MAYOR RESPONDS TO PARLIAMENTARY VOTE ON CLADDING

Published 1 February 2021 at 2:28pm

Tonight, the government abstained on a motion to help residents across the country facing potential huge cladding bills, alongside measures calling for a new Independent Taskforce on Cladding. It’s estimated that more than 5,100 people in Sheffield are living in unsafe accommodation.

In response to this, Mayor Dan Jarvis, said:

“Three and a half years on from the tragedy of the Grenfell fire, it’s appalling that hundreds of people and families are still living in unsafe homes and are now being presented with big bills for remedial work or fire patrols. I know from hearing from local residents that some are facing bankruptcy and have been unable to sell their properties.

“In April 2020, Government Ministers made a commitment to work with Metro Mayors to help ensure that cladding remediation work continued in a safe and appropriate way during the Covid pandemic and beyond. Our Local Authorities have made significant progress with this, but the government must do more. They need to urgently establish the extent of dangerous cladding across the country and then prioritise buildings according to risk, and to ensure that all homes are legally safe by 2022. To ensure that the burden of this cost is not passed on to residents, Ministers need to provide funding for the remediation works and pursue those responsible for costs.

“We cannot afford to wait a moment longer on this matter, people must be able to feel safe in their own home.”