Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2018 to Question 134374 on Fire Prevention: Preston, what discussions his Department has had with Preston City Council on the external cladding installed on the exterior of properties in the (a) Fishwick, (b) St Matthews and (c) Town Centre wards under the Community Energy Saving Programme; and whether that cladding has made properties unsafe to reside in due to risk of fire or mould.

The Department has been in contact with all local authorities in England about high rise residential buildings and cladding as part of its Building Safety Programme. Information being collected through this exercise is set out in monthly data releases which are published at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/building-safety-programme#data-on-the-building-safety-progamme. The issue of mould was raised at an earlier time with the Department and general advice on Building Regulations would have been provided.