Government not calling for insulation samples despite Grenfell test failure

The police investigation is looking at not only the cladding – which is made up of aluminium composite tiles – but also the insulation behind it, how the tiles were fixed to the building, and how it was installed.

A spokesperson for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said the Building Research Establishment is only testing what it is sent and it is “up to landlords what samples they’re sending in [to be tested]”.

On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning Alok Sharma, housing minister, blamed landlords when questioned why only 60 samples had been tested out of 600 tower blocks with cladding.

He said: “We are having these samples coming in; we would say to all landlords out there who own these buildings, please, urgently send those samples in. Some are sending them in very quickly, we want others to act quickly as well.

“Some councils are acting very quickly and we want all of them to be acting urgently on this, but we have a process where we’re making sure this happens.”

A recent letter from Melanie Dawes, permanent secretary at the DCLG, said landlords should send samples of aluminium composite material panels to be tested.

Shadow secretary of state for housing John Healey told the Today programme the fact that every sample test had failed so far “suggests that they’re just testing one product”.

“These have really got to be much wider safety tests,” he said.

The government confirmed over the weekend that cladding from 60 tower blocks had failed the fire safety tests.