Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2019 to Question 257077 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, if he will publish the number of (a) developers and freeholders that have agreed to maintain their commitment and (b) blocks that the commitment relates to.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
A number of developers, including Taylor Wimpey, Legal & General, Mace Group, Lendlease, Barratt Developments and Aberdeen Standard Investments have agreed to maintain their commitments to fund remediation. We are continuing to engage with owners and developers to encourage them to maintain their commitments and not draw on the fund. We are not publishing details which could identify buildings because of the risk to public safety. We continue to engage with building owners and developers to ensure that all remaining buildings are remediated swiftly.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's publication entitled, Building Safety Update: Monthly Data Release, how many of the 321 buildings yet to be remediated are expected to complete remediation by October 2019.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
MHCLG do not hold comprehensive data on planned completion dates for the remediation of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) buildings. The private sector remediation fund, announced on 9 May, will remove the biggest blocker to progress on remediation in the private residential buildings. However, it is important to recognise remediation work cannot be done overnight, and it must be done properly. The time to complete work varies considerably depending on the factors such as structure, extent of cladding, and existing fire safety systems. For many buildings this is a complex job involving major construction work. We want buildings to be remediated as quickly as possible and we will be closely monitoring the work as it progresses.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) public and (b) private sector buildings of (i) two, (ii) three, (iii) four and (iv) five storeys under 18 meters there are with (A) ACM cladding, and (B) other combustible cladding.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government’s Building Safety Programme is tracking the remediation of high-rise (over 18 metres) residential buildings with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems. We do not therefore hold the relevant information for any buildings below 18 metres with either unsafe ACM cladding systems or other combustible cladding.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answers of 8 May 2019 and 15 May 2019 to Questions 250034 and 252869, if he will publish an updated regional breakdown of (a) blocks with aluminium composite material cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations which are yet to be remediated and (b) dwellings in those blocks as of May 2019 based on the building safety programme figures due to be published on 10 June 2019.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Table 1 shows the regional breakdown of private and social sector high-rise residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations which are yet to be remediated, as at 31 May 2019. This excludes hotels, student accommodation and public buildings.
Table 1: Regional breakdown of private and social sector high-rise residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations which are yet to be remediated - 31 May, 2019.
Region | Number of high-rise residential buildings yet to be remediated |
East Midlands | 1-5 |
East of England | 6-10 |
London | Over 20 |
North East | 1-5 |
North West | Over 20 |
South East | 11-20 |
South West | 6-10 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 11-20 |
Total | 265 |
Table 2 shows total numbers of dwellings in high-rise residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations by region, as at 31 May 2019. This excludes hotels, student accommodation and public buildings.
Table 2: Numbers of dwellings in private and social sector high-rise residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations which are yet to be remediated, by region - 31 May, 2019.
Region | Number of estimated dwellings in yet to be remediated buildings |
East Midlands | 200 |
East of England | 500 |
London | 12,600-15,800 |
North East | 200 |
North West | 4,100-4,300 |
South East | 1,400 |
South West | 600 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,500-1,900 |
Total (does not sum due to rounding) | 21,000-24,900 |
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2019 to Question 217592 on Buildings: Insulation, if he will publish the advice sent to building owners on how to (a) investigate and (b) remediate non-ACM cladding systems on their buildings.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have published guidance to reiterate the importance of building owners assessing their buildings and ensuring that non-ACM cladding systems are safe. Advice Note 14, published in 2017 and updated in December 2018, reiterates that the clearest way to ensure safety is to remove unsafe materials.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765761/Expert_Panel_advice_note_on_non-ACM.pdf
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Building a Safer Future: an implementation plan, if he will publish the (a) membership of the Joint Regulators Group and (b) minutes of that Group's meetings to date.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
As outlined in the Building a Safer Future: an implementation plan, the Joint Regulators Group draws together the expertise of the Health and Safety Executive, Local Authority Building Control, National Fire Chiefs’ Council, and the Local Government Association, and also includes representatives from the Home Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and an independent regulatory expert.
The Terms of Reference will be published in due course. The Group is not a decision-making body. Its work has informed the consultation document on proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system published on 6 June and will continue to inform the work of the Building Safety Programme, and minutes of its meetings will not be published. The consultation document can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/building-a-safer-future-proposals-for-reform-of-the-building-safety-regulatory-system.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's December 2018 implementation plan entitled Building a safer future, if he will publish (a) the organisations involved in the implementation plan and (b) the remit of the (i) Competence Steering Group, (ii) Competence Steering Group sub-working groups, (iii) Industry Safety Steering Group, and (iv) all other industry working groups set up in response to the Hackitt Review.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Following the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, our implementation plan set out a far-reaching work programme to deliver a reformed building safety system. In addition to the findings of the Review, we have considered a wide range of evidence, views and concerns expressed since the Grenfell Tower fire including representations to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry; over 200 responses to the Review’s Final Report, gathered in a listening exercise over the summer; and a report from the House of Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee. The consultation published on 6 June, Building a safer future: proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system, invites views from the public and all interested stakeholders on how we propose to take forward meaningful legislative reform.
The Competence Steering Group and its sub-working groups were established by the construction and fire safety sectors in response to the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety. Their remit is to develop proposals for a robust and coherent overarching system for overseeing competence requirements, and to raise competence within relevant disciplines involved in the design, construction, inspection, maintenance and management of buildings in scope of the Review. The Group expects to publish its full report covering recommendations from all working groups in June 2019 for an industry-led consultation. More information on the Competence Steering Group and its working groups can be found in the group’s second quarterly report published on the Construction Industry Council’s website: http://cic.org.uk/admin/resources/second-quarterly-report-october-2019-electronic-version.pdf.
The industry safety steering group (ISSG) has been established to encourage culture change across industry and to monitor industry’s progress with implementing the recommendations in the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety. The terms of reference for the group are published on GOV.UK https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/801470/TOR.pdf.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to annex A of his Department's Building a safer future implementation plan published in December 2018, whether the final proposals of the competence steering group were delivered in April 2019; and if he will publish those proposals.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Competence Steering Group has submitted to Government its initial proposals for an overarching system to oversee competence requirements for buildings in scope, as part of its work to improve competence, for inclusion in our consultation ‘Building a Safer Future: a consultation’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/residents-encouraged-to-have-their-say-to-improve-building-safety), published on 6 June 2019. The report can be found at Annex E. The Group expects to publish its full report covering all recommendations from its working groups in June for an industry-led consultation.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide an updated list of activity on his Department's Building a safer future implementation plan since 29 November 2018.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
I refer the Hon. Member to the letter I sent on 11 April to Clive Betts MP in his capacity as chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, a copy of which has been placed in the House Library.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's Building Safety Programme: Monthly Data Release published on 30 April 2019, if he will publish local authority data in the format of Table 3 in that document, for (a) all social sector buildings identified with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations, (b) social sector buildings identified with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations yet to be remediated, (c) all private sector buildings identified with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations, and (d) all private sector buildings identified with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations yet to be remediated.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Tables A and B set out local authority areas with high-rise social sector residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations identified, and those yet to be remediated, respectively. These areas are grouped into bands. The bands used are: one to five buildings, six to ten buildings, 11 to 20 buildings, and over 20 buildings.
As at 30 April, there are 37 local authorities in England where such social sector buildings were identified, of which 31 local authorities have at least one such building yet to be remediated within their boundaries.
We exclude local authorities with fewer than ten high-rise social sector buildings (regardless of whether they have cladding) from the tables below, as their inclusion could lead to the identification of one or more buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations in these areas – hence we only list 32 local authorities in Table A and 26 in Table B.
Table A: Number of social sector buildings identified with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations, by local authority England, 30 April 2019 | ||
(a) Local authorities with 1 to 5 social sector buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations identified | ||
Barking and Dagenham | Havering | Reading |
Barnet | Hillingdon | Sandwell |
Calderdale | Hounslow | Sefton |
Cambridge | Islington | Sheffield |
Camden | Lambeth | Stockton-on-Tees |
Croydon | Lewisham | Sunderland |
Doncaster | Newham | Wandsworth |
Hackney | Plymouth |
|
Hammersmith and Fulham | Portsmouth |
|
(b) Local authorities with 6 to 10 social sector buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations identified | ||
Brent | Haringey | Southwark |
Westminster |
|
|
(c) Local authorities with 11 to 20 social sector buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations identified | ||
Manchester | Tower Hamlets |
|
(d) Local authorities with over 20 social sector buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations identified | ||
Salford |
|
|
Table B: Number of social sector buildings identified with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations yet to be remediated, by local authority England, 30 April 2019 | ||
(a) Local authorities with 1 to 5 social sector buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated | ||
Barking and Dagenham | Hillingdon | Portsmouth |
Barnet | Islington | Reading |
Cambridge | Lambeth | Sefton |
Camden | Lewisham | Sheffield |
Croydon | Manchester | Southwark |
Hackney | Newham | Stockton-on-Tees |
Hammersmith and Fulham | Plymouth | Wandsworth |
(b) Local authorities with 6 to 10 social sector buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated | ||
Brent | Haringey | Tower Hamlets |
Westminster |
|
|
(c) Local authorities with 11 to 20 social sector buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated | ||
Salford |
|
|
Tables C and D set out the information for private sector residential buildings. Please note that this does not include hotels or student accommodation.
As at 30 April, there are 40 local authorities in England where such private sector residential buildings were identified, of which 38 local authorities have at least one such building yet to be remediated within their boundaries.
We exclude local authorities with fewer than ten high-rise private sector residential buildings – hence only 35 local authorities are listed in Table C and 34 in Table D.
| ||
(a) Local authorities with 1 to 5 private residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations identified | ||
Barnet | Hammersmith and Fulham | Nottingham |
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | Harrow | Reading |
Bradford | Hounslow | Salford |
Brent | Islington | Sheffield |
Bristol | Kensington and Chelsea | Slough |
Bromley | Lambeth | Southwark |
Cambridge | Liverpool | Sutton |
Croydon | Medway | Waltham Forest |
Ealing | Merton |
|
Hackney | Norwich |
|
(b) Local authorities with 6 to 10 private residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations identified | ||
Leeds | Manchester | Newham |
(c) Local authorities with 11 to 20 private residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations identified | ||
Wandsworth | Westminster |
|
(d) Local authorities with over 20 private residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations identified | ||
Greenwich | Tower Hamlets |
|
Table D: Number of private sector residential buildings identified with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations yet to be remediated, by local authority England, 30 April 2019 | ||
(a) Local authorities with 1 to 5 private residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated | ||
Barnet | Hammersmith and Fulham | Nottingham |
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | Harrow | Reading |
Bradford | Hounslow | Salford |
Brent | Islington | Sheffield |
Bristol | Kensington and Chelsea | Slough |
Bromley | Lambeth | Southwark |
Cambridge | Liverpool | Sutton |
Croydon | Medway |
|
Ealing | Merton |
|
Hackney | Norwich |
|
(b) Local authorities with 6 to 10 private residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated | ||
Leeds | Manchester | Newham |
(c) Local authorities with 11 to 20 private residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated | ||
Wandsworth | Westminster |
|
(d) Local authorities with over 20 private residential buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated | ||
Greenwich | Tower Hamlets |
|