MPs “appalled” at continued delay in cladding remediation
Eight years on from Grenfell, the Government still does not know how many buildings have dangerous cladding, how much it will cost to address, or how long it will take, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said.
In a report published last week (21 March), the committee said it was "appalled" at the continuing emotional and financial impact of the crisis, adding that it was sceptical about the adequacy and achievability of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government's (MHCLG) Remediation Acceleration Plan.
The Government published the plan at the end of last year, with a target to complete remediation on all buildings over 18m, with at least a completion date for all buildings over 11m, by 2029 – 12 years after the Grenfell fire.
However, with up to 7,000 unsafe buildings yet to be identified and "painfully slow remediation progress and significant barriers still to address, we share campaigners' concerns that MHCLG's Remediation Acceleration Plan is both insufficiently ambitious and at risk of not delivering what is promised", the committee said.
The committee also claimed insufficient capacity and skills across regulators, local authorities and the construction sector risks undermining MHCLG's acceleration plans.
On this point it noted that despite MHCLG's assurances of additional funding and support for local authorities, "local authorities may still lack the powers, capability or capacity to undertake the volume of necessary enforcement action".
It also said that with MHCLG now planning to accelerate remediation, there are risks that there will not be enough suitably qualified fire risk assessors to determine the scope of work or trained ladders to undertake the work.
Elsewhere, the report criticised the ministry's failure to implement a formal dispute resolution process for residents in affected buildings.
The committee called on MHCLG to provide an update within six months on what it is doing to address the gaps between its Remediation Acceleration Plan and the policy and legislative changes needed to deliver them, and by when it expects them to be addressed.
It also recommended that MHCLG should, by the end of July 2025, write to the committee clearly setting out what action it is taking to help ensure there is sufficient capacity across the remediation system and how it is assuring itself on progress.
Finally, the report finds that half a million pounds was lost to suspected fraud when taxpayer protections were relaxed to get money out to projects quickly under the Building Safety Fund. The PAC recommends that the Government strengthen its counter-fraud controls and ensure they are adequate to meet accelerated funding demand.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Chair of the Committee, said: "As a chartered surveyor, I take a deep personal interest in building safety. I was utterly appalled by the evidence given to our inquiry, showing residents still mired in the national cladding crisis, with no immediate solutions at hand.
"It would have course been the Committee's wish that this report carried better news for all affected."
A spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “This government has been taking tough and decisive action after years of dither and delay, going further than ever before to speed up the unacceptably slow pace of remediation and provide an end in sight for residents who have suffered for too long.
“We continue to work closely with industry, local authorities, and residents to accelerate remediation efforts while ensuring those responsible for unsafe buildings cover the costs, with new penalties and criminal sanctions on building owners who refuse to take action."
Adam Carey
