Labour MP Uma Kumaran has said she is bombarded by horror stories from her constituents being trapped in buildings with dangerous cladding – eight years after the Grenfell fire
A Labour MP has said she is bombarded by horror stories from her constituents being trapped in buildings with dangerous cladding – eight years after the Grenfell Tower fire.
Uma Kumaran, whose constituency has the highest number of high-rise cladded buildings in the country, said she knows people who are suicidal because of the dreadful crisis. The MP for Stratford and Bow, in east London, made a plea for action as a grim report today finds that ministers still do not know exactly how many buildings have dangerous cladding.
MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), who carried out the inquiry, said they have been “left appalled at the continuing emotional and financial impact” of the cladding crisis. They also expressed “deeply regrettable scepticism” about Government plans to remove dangerous cladding from buildings.
Ms Kumaran said the current situation was “terrifying” for people who fear a repeat of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire which killed 72 people. The MP is in close contact with Housing Ministers and raised the issue with Keir Starmer during PMQs on Wednesday.
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“It is devastating when you sit and listen to people,” she told the Mirror. “I had a woman in absolute tears. It’s stopping her ability to live her life. She’s quite a similar age to me and she wants to have a family, and she’s trapped in this one-bedroom house. Her life savings are in this flat and she can’t sell it. There’s someone else who I spoke to. His mum’s dying of cancer and she lives on the South Coast and he’s not able to move to be next to his mum in her dying years.”
Labour unveiled its Remediation Acceleration Plan last year, pledging that, by the end of 2029, all buildings more than 59ft (18m) tall with unsafe cladding that are on a Government scheme will have been remediated. For buildings over 11 metres with unsafe cladding, within the same timeframe those will either have been remediated, have a date for completion, or the landlords will be liable for severe penalties.
The Government warned building owners who fail to remove dangerous cladding “we are after them” and said they could face jail. But they also acknowledged there could be up to 7,000 buildings with dangerous materials which have not yet been identified, while progress on remediation work on high-rises with known issues has been too slow.
The PAC’s report criticised the 2029 target as “insufficiently ambitious”. It also said such efforts to accelerate remediation plans are at risk of not even being met due to dwindling numbers of suitably qualified fire risk assessors or trained cladders to carry out the work. It said such pressures are “likely to be exacerbated” by the Government’s target to build 1.5million homes.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, chair of the PAC, said: “I was utterly appalled by the evidence given to our inquiry, showing residents still mired in the national cladding crisis, with no immediate solutions at hand. It would have of course been the Committee’s wish that this report carried better news for all affected. Unfortunately, we are united with campaigners in deeply regrettable scepticism that current remediation plans are capable of delivering on what’s promised.”
He added: “The Grenfell tower fire will forever be a badge of shame for the nation. Residents were let down by failings at every level. A community was traumatised, and 72 lives were lost. Rightly, all in positions of responsibility have vowed to do everything in our power to prevent such a disaster ever happening again. But eight years after Grenfell, it is still not known how many buildings out there have dangerous cladding, and when it will be removed. That vow remains unkept for every day that is still the case.”
Among its recommendations, the committee urged updates from the department on its progress with remediation as well as proposals on ensuring all fire safety defects, including those not related to cladding issues, are properly addressed. It also urged a review of insurance premiums and consideration of what more the department can do to help lower those for residents awaiting remediation work.
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