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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether building cladding that failed safety testing by his Department should be removed.

On 22 June we issued advice that sets out the immediate steps landlords should be taking to ensure fire safety following the identification of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding.

It is for building owners to consider whether to remove cladding. Removal of cladding needs to be done safely and without compromising other aspects of the building’s external wall system. Whilst they should take expert professional advice on this, the Department also published advice on 14 July, in a note to all building control bodies, which highlighted the key Building Regulation requirements when cladding work on high rise buildings over 18 metres tall is undertaken. That note can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ensure-that-recladding-work-meets-building-regulations-advises-expert-panel