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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has provided financial support to local authorities for the removal of gas systems in Large Panel System housing over four storeys high in England.

Responsibility for the safety and maintenance of large panel system (LPS) blocks lies with the building owners, including Local Authorities where they are the owners. Local authorities are also responsible for keeping the housing conditions in their area under review (including structural safety) with a view to identifying any action that may need to be taken by them.

To augment the existing approach, we are also setting up the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to oversee the safety and standards of all buildings. It will also implement the new safety case regime which all occupied 'higher-risk buildings' (HRBs) - including all blocks of flats more than 18m - will be subject to. Under this new regime, accountable persons will be required to demonstrate how they are managing building safety risks related to the spread of fire and structural failure, on an ongoing basis. This system will require the accountable person to take all reasonable steps to ensure they have effective and proportionate measures in place to manage building safety risks and that the appropriate level of protection is provided in these buildings.