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Salford Council slams government decision to bar it from lending money for cladding removal
Salford Council has hit out at a government decision to deny it permission to borrow money to replace cladding on nine tower blocks, while simultaneously barring the council’s housing management company from its £400m cladding fund.
The local authority launched plans to replace cladding on the blocks in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire last year, planning to begin work by this summer.
It maintained that Pendleton Together, the housing management company which had also installed the cladding, should foot the bill for the works and promised to lend it up to £25m using its prudential borrowing powers.
But the government has refused to allow the council to lend the money, saying that the council itself is responsible for changing the cladding and so cannot give another company the money to do so.
At the same time, civil servants have also told the council that Pendleton Together cannot access the £400m government fund for the removal and replacement of cladding because the fund is only open to local authorities and housing associations.
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Deputy city mayor John Merry said the council faces “significant delays and further financial penalties” if it ends the existing loan contract with Pendleton Together.
He said the government’s decision was “beyond belief” and expressed his frustration at the “red tape” which was thwarting the works.
“I will be writing to the government to ask them to reconsider their decisions,” he said. “The government minister who signed off on this should be ashamed, not only for betraying the people of Salford, but also for undermining the words of the prime minister who promised to tackle the issues relating to cladding.”
He said the council was now hoping to help Pendleton Together raise the money itself, so that the works can go ahead.
Until then, the council confirmed that fire safety measures will remain in place on all blocks, including fire marshals who are constantly on duty.
