Progress continues to be made in Newham’s mission to rid buildings in the borough of dangerous cladding.
Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE’s Cabinet has received an update about the proactive work being undertaken by the Council over the past year to boost safety across the borough.
It includes measures to identify and remove combustible external wall systems from the Council’s own buildings and hold private building owners to account.
Action taken to improve and make safe Council buildings includes:
- Investing £13m to date in remediating external wall systems that include ACM and high pressure laminate cladding, with up to £8m more expected to be spent in the future
- Increasing engagement with Council tenants and leaseholders by sharing fire safety information through in-person sessions and website, magazine and newsletter articles
Action taken to tackle the use of unsafe materials in the private sector includes:
- Writing to developers, building owners and agents in the private sector to make them aware of their responsibilities to remove unsafe cladding
- Undertaking inspections of privately-owned buildings with the LGA Joint Inspection Team – nine have been undertaken to date, with more planned for the future
- Serving improvement notices where private owners have failed to undertake the remedial works required, or failed to do so within a reasonable timeframe
Cllr Shaban Mohammed, Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Modernisation, said: “Everyone should be able to sleep soundly at night knowing that their home is properly protected from fire and we will not rest in our mission to tackle the cladding scandal on behalf of residents across Newham.
“We will continue to lead the way in fire safety, not just through the improvements we’ve made to our own buildings but by holding private owners and developers in our borough to the same high standards.”
Newham Council has previously launched a Cladding Action campaign and Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz wrote to developers to warn them to act urgently to complete work to remove all outstanding unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding in blocks, as well as required fire safety works, or face prosecution.