A Parliamentary committee has announced that they will investigate the progress in cladding remediation in buildings at risk
The Public Accounts Committee announced that they will call officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government to present evidence of cladding remediation.
The investigation will primarily be concerned with the cost and efficiency of government schemes in the process.
The original target for completion was 2020
The target originally set for all dangerous Grenfell-style cladding to be removed was June 2020.
It is due to this extremely slow progress that this investigation is being launched.
The hearings in the investigation will focus on four separate areas:
- Progress and timelines – Examination of current timelines and identification processes will help set a new realistic target date for complete remediation.
- Protection of public funds – An evaluation of the steps taken to safeguard taxpayer investments.
- Government approach to building safety risk – How the government has utilised safety protocols in order to prevent similar incidents to Grenfell happening in the future
- The Autumn budget’s further £1bn for cladding remediation – A hearing meant to ensure that the £1bn in the recently announced Autumn budget is utilised properly and efficiently.
The government has pledged £5.1bn to cladding remediation
When Grenfell happened in 2017, the government pledged that a set amount of tax-payer funds would be put towards cladding remediation, with the rest being supplied by the building owners and developers.
Committee chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP said: “As our programme of work gets under way, I’m looking forward to working with members of all parties to continue to fulfil this committee’s historic role in the service of the wider public – to be seekers after the truth on government policy delivery.
“In order to achieve this, we will aim to engage with our expert witnesses constructively but persistently to obtain answers to difficult questions which will inform our subsequent reports and important recommendations.”
