Grenfell report: Government could ban danger cladding on UK tower blocks

Housing Secretary James Brokenshire says Government is considering banning flammable cladding
Devastating: the Grenfell Tower blaze
PA

Housing Secretary James Brokenshire has announced the Government is considering banning flammable cladding on tower blocks just hours after a review into the Grenfell Tower fire was branded a “whitewash”.

Consultations will be launched into outlawing the material and the desk-top studies used to assess it, the minister announced in the Commons.

Earlier today Dame Judith Hackitt released her report for reforming building regulations following the June 14 disaster that left 71 dead.

However she has come under pressure from campaigners after her review stopped short of calling for an outright ban on flammable cladding.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Brokenshire said new laws would be introduced that delivered "meaningful and lasting" change to the building safety system.

He said: "Having listened carefully to concerns, the Government will consult on banning the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings."

“We are consulting on significantly restricting or banning the use of desk-top studies to assess cladding systems."

The Cabinet minister told MPs he wanted to ensure there was "no room for doubt" about the materials that could be used on high-rise buildings.

The type of aluminium composite cladding used at Grenfell Tower is suspected of being one of the causes behind the devastating spread of the blaze in North Kensington on June 14 last year, which killed 71 people.

Publishing her 156-page report, Dame Judith tore into the current regulatory framework as a “broken system”, lacking clarity over who is responsible and open to people to take “short cuts”.

Theresa May pledged to foot the £400m bill for making tower blocks safe after the Grenfell disaster
PA

She added: “There are materials being used to clad buildings today that are non-compliant.

"Therefore the question is, if you simply ban some more of those materials, how will that resolve a problem that is actually about a broken system?”

Dame Judith, an engineer and former head of the Health and Safety Executive, said if her proposed reforms “had been in place prior to Grenfell I do not believe that the cladding put on Grenfell would have got through the system in the first place”.

Pressed on whether she believed someone would have gone to jail for the Grenfell scandal if her ideas had been in place, she added: “What I know and what I read, I would expect that to be the case.” The failure to back a total ban was criticised by family representatives, MPs and town hall chiefs.

Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy, whose friend Khadija Saye, 24, died in the blaze, said: “This review is a betrayal and a whitewash. It is unthinkable and unacceptable that so many people can die in a disaster like Grenfell and one year on flammable cladding has not been banned.” Shahin Sadafi, of families’ group Grenfell United, said: “When we met Dame Judith Hackitt we asked her for an outright ban on combustible cladding. We are disappointed and saddened that she didn’t listen to us.”

Hammersmith Labour MP Andy Slaughter said: “No one should be told that they must live in a tower block clad in combustible material after the horror of Grenfell.”

Recommendations in the report include:

A joint authority, including town halls, emergency services and the HSE, to focus on tower block safety;

Clearer, more transparent and more effective specification and testing for construction products;

Stronger sanctions, including possible jail terms and unlimited fines, to stop people cutting corners;

Residents should have a right to access fire risk assessments.

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