Fury at failure to ban ‘Grenfell’ cladding

A PROPOSAL to only partially ban combustible cladding for new buildings from the Government has been heavily criticised by fire chiefs.

Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack said the plan for residential buildings above 60 feet (18 metres) was “designed for political convenience”.

The move includes schools, care homes, student accommodation and hospitals, but London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was disappointed that the changes do not apply to buildings below 60ft.

The measure, announced by Housing Secretary James Brokenshire at the Tory conference in Birmingham, resulted from consultation following last year’s Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Flammable cladding was blamed for the rapid spread of the fire at the west London high-rise which killed 72 people in June 2017.

Mr Wrack said: “This is not the outright ban on combustible cladding that firefighters have been calling for.

“These measures do not deal with the existing cladding on nearly 500 buildings across England where people live and work every day. This is designed for political convenience, not for thoroughgoing change. The failings in the fire safety regime are far wider than just the materials used. The whole deregulated system and weak guidance needs to be overhauled.”

Labour mayor Mr Khan said: “Since that terrible night I have been calling for the Government to ban combustible materials from all new buildings – regardless of height.

“Finally, the Government has taken an important step forward, but it should not have taken this long, and I am disappointed the changes will not apply to new buildings below 18m.

“Either this cladding material is a fire risk that endangers lives or it isn’t.”