Flammable cladding risk causes chaos

BRITAIN: Hospitals and student halls of residence throughout Britain have been discovered with potentially flammable cladding, it was revealed yesterday as the government appointed an expert panel to advise on immediate measures to ensure high-rise blocks are safe.

The number of blocks where cladding has failed fire safety tests after the Grenfell Tower disaster has increased to 95, with privately rented buildings included for the first time.

Prime Minister Theresa May said ‘‘something has clearly gone wrong’’ over several decades.

Her spokesman said an investigation into the use of cladding could be conducted as a second phase of the public inquiry into the fire in London that killed at least 79 people earlier this month.

The National Fire Chiefs Council said 38 National Health Service sites had been found to have similar characteristics to those of Grenfell, with nine said to be at greatest risk.

Neither the council nor NHS Improvement, the watchdog which carried out the exercise, would name the sites or provide details of the findings.

More than 17,000 care homes, hospices and private hospitals have been told to check their fire safety procedures.

Last weekend, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt instructed every inpatient hospital to undergo safety checks within 36 hours.

But the demand was met with chaos, with fire chiefs saying they could not cope with the volume of work on top of other efforts to maintain public safety in the wake of Grenfell. Instead, they have drawn up a list of the buildings that need urgent checks.

Reviews are also being conduc- ted by universities and private providers of flats used by students across Britain.

Newcastle University confirmed that the privately run St James’s Point building, which opened two years ago, had been fitted with the same flammable cladding. Bournemouth University and Edinburgh Napier University said they had found similar types of cladding at their student accommodation.

Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said all school buildings taller than four storeys were being checked.

Samples from tower blocks are being tested by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and other facilities.

It is understood specific tests are being conducted, during which panels are peeled apart and fragments of the core material are burned to determine their combustibility.

The adequacy of building regulation tests, which certify materials for routine use, is likely to be an issue for the public inquiry and the expert advisory panel announced yesterday by Sajid Javid, the communities secretary.

The panel will be chaired by Sir Ken Knight, a former London fire chief, with assistance from Peter Bonfield, chief executive of the BRE.

The Justice4Grenfell campaign has said it is compiling its own list of victims as mistrust grows over the official death toll.

Spokesman Ishmahil Blagrove said: ‘‘There are people who are still missing, people who are undocumented, we are unhappy with the 79 victims who have been recorded by the media and the police.’’

– The Times, Telegraph Group