Tom Brake
Main Page: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Sajid Javid
The initial response was to provide emergency accommodation and to ensure that people were offered temporary accommodation within three weeks, and that certainly happened. More than 200 units of temporary accommodation, all of which were of high quality and fully furnished, were identified in the local area. As I have mentioned, some families have taken up the offer. Others wish to move straight to permanent accommodation, and others say that they are not ready. We will respect their wishes. This is one of the biggest jobs for Kensington and Chelsea and for the Government, who are working together to ensure that all the families affected have accommodation available that is of high quality and, importantly, on the same terms as that which they had before. That is certainly what we are pursuing.
Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)
Electrical safety is of paramount importance in rented accommodation, particularly when it is high rise, and it appears as though the Grenfell Tower incident was caused by a fire in a fridge freezer. Will the Secretary of State commit to introducing mandatory electrical safety checks in rented properties, bearing in mind the fact that the Department for Communities and Local Government working group that was looking at the matter has concluded?
Sajid Javid
My right hon. Friend the Business Secretary is looking at product electrical safety, including product recall, and I will ensure that he knows about the right hon. Gentleman’s concerns.