Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to compensate residents in blocks with dangerous cladding who have had to fund (a) waking watches and (b) other interim safety measures while waiting for the cladding to be inspected and/or removed.

Building owners are legally responsible for ensuring the safety of their buildings and residents. Interim safety measures such as waking watch should only ever be short term and are not a substitute for remediation.

By targeting remediation funding where it is needed most, by removing and replacing cladding, we can help to make homes safer, quicker. However, the Government recognise residents’ concerns about the cost of waking watch measures and the lack of transparency of these costs.

That is why we have collected and published information on waking watch costs. This will enable those that have commissioned waking watches to make comparisons and challenge providers on unreasonable prices. The data we have published also illustrate that alarm systems can provide a more cost-effective means of protecting resident safety, and Fire and Rescue Services are encouraging greater consideration of this through their guidance and advice on interim measures.