To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate the Government has made of the number of people with disabilities living in buildings with ACM cladding without a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan.
Answered on
17 February 2021
The Government has taken major steps to ensure all residents in high-rise blocks are safe since Grenfell. Data on the number of vulnerable persons living in residential blocks with ACM cladding is not collected. However, the Government has announced an unprecedented level of investment of £3.5bn to protect leaseholders from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding in residential buildings 18 metres and over in England. Those in lower-rise buildings, between 11 and 18 metres, will also be protected from the costs of cladding removal with a generous new finance scheme which will mean they will not have to pay more than £50 per month towards this remediation.
This Government’s commitment to implementing the Grenfell Inquiry’s recommendations remains undimmed and we are doing everything in our power to implement them in the most practical and effective way. It is important that we get this right and ensure the voice of residents and those likely to be affected by the proposals such as those with accessibility needs and disabilities, are heard. That is why we have decided to undertake a further consultation this spring on the complex issue of personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs).
This new PEEPs consultation will build on the responses provided to the earlier consultation and will inform the Government’s final decisions on how to implement the PEEPs recommendations so that they are driven by effectiveness and ultimately, ensure that all people are safe from fire in high-rise multi-occupied buildings.