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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the equity of requiring residents in buildings with flammable cladding to pay for a fire watch by patrolling security staff.

The Department has been investigating what can be done to reduce the cost of Waking Watch. We will shortly publish data on Waking Watch costs so that there is transparency on the range of costs and comparisons can be clearly made. In addition, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has published updated guidance for buildings where Stay Put has been suspended, emphasising that these are short term measures and encouraging greater use of more cost-effective measures such as alarm systems to replace or reduce dependency on Waking Watch wherever possible. The Government?is providing £1.6 billion of?public subsidy to ensure remediation of high rise buildings with unsafe cladding happens at pace and so residents and their homes are made safe for the long?term, and??interim measures, such as a Waking Watch, are no longer required.