The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Sajid Javid)
I would like to update the House on progress with the identification and combustibility testing of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding on high-rise buildings. To date, 259 residential buildings over 18 metres have had samples tested by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), tested by proxy (e.g. are known to be of identical cladding) or have taken their cladding down. None of those tested have passed the limited combustibility test. On the advice of the independent Expert Advisory Panel on Building Safety, the BRE are now undertaking system testing that will help establish how different types of ACM panels in combination with different types of insulation behave in a fire.
The figure of 259 includes other residential buildings (such as those in the private sector) but today, I would like to update in particular on those owned by local authorities and housing associations.
It is vital to support building owners in ensuring the safety of their residents. This is why the Government, on the advice of the independent Expert Advisory Panel on Building Safety, have offered free of charge testing by the BRE for all residential buildings above 18 metres in height. Local authorities and housing associations were asked to identify residential blocks with ACM cladding and then to submit samples of that cladding material for testing.
Local authorities and housing associations initially told us that around 530 towers were thought to have similar cladding to that seen at Grenfell. They have subsequently been physically inspecting the wall materials present on their buildings, and have collected further information which suggests that the actual number of towers that have ACM is much lower. Based on the most recent information we have received, we now think that no more than 240 local authority and housing association towers have ACM cladding and so need to be tested.
Aggregating information provided by local authorities, indicates that 46 towers across 16 local authorities have ACM cladding. Of these, 42 have been directly tested through BRE and the other four are from identical towers. This means all 46 local authority owned towers with ACM cladding have now had their core material tested for combustibility. All samples have failed the limited combustibility test.
Based on the latest information provided by housing associations, up to 194 towers across 50 housing associations have ACM cladding. Of these, 142 have been tested through BRE, through proxy tests or have taken cladding down. We have been told that 12 towers have sent, or will send, their samples to BRE for testing this week. There are 40 towers owned by housing associations who have not confirmed whether ACM cladding is present nor sent ACM samples for testing.
Total ACM towers | Total tested by BRE, by proxy test or with cladding removed | Sent for testing this week | Local authorities or housing associations still to confirm whether ACM cladding is present | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Local authority (16 LAs) | 46 | 46 | 0 | 0 |
Max | ||||
Housing association (50 HAs) | 194 | 142 | 12 | 40 |
Max | ||||
Total | 240 | 188 | 12 | 40 |
Some of these housing associations say that they are still investigating the cladding on their towers. Five weeks is too long to still be investigating. We expect these investigations to be complete and relevant samples sent for testing immediately. There is no excuse for any housing association not to have completed its investigation of cladding materials.
To ensure we have a complete picture, we strongly encourage all building owners to provide data where it is currently incomplete or needs updating. Together with the Local Government Association and National Housing Federation we are urgently following up to obtain full information.
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