Post-Grenfell building and fire safety changes ‘too slow’

Aaron Morby 5 years ago
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The Government has been condemned for an unacceptable delay in reforming building and fire safety regulations since the Grenfell Tower tragedy two years ago.

Housing Select Committee MPs want to see all types of combustible cladding removed from high-rise blocks
Housing Select Committee MPs want to see all types of combustible cladding removed from high-rise blocks

MPs on the Housing Select Committee slammed the Government for dithering on pushing ahead with reforms.

They have also called for the replacement any form of combustible cladding on high rise residential buildings, not just ACM cladding.

MPs said the Government should go further that its ban on combustible cladding and insulation and want to see the installation of sprinkler systems in new and existing high-rise and high-risk buildings, including residential buildings, student accommodation and hospitals, where structurally feasible.

A highly critical committee report published today warns that the £200m that the Government has set aside for the remediation of private sector residential buildings with ACM cladding will not be sufficient.

MPs urged the Government to now set a realistic and short deadline for the removal of any form of dangerous cladding on high rise buildings.

Committee chairman Clive Betts said: “We are two years on from the Grenfell Tower disaster and the Government is far behind where it should be in every aspect of its response.

Further delay is simply not acceptable. The Government cannot morally justify funding the replacement of one form of dangerous cladding, but not others.

“It should immediately extend its fund to cover the removal and replacement of any form of combustible cladding – as defined by the Government’s combustible cladding ban – from any high-rise or high-risk building.”

He also said: “Much more progress should also have been made on developing a comprehensive building and fire safety framework.

“This is simply not good enough. It has been over two years since the fire at Grenfell Tower, and more than a year since the publication of the Final Report of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, and yet the Government has only just published a consultation into its proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system.

“The Government must pick up the pace of reform, before it is too late.”

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