The UK’s spending watchdog has said the government could miss its own cladding removal completion date if efforts are not made to speed up the process.
A new report by the National Audit Office (NAO) said that 60% of buildings with dangerous cladding were still yet to be identified by the government, and the current rate of progress means it was set to miss its completion date of 2035, and instead may take up to 2037.
The NAO also found that over £500,000 may have been lost to fraud in a payment to one applicant, which has resulted in a review of counter-fraud structures.
The NAO’s report follows the conclusion of the Grenfell Inquiry in September, which found that “systemic dishonesty” had led to risks being ignored by those who made and sold the cladding.
Since a previous NAO report in 2020, the watchdog found that “a substantial increase in remediation activity” had been seen, with 4,771 buildings over 11 metres in height being flagged up for the government’s remedial works scheme as of August.
It is estimated that a further 7,200 buildings in England with unfit cladding were still to be identified, with the NAO saying that some “may never”.
The replacement work was also making slow progress, according to the report. The MHCLG has currently spent £2.3billion to identify the buildings but so far work had only started on half while only around a third had been completed.
The NAO made a recommendation that if progress with identifying buildings with dangerous cladding did not improve by the end of the year, the government should consider other measures, including mandatory registration for medium-rise buildings and external, tougher enforcement activity and action to help with disputes between residents and building owners.
The report also highlighted issues around keeping taxpayer contributions capped at the planned £5.1billion. The MHCLG expects costs for all the works to reach £16.6billion, with the NAO stating that the government planned to recoup £3.4billion from a new Building Safety Levy that would be introduced in autumn 2025 at the earliest.
In the Capital, over £1billion had been spent on dangerous cladding removal over the past six years, with the GLA saying that 58% of identified buildings were fully or partly remediated.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “There is a long way to go before all affected buildings are made safe, and risks MHCLG must address if its approach is to succeed.”
“To stick to its £5.1bn cap in the long run, MHCLG needs to ensure that it can recoup funds through successful implementation of the proposed Building Safety Levy.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee, said: “The programme is falling behind schedule and MHCLG needs to pick up the pace to get it back on track,” adding “the government must take steps to better protect the taxpayer.”
“It urgently needs to ensure its fraud controls are working and that developers contribute their fair share to the costs.”
