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.

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.