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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2017 to Question 4915, whether the Government sought the advice of the expert panel on fire safety before the original testing of samples of cladding material.

The decision to commission the screening tests on Aluminium Cladding Material (ACM) samples was made on the basis of advice from independent experts. The Independent Expert Advisory Panel had not been appointed at that time.

At their first meeting, the Independent Expert Advisory Panel concluded the initial ACM screening tests, along with issuing advice on interim fire safety measures, were the right first steps to have taken.