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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the safety of cladding on high rise buildings in England.

The Government has made clear that building safety is the responsibility of the building owner.

Acting on advice from the Expert Panel, the Government has commissioned research to support further understanding of the fire performance of external wall systems and cladding materials :

• Aluminium Composite Material: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/aluminium-composite-material-cladding
• High Pressure Laminates: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-test-report-mhclg-bs-8414-hpl ; and
• Non-Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) external wall systems: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-performance-of-cladding-materials-research/non-acm-research-summary.

We have published advice (updated in January 2020) to building owners on the actions they should take with regards to external wall systems and managing the safety of buildings of all heights.