No10 ‘doesn’t know’ if cladding blamed for Grenfell inferno is legal as 15 more tower blocks fail safety tests
DOWNING Street still does not know if flammable cladding used on UK tower blocks is legal, it admitted last night.
It came as No10 said all 75 high rises so far tested for fire safety in 26 local authorities had failed.
The revelations emerged as the US firm that produced the cladding blamed for the Grenfell Tower disaster in which 79 died withdrew the panels from global sale.
Arconic Inc, which had warned the material was a fire risk for tall buildings, blamed “inconsistencies in building codes”.
A No10 spokesman said the public inquiry into the tragedy in North Kensington, West London, will be expanded to probe UK building regulations.
He said: “The job for the public inquiry will be to find out how and why this happened.”
Asked if it was yet known if the cladding was legal, he said it was “one of the issues we are urgently trying to get to the bottom of”. David Smith, of the Residential Landlords Association, last night called British building regulations a “total mess”.
Jon O’Neill, boss at the Fire Protection Association, the UK’s national fire safety organisation, added: “It’s been 12 years since we had a building regulations review for fire safety. In Australia they are unhappy at only reviewing regulations every three years.”
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, meanwhile, urged local authorities and landlords to make available “immediately” samples of cladding for checks.
Revealing a 100 per cent failure rate of those tested, he said: “I’m concerned about the speed samples are being submitted.”
Last night Labour MP and former firefighter Jim Fitzpatrick said there had been a "complete systemic failure" of fire safety measures at tower blocks as he pushed ministers for answers over the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The former minister told the Commons fitting sprinklers at the tower block would have cost little more than £2,500 per person known to have died during the disaster in Kensington.
He was speaking during an adjournment debate on the tower block blaze, the first time MPs have had a chance to debate the fire having previously been restricted to asking questions of ministers.
The Poplar and Limehouse MP said it was "difficult to know where to start" on the fire safety failings at Grenfell, adding: "The failure of all the cladding panels tested since the fire, allied to the Secretary of State's startling information from Camden earlier today about fire doors, indicates a complete systemic failure."
Mr Fitzpatrick said that "sprinklers save lives", adding: "We know from the report that the cost of sprinklers being fitted to Grenfell Tower would have been £200,000.
"Divide that by 79 - you do the math. It's just over £2,531 per death, and that's likely to come down as more deaths are confirmed."
Mr Fitzpatrick also asked ministers what the guidance now was for sprinklers in new schools, given reports that they would revert back to being compulsory except in exceptional circumstances.