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Labour demands ban on combustibles ahead of Hackitt report

Labour has called for a ban on combustible cladding and insulation on tower blocks ahead of Dame Judith Hackitt publishing her final report on a review of building regulations.

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Labour demands ban on combustibles ahead of Hackitt report #ukhousing

Healey writes to Brokenshire ahead of building safety debate in parliament outlining fire safety demands #ukhousing

Healey calls for ban on combustibles and untested cladding ahead of Hackitt report #ukhousing

The party is set to demand a “complete overhaul of the discredited system of building safety checks and controls” in a parliamentary debate today.

It comes a day before the Hackitt Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety is expected to issue its final report.

Multiple sources briefed by officials have told Inside Housing that Dame Hackitt will not call for a ban on combustible materials on high rises.

In a letter to housing secretary James Brokenshire, shadow housing secretary John Healey said the government must act to ensure that only “non-combustible cladding and insulation can be used on high rise blocks”.

He also called for a ban on desktop studies, which allow manufacturers to declare untested combinations of materials fire safe.


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Dozens of MPs, mainly Labour, have already called for the controversial practice to be scrapped.

Mr Healey also demanded “full public disclosure of the location, ownership and testing status of all high rise blocks, and clear powers for councils to enforce testing”.

“When Grenfell survivors and worried residents in other tower blocks should have seen action, they have had to suffer painfully slow progress and broken promises. What was a national disaster is now becoming a national disgrace,” Mr Healey added.

“When people’s lives are at risk, the government’s duty is clear-cut and government action must be equally clear-cut.

“The public must have confidence that there will be systemic changes to keep them and their families safe.”

He also demanded that councils be given the power to ask the courts to confiscate blocks covered in dangerous cladding, which the building owner refuses to remove.

And he repeated the party’s calls for a £1bn fund to help social landlords pay for fire safety work, including sprinklers.

The full text of Mr Healey’s letter to Mr Brokenshire is below.

John Healey's letter to James Brokenshire

John Healey's letter to James Brokenshire

Dear James

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower, our unwavering commitment remains to ensure Grenfell residents have the help and new homes they need, those responsible are held fully to account, and all necessary steps are taken so that a disaster like this can never happen again.

However, more than 11 months on the time for warm words is long past, and people are rightly asking why so little has changed since 14 June last year.

A series of commitments made by Ministers up to and including the Prime Minister have not been honoured. When Grenfell survivors and worried residents in other tower blocks should have seen action, they have had to suffer painfully slow progress and broken promises. What was a national disaster is now becoming a national disgrace.

Despite a promise that all Grenfell survivors would be permanently rehoused within a year, two-thirds of Grenfell survivors are still stuck in hotels or temporary housing. Despite a promise that the Government would do whatever it takes to keep residents of other tower blocks safe, fewer than one in 20 tower blocks identified with dangerous cladding have had it removed and replaced. Despite promises of Government funding, still not a single penny of central funding has been offered for vital safety work including retrofitting sprinklers.

This is totally unacceptable. In advance of the one year anniversary of the fire, I hope you will finally make good these commitments which were given to Grenfell survivors and worried residents across the country.

The forthcoming final report of the Hackitt Review into building regulations and fire safety will be an important chance for the Government to show its commitment to a complete overhaul of the discredited system of building safety checks and controls. When people’s lives are at risk, the Government’s duty is clear-cut and Government action must be equally clear-cut. The public must have confidence that there will be systemic changes to keep them and their families safe.

This means that in response to the comprehensive failings in the current system, the Government must act to ensure:

  • only non-combustible cladding and insulation can be used on high-rise blocks;
  • a ban on ‘desktop studies’ which allow building materials to be deemed safe without a basis in testing;
  • a £1bn emergency Fire Safety Fund, available to help council and housing association landlords with the costs of retrofitting sprinklers, and other urgent remedial work;
  • full public disclosure of the location, ownership and testing status of all high-rise blocks, and clear powers for councils to enforce testing;
  • a publicly-accountable system of building control; and
  • a presumption that private block owners are responsible for paying to replace dangerous cladding, and more robust sanctions where private landlords will not made buildings safe, including the option of confiscation of the tower blocks.

I hope that this can be the basis of a common, cross-Party approach as we approach the one-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Yours ever

John Healey MP

What is the Hackitt Review?

Following the Grenfell Fire in June, which killed 71 people, questions were raised about the part that building regulations played in the tragedy.

On 28 July, Amber Rudd, the home secretary, and Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to conduct a review into building regulations and fire safety.

The review, which is being carried out independently of government, has a particular focus on regulations as they apply to high-rise residential buildings.

The review's interim findings were reported in December 2017.

Who is Dame Judith Hackitt?

Dame Judith is an engineer with extensive experience in the chemicals industry and former civil servant. She formerly chaired watchdog the Health and Safety Executive and is currently chair of manufacturing trade body EEF.

In 2006, she was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to health and safety and in 2016 was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).

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