Georgia Gould, leader of Camden Council, said: "I am very clear that our order of up to 1,000 doors, highlighted yesterday, is to ensure we have enough to replace all of the doors in the blocks with the latest high standard fire doors and make these properties safe for residents. We look forward to the ongoing support of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with this."
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Independent expert panel to advise government on fire safety
The government will set up an independent panel of experts to advise on fire safety as it was revealed the number of tower blocks failing safety tests has risen to 75.
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Sajid Javid, communities secretary, said in a statement to parliament this afternoon that there are now 75 tower blocks in 26 local authority areas that have failed the Building Research Establishment’s combustibility test. He confirmed that all cladding samples that have been tested have failed.
Mr Javid said as an “initial step” he is setting up an independent expert advisory panel that “will advise the government on any steps that should immediately be taken on fire safety”.
Mr Javid said he is “concerned” about the speed at which samples are being submitted by landlords.
He added: “I would urge all landlords to submit their samples immediately.”
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He claimed that until the Grenfell Fire “many experts” would have claimed the building regulations system “has served us well”.
Fire safety experts have raised concerns about the building regulations over many years.
He also revealed that inspections of five tower blocks owned by Camden Council uncovered hundreds of missing fire doors. The council has estimated it needs 1,000 fire doors.
These tower blocks were evacuated over the weekend while fire safety work is carried out. Mr Javid said something had gone “drastically wrong” in these blocks.
John Healey, shadow secretary of state for housing, said cladding “is just not the whole story”.
He added: “We know this from the coroner’s reports in 2013 into the Lakanal House and Shirley Tower fires and we may well find this from the investigations into Grenfell Tower as the fire broke into almost every floor and through the building.”
A spokesperson confirmed to Inside Housing earlier today that the government is not requiring landlords to send insulation samples, despite the Grenfell insulation failing fire safety tests.
Mr Javid confirmed the government is only testing the cladding on tower blocks.
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