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 17 June 2019 to Question 262396 on Buildings: Insulation, whether his Department took steps to estimate the number of buildings with HPL cladding after the failed BS8414 fire test on that cladding.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
On 18 July 2019, the Government asked local authorities and housing associations to undertake a data collection exercise on the external wall systems of their high rise residential buildings that are 18 metres or above. This includes high rise residential buildings that are clad in High Pressure Laminate.
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 17 June 2019 to Question 262396 on Buildings: Insulation, what type of combustible insulation was combined with HPL cladding for the BS8414 test.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The insulation used during the test was a combustible phenolic foam insulation.
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 Written Statement, Building safety update, HCWS1757, by what date the data will be collected; what (a) funding and (b) resources he has allocated to the collection of that data; what data will be collected; and if he will publish the results of that data collection.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is collecting data on all external wall systems on residential buildings 18 metres and above. This exercise covers private and social (both local authority and housing association) stock, hotels and student accommodation.
The Government requests that local authorities and housing associations complete the data collection by 31 March 2020. We have published a technical note (18 July) to aid local authorities and housing associations in identifying the details of external wall systems. We are aiming to provide financial support to local authorities in the form of New Burdens funding. We will publish appropriate summary information from the data collection in our monthly Building Safety Programme data release when ready.
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 July 2019 to Question 272722 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, whether the tests have started; how many tests are due to take place; and when all the tests are due to be completed.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
I refer the Hon Member to the written ministerial statement (HCWS1533) made on 1 May 2019.
As set out in the statement the testing begun in April. The methodology has been laid in the House Library.
The materials tested include copper and zinc composite materials; aluminium honeycomb panels; high-pressure laminate panels; brick slips; and reconstituted stone. The total number of tests will be greater than the number of materials as a number of variants of each material is being tested.
A full picture of the outcomes of the tests can only be provided following a detailed analysis of all the test data. We expect this analysis to be completed in the summer and we will publish the conclusions of the programme thereafter.
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 17 June 2019 to Question 262396, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) tower blocks and (b) other buildings covered in HPL cladding since being made aware of the failed BS 8414 test.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department does not currently formally collect data on High-Pressure Laminate (HPL) cladding use. The Department has engaged with local authorities, housing associations and industry to understand the use of HPL on high rise residential buildings; and to remind them of the Departments advice on ensuring the fire safety of external wall systems.
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 6 June 2019 to Question 259402 on high rise flats: insulation, what estimate he made of the number of blocks that would potentially draw on the fund when calculating the £200 million private sector cladding remediation fund.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government announced its commitment to fully fund the remediation of private sector high-rise residential blocks with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding, except where a warranty claim has been accepted. The number of buildings which will receive funding will depend on the applications received. We estimate up to 153 may be available. This number will reduce depending on the number of developers who agree not to draw down the fund
I am pleased to report that many owners and developers including Taylor Wimpey, Legal & General, Mace Group, Lendlease, Barratt Developments and Aberdeen Standard Investments, have agreed to maintain their commitments to meet the cost of remediation without the recourse to the fund.
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 his Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 262396, whether his Department is aware of any fire safety tests carried out in the UK on other forms of non-ACM cladding.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Building Research Establishment has published a list of successful large scale test (BS 8414) on their website, these can be accessed at the following:
https://www.bre.co.uk/regulatory-testing
In addition product manufacturers regularly put information on their websites about successful fire safety tests.
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 17 June 2019 to Question 262396, whether the Government provided information on the failed BS 8414 test to (a) fire authorities and (b) local authority building control departments across the UK.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have provided information on non-Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) materials including High Pressure Laminates, to fire authorities, local authorities and building owners through the publication of Advice Note 14. Advice Note 14 was published in 2017 and updated in December 2018. The advice note provides a decision tree that directs them to seek professional help and consider remediation measures if they do not have the necessary evidence that a cladding system is safe. The full advice note reiterates that the clearest way to ensure safety is to remove the unsafe materials and is available at the following
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765761/Expert_Panel_advice_note_on_non-ACM.pdf
Acting on advice from the Independent Expert Advisory Panel, the Government has commissioned research to support further understanding of the fire performance of non-ACM external wall systems, this includes a number of High Pressure Laminate systems of varying composition. The tests began on 30 April 2019 and we expect final results to be available by the Summer. The research findings will be published in due course. In addition, the Department commissioned the Fire Protection Association to carry out a large scale test (BS 8414) using High Pressure Laminate panels and stone wool insulation.
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 Independent Grenfell Recovery Taskforce commitment to provide their fourth report in Spring 2019, whether that report has been delivered to his Department; and what the timetable is for the publication of that report.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Independent Grenfell Recovery Taskforce submitted their report to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 18 June 2019. It will be published in due course.
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 Programme: monthly data release, if he will publish the criteria his Department uses to classify blocks as started remediation; and whether that criteria includes blocks for which cladding has only been partially removed.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The start of remediation works on Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems for individual buildings is defined as the commencement of physical work beyond interim measures to permanently make that building safe, such as starting to remove and replace cladding. Data on progress towards completion for buildings which have started remediation works on ACM cladding systems is not collected.