing more slowly in Wales than in England.
He asked why work had not been completed on 98% of buildings for which developers are responsible, compared with around 29% of buildings in England.
READ MORE
“Can you also provide data to assure us that the resolution of life-critical fire safety risks in these 151 buildings is not progressing more slowly in Wales than in England?” he said.
Mr Griffiths acknowledged that Wales had taken a broader approach to building safety remediation than England, looking at both internal and external fire safety issues.
He also asked for assurance that the government had a “record of all [External Wall System 1] assessment process forms issues in Wales”, following the sanctioning of fire assessor Adam Kiziak, the owner of Tri Fire, by the Institution of Fire Engineers trade body.
“We understand from the Welsh Cladiators that Adam Kiziak’s company, Tri Fire, may have signed off safety certificates in Cardiff. This is particularly concerning and we would be grateful if you could let us know to what extent he carried out work in Wales,” Mr Griffiths wrote.
The Welsh Cladiators also raised issues around developers “resist[ing] efforts to discuss serious non-fire related defects due to legal liability issues”, with “surveys highlighting such defects” not always being shared with leaseholders and residents, as well as a lack of sanctions for developers that do not remediate building safety issues.
“Can you set out what action you are taking to ensure that developers are undertaking remediation works and whether you have considered introducing sanctions for inaction?” Mr Griffiths wrote.
A spokesperson for the Welsh government said: “The cabinet secretary for housing and local government holds regular meetings with the Welsh Cladiators and will provide a direct response to the committee’s letter shortly.”
In 2022, the Welsh Cladiators accused the Welsh government of lagging behind the rest of the UK in its approach to the crisis.
At the end of last year, the government announced the Building Safety (Wales) Bill would be introduced before its summer recess in 2025.
Sign up for our Wales newsletter
New to Inside Housing? Click here to register and receive our Wales round-up straight to your inbox
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
