Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) increasing and (b) accelerating the availability of funding for the remediation of residential buildings with ACM cladding.

Leaseholders are protected from the cost of removing unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on high rise residential buildings. The remediation of over 50 per cent of privately owned high-rise residential buildings with unsafe ACM cladding is being paid for by building owners and developers, or through warranty or insurance claims, without passing the cost to residents. The Government has committed to fund the remediation of all unsafe ACM on private sector high rise residential buildings, except where a warranty claim has been accepted.

Where funding alone has not been enough to increase the pace of remediation we have provided direct expert support to projects. We have also appointed construction experts who are reviewing remediation timescales and identifying what can be done to increase pace. Where building owners have failed to act, despite Government support, the Government has supported enforcement action by Fire and Rescue Services and local authorities. From December, those responsible for buildings where remediation is not forecast to start on site by the end of 2020 will be publicly named, and we are clear that works to remove unsafe ACM cladding must be completed by the end of 2021. Information on the progress and pace of ACM remediation and fund allocation is available in the Building Safety Data Release at: www.gov.uk/guidance/aluminium-composite-material-cladding#acm-remediation-data