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Councils too slow in getting tower blocks fire-tested, minister suggests Grenfell inquiry to look at why combustible cladding was so widely used
(about 5 hours later)
The government appears to be blaming councils and housing associations for the slow pace of fire safety tests on high-rise buildings after only a tenth of the 600 tower blocks potentially at risk have been tested in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower blaze. The public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire will be expanded to examine why combustible cladding was used on so many tower blocks across Britain amid mounting frustration at the slow pace and lack of transparency of emergency checks to identify at-risk buildings.
Theresa May outlined an emergency inspection programme last week that could test 100 samples a day. However, test results have been revealed for only 60 high-rise buildings in 25 areas, and all of them failed combustibility checks. Downing Street acknowledged tens of thousands of residents must be worried after only 60 of about 600 potentially at-risk blocks have been tested since the blaze. And while all of those have been found to have combustible cladding, the government has done nothing to allay anxiety by refusing to give details of its tests.
On Monday, housing minister Alok Sharma said “round the clock” testing was under way, but he appeared to blame landlords for failing to submit samples. “Clearly it’s concerning for residents living in these blocks,” a Downing Street spokesman said on Monday. “It’s clearly a huge concern if [it] is the case that this [cladding] is on buildings across the country in local authorities, run by lots of different parties.”
“We would say to all landlords out there, please urgently send those samples in,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He signalled the public inquiry would seek to address a national failure of building regulations and inspections, saying: “The job for the public inquiry will be to find out how and why this happened.”
Asked if some landlords had been slow to submit samples, Sharma replied: “Some councils are acting very quickly and we want all of them to be acting urgently on this.” Asked if the inquiry would look at the widespread use of the cladding, the spokesman said: “You would expect that to be part of the terms of reference, yes.”
He added: “The advice that we have given to local authorities and to housing associations, is people shouldn’t wait for the checks to come back from these cladding results, they should act now, get the fire service in, check the buildings that they think may be affected and put in place mitigation measures if required, or as in the case of Camden, if they need to evacuate, that needs to happen.” Earlier, a government minister appeared to blame councils and housing associations for the slow pace of fire safety tests on high-rise buildings. As part of an emergency inspection programme May announced last week, 100 samples a day can be tested. However, there have been results for only 60 tower blocks in 25 areas.
Camden is evacuating 600 flats on its five-block Chalcots estate after it was deemed unsafe over concerns about combustible cladding and a range of other fire safety problems. The housing minister, Alok Sharma, appeared to blame landlords for failing send in samples. He told BBC Radio 4 earlier on Monday: “We would say to all landlords out there, please urgently send those samples in.”
Sharma insisted that 100 samples could be tested each day: “These tests take several hours to do. We are being very open and very clear; as soon as we have the numbers we do release them. It is indeed 100 a day but of course it is a question of also making sure that we get these samples in as quickly as possible.” He also insisted that 100 samples could be tested each day, adding: “These tests take several hours to do. We are being very open and very clear; as soon as we have the numbers we do release them. It is indeed 100 a day, but of course it is a question of also making sure that we get these samples in as quickly as possible.”
Asked why the government had failed to act on concerns about the building regulations, the minister said: “I’m not here to make any excuses. What has happened is absolutely terrible and we need to learn the lessons from that. And if that means we need to make changes to regulations then of course we will do that. But this has to be led by the experts.” Asked why the government had failed to act on concerns about the building regulations, he said: “I’m not here to make any excuses. What has happened is absolutely terrible and we need to learn the lessons from that. And if that means we need to make changes to regulations then of course we will do that. But this has to be led by the experts.”
Meanwhile, the Department for Communities and Local Government has been unable to say what test the buildings checked so far had failed, amid concern among building experts at a lack of transparency.
Last week, Melanie Dawes, the permanent secretary at the DCLG, told landlords to cut out samples of composite panels to a size of at least 25cm square and send them for testing to the Building Research Establishment. Since then the DCLG has only been able to say that they are combustible and have failed but notwhether they meet a British standard test.
Barry Turner, the director of technical policy at Local Authority Building Control, which represents council building control officers, was among those raising questions about the process.
“For any material to undergo a fire test as laid down in BS476 [which grades fire resistance] or one of the EU equivalent standards, you need a specific panel size, it needs to be mounted in a specific way,” he said on Monday. “I would like to know just what tests these panels are failing. There are fire tests done on individual products, but you need to test them combined [including insulation, cavity and firestops] to see if they meet performance criteria for the job as a whole. That is how these systems are assessed for compliance with the building regulations.”
A DCLG spokeswoman said the government hoped to provide further information later on Monday.
The latest developments came as Camden continued to evacuate 600 flats on its five-block Chalcots estate after it was deemed unsafe over concerns about combustible cladding and a range of other fire safety problems.
The Grenfell response team said on Monday it had spent almost £1.5m helping affected families, including £789,230 in discretionary payments to cover hotel bills for families displaced the tower and Grenfell Walk. The team said it had made 140 placements in hotels and that 364 households remained in emergency accommodation. Out of total payments of £1,450,730, it said it had made 243 cash payments of £500 to families while the Department for Work and Pensions put £5,000 directly into 108 households’ bank accounts.
Speaking at Glastonbury on Sunday, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire “were murdered by political decisions that were taken over recent decades”.Speaking at Glastonbury on Sunday, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire “were murdered by political decisions that were taken over recent decades”.
Responding to the comments in an earlier interview with BBC News, Sharma said: “It is very disappointing that people should want to turn this into a party political issue. What I am sensing is that what the nation demands is that we work together and make sure we keep people safe.”Responding to the comments in an earlier interview with BBC News, Sharma said: “It is very disappointing that people should want to turn this into a party political issue. What I am sensing is that what the nation demands is that we work together and make sure we keep people safe.”
Shadow housing minister John Healey also questioned McDonnell’s use of language. “He was giving voice to the very real anger and disbelief that many people have. I wouldn’t use the word murder. It is not yet possible to point to direct cause and effect, we don’t yet know the full details from Grenfell Tower,” Healey told Today.Shadow housing minister John Healey also questioned McDonnell’s use of language. “He was giving voice to the very real anger and disbelief that many people have. I wouldn’t use the word murder. It is not yet possible to point to direct cause and effect, we don’t yet know the full details from Grenfell Tower,” Healey told Today.
He added: “What worries me now about these checks is that 60 have failed out of 60. That surprises me, that suggests they are just testing one product. And there have really got to be much wider safety checks and tests for the future.”He added: “What worries me now about these checks is that 60 have failed out of 60. That surprises me, that suggests they are just testing one product. And there have really got to be much wider safety checks and tests for the future.”