Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to improve Building Regulations relating to (a) desktop studies and (b) other aspects of fire safety.

The Government’s consultation on restricting or banning desktop studies from being used to assess the fire performance of cladding systems closes on 25 May. Inappropriate use of desktop studies is unacceptable and we will not hesitate to ban them, subject to consideration of the consultation responses. We have committed to publishing a clarified version of Approved Document B (building regulations fire safety guidance) in July for consultation, and we will also consult on banning the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings.