Grenfell Tower cladding has not been used on Brighton council tower blocks

The cladding used on Grenfell Tower has not been used on any high-rise blocks of flats owned by Brighton and Hove City Council.

The council said: “We can confirm that none of the cladding on local council high-rise blocks is made from the same material, or supplied by the same company, as the cladding on Grenfell Tower.”

Local authorities were ordered to carry out urgent checks and to reassure the public after the cladding on Grenfell Tower was widely blamed for the rapid spread of the deadly fire last week.

The council said: “Brighton and Hove City Council owns 43 high-rise buildings in the city.

“Twenty high-rise blocks have full cladding. A further three high-rise blocks have some form of cladding mostly on the side.

“We can confirm that none of the cladding on local council high-rise blocks is made from the same material, or supplied by the same company, as the cladding on Grenfell Tower.”

In a statement to the House of Commons this morning (Thursday 22 June) the Prime Minister Theresa May said: “For too long residents have been overlooked and ignored. We will ensure that they are involved in every step of this process.

“No stone will be left unturned in this inquiry and there will be nowhere for any guilty parties to hide.

“I am clear that we cannot wait for ages to learn the immediate lessons so I expect that the chair of the inquiry will want to produce an interim report as early as possible.

“I know that many others living in tall residential buildings will have concerns about their safety after what happened at Grenfell.

“All social landlords have been instructed to carry out additional fire safety checks on tower blocks and to ensure that the appropriate safety and response measures are in place. This is being done in co-operation with local fire and rescue services.

“We have also taken steps to make private landlords aware and have made our checking facilities available to them for free.

“The House should of course be careful when it comes to speculating about what caused the fire but the government have arranged to test cladding in all relevant tower blocks as a precaution.

“Shortly before I came to the Chamber, I was informed that a number of these tests have come back as combustible.

“The relevant local authorities and local fire services have been informed.

“As I speak, they are taking all possible steps to ensure that buildings are safe and to inform affected residents.

“Immediately after this statement, the Department for Communities and Local Government will contact any MPs whose constituents are affected and the Communities Secretary will provide a further update later today.

“We can test more than 100 buildings a day and the results come within hours.

“I urge any landlord who owns a building of this kind to send samples for testing as soon as possible.

“Any results will be communicated immediately to local authorities and local fire services.

“Landlords have a legal obligation to provide safe buildings. Where they cannot do that, we expect alternative accommodation to be provided.

“We cannot and will not ask people to live in unsafe homes.”