May leads calls to speed up cladding tests

● Authorities urged to check materials on high-rise towers amid safety fears

The Prime Minister has led calls for authorities to speed up testing of potentially flammable material on high-rise towers amid fears of an escalating safety crisis.

Theresa May chaired a meeting of the Grenfell Recovery Taskforce as more at-risk buildings were identified across the country.

Hospitals and schools will also be tested to make sure they are not encased in combustible cladding, Downing Street said.

Every cladding sample examined so far has failed fire safety tests, amounting to 60 high-rise buildings in 25 local authorities across the country, the government said.

Mrs May and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid echoed calls made by a minister for samples to be submitted promptly.

Housing minister Alok Sharma said: “Certainly, some councils are acting very quickly.

“We want all of them to be acting urgently on this. People should not wait for the checks to come back from these (tests).

“They should act now, get the fire service in, check the buildings that they think may be affected, put in place mitigation measures, if required, or, as in the case of Camden, if they need to evacuate, that needs to happen.”

The Department of Health and Department for Education will oversee the testing of schools and hospitals, according to Downing Street. The scope of the forthcoming public inquiry into the blaze is expected to widen, examining the apparent widespread use of the cladding. Mrs May’s official spokesman said questions over why the material was used on tower blocks nationwide despite breaching fire safety rules would likely be scrutinised.

“It is clearly a huge concern this is the case,” the spokesman said. “What is apparent is that this is on buildings across the country in local authori- ties run by all sorts of different parties.

“The job for the public inquiry will be to find out how and why this happened. I would expect that to be part of the terms of reference.”

The spokesman was unable to confirm a date for the announcement of a judge to head the Grenfell inquiry and the publication of terms of reference. “We are making good progress in the appointment of a judge, in co-operation with the Lord Chief Justice, and we hope to be able to make an announcement as soon as possible,” he said.

The spokesman said the authorities had the capacity to test 100 samples of cladding material a day and were nowhere near reaching that target.

“We are testing this material as soon as it comes to us and we request that landlords get this material to us urgently,” he said.

Tests can be completed in a matter of hours and councils are informed immediately of the results, with action taken to ensure buildings are made safe, he added.