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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will place a temporary moratorium on the use of combustible cladding for the duration of his consultation of the potential merits of a permanent ban on such cladding.

There is a statutory requirement in the Building Act to consult on substantive changes to the building regulations. We will publish a consultation on banning the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings as early as practicable and give consultees adequate time to respond to the consultation before deciding how to proceed.

The Government will fully fund the removal and replacement of potentially dangerous Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding on buildings over 18 metres owned by social landlords, with costs estimated at £400 million. As recognised by Dame Judith Hackitt’s final report, using products which are non-combustible or of limited combustibility is the lower risk option for remediation.