60 high-rise buildings fail fire cladding tests after Grenfell disaster
SOME 60 high-rise buildings in 25 local authorities across the country have now failed fire cladding safety tests after the Grenfell Tower disaster, the Government has said.
The number rose from 34 tower blocks across 17 local authorities. The announcement came after Communities Secretary Sajid Javid revealed all of the buildings that have so far submitted cladding samples have failed combustibility tests.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said Doncaster, Norwich, Stockton-on-Tees and Sunderland all had buildings that failed tests, while Manchester, Plymouth and Portsmouth have already been named.
Doncaster Council has said work will start today on removing window capping on a high-rise block in the borough following detailed assessments in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Decorative capping, which is found only on the external stairwell windows on Silverwood House in Balby Bridge, is being removed as a precautionary measure, the authority has said. Jo Miller, chief executive at Doncaster Council, said: “Although we have not been advised that this decorative capping detail should be removed, we have decided to remove it as a precautionary measure to reflect that the health and safety of residents is our main priority.”
WORK HAS started to remove cladding on nine high-rise blocks in Pendleton, the City Mayor of Salford has said.
Residents were told on Friday that aluminium composite cladding would be removed in advance of government combustibility test results.
The results of the tests have not yet been made public but cladding is being removed from Thorn Court. Cladding will also be removed from Beech Court, Whitebeam Court, Malus Court, Salix Court, Spruce Court, Holm Court, Hornbeam Court and Plane Court, Salford City Council said.
Tenants have been told they will not need to move out while the work takes place on the blocks which are managed by Pendleton Together.