Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

The Remediation of Dangerous Cladding

Status: Closed Opened: 31 Oct 2024 Closed: 16 May 2025 20 recommendations 26 conclusions 1 report

In June 2017, 72 people lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower disaster. The resulting public inquiry found that aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding had played a significant role in the spread of the fire. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has committed £5.1bn to remove and replace dangerous cladding. It has …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
17th Report - The Remediation of Dangerous Cladding HC 362 21 Mar 2025 46 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

5 items
35 Conclusion 17th Report - The Remediation of Danger… Deferred

Published remediation unit costs reflect older standards, not the lower-cost PAS 9980 methodology.

In December 2024, MHCLG published remediation cost information per square metre for high–rise buildings over 18 metres in the Building Safety Fund with a view to helping building owners understand the expected 56 Qq 31, 93, 93, 118; CA&G’s Report paras 13, 3.1, Appendix One 57 Ministry of Housing, Communities …

Government response. The government agrees with the observation and commits to publishing the latest building number estimates by summer 2025. However, the exact timing for publishing estimates of costs and works completion dates is deferred, as it depends on the outcome of …
HM Treasury
38 Conclusion 17th Report - The Remediation of Danger… Deferred

Taxpayer exposure to building remediation costs could exceed the stated £5.1 billion cap.

HM Treasury has agreed to provide short–term funding that would allow remediation to progress in advance of the Levy recouping funds in later years. Based on MHCLG’s financial planning, the NAO highlighted that total taxpayer exposure could reach a maximum of £6.3 billion in 2030-31 before all Levy receipts are …

Government response. The government committed to publishing latest building number estimates by summer 2025, but the publication of estimates for costs and works completion dates is deferred until after the forthcoming Spending Review.
HM Treasury
39 Recommendation 17th Report - The Remediation of Danger… Deferred

Relaxed funding criteria in early remediation schemes increased fraud risk for taxpayers.

The NAO report found that previous attempts by MHCLG to accelerate remediation resulted in it relaxing some of its safeguards and the taxpayer being exposed to an increased risk of fraud. This included moving from making payments in arrears to making up–front payments of between 30% and 80%.65 We asked …

Government response. The government agrees and will provide an update on the feasibility of fraud measurement by the end of 2025. However, full outputs from the fraud loss measurement exercise, which has an 18-month standard, are not expected until Autumn 2026.
HM Treasury
40 Conclusion 17th Report - The Remediation of Danger… Deferred

MHCLG was late completing a full fraud risk assessment for the Building Safety Fund.

The NAO report also highlighted how MHCLG was late to produce a full fraud risk assessment on the Building Safety Fund, only completing one in

Government response. The government committed to providing an update on the feasibility of fraud measurement by the end of 2025, but full outputs from the fraud loss measurement process will not be available until Autumn 2026.
HM Treasury
41 Recommendation 17th Report - The Remediation of Danger… Deferred

MHCLG details improved fraud prevention and detection measures for building safety schemes.

MHCLG told us how the design of Homes England’s Cladding Safety Scheme would help reduce fraud in future. It explained that the new scheme captures information centrally, rather than relying on one team to pull together more disparate sources of intelligence. The Cladding Safety Scheme has also restored the practice …

Government response. The government agrees and will provide an update on the feasibility of fraud measurement by the end of 2025. Full outputs from the fraud loss measurement exercise are anticipated by Autumn 2026.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
3 Feb 2025 Ben Llewelyn · MHCLG, Councillor Adam Hug · Local Government Association, David O'Leary · Home Builders Federation, Giles Grover · End Our Cladding Scandal, Helen Fisher · Homes England, Rhys Moore · National Housing Federation, Richard Goodman · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Sarah Healey CB CVO · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government View ↗

Correspondence

5 letters
DateDirectionTitle
15 Sep 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Housing, Communities and Loc…
4 Sep 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and…
17 Jul 2025 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local…
27 Mar 2025 To cttee Letter from the Executive Director at Home Builders Federation relating to the …
3 Mar 2025 To cttee Letter from the End Our Cladding Scandal & Non-Qualifying Leaseholders relating…