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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of re-cladding on the effectiveness of fire breaks.

The Independent Expert Panel will provide advice to the government on any immediate measures needed to make buildings safe following the Grenfell Tower fire. It is a landlord’s responsibility to ensure that people are kept safe. If building owners decide that they need to re-clad their buildings, this building work will need to be compliant with the requirements of the Building Regulations, including the requirements relating to the prevention of spread of fire over the external walls.

Guidance on the provision of fire breaks (cavity barriers) is provided in section 9 of Approved Document B.