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

Her Majesty's Government whether they will begin discussions with local authorities on how those authorities should replace any insulation material deemed unsafe with new material that meets both safety and energy conservation standards.

Immediately after the Grenfell Tower fire, the Government convened a meeting of independent experts, who advised that the immediate priority was a testing programme on Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding on high-rise residential buildings, which is one element of a wall cladding system. Following further advice from the Independent Expert Advisory Panel, the Government has now commissioned the Building Research Establishment to test different wall cladding systems using three common types of ACM panelling with two commonly used types of insulation. The results will provide further evidence of how some commonly used wall systems using ACM perform in a fire. This evidence will be used to produce further advice to inform building owners’ decisions on whether they need to take any additional action to make their building safe.

If owners decide, on the basis of professional advice and in light of further tests results, to remove their cladding and / or insulation, then this needs to be properly planned. In these instances it is even more important that building owners implement the interim measures on fire safety that have been set out by the Department on 22 June 2017 to help ensure the safety of residents during that period.

The Government’s expectation is that landlords will fund measures designed to make a building fire safe, and will draw on their existing resources to do so. Where a local authority has concerns about funding essential fire safety measures, they should approach us as soon as possible to discuss the position. Where works have been advised by local fire services to be essential to ensure the fire safety of a building, we will ensure that current restrictions on the use of financial resources will not prevent them going ahead. This does not include general improvements or enhancements to buildings which go beyond this.