Responding to the Hackitt Review, the independent review of building regulations and fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire, Rebecca Hilsenrath, Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said:
The tragic loss of life at Grenfell showed that thousands of people across Britain are living in buildings clad with unsafe material and living in fear as a result.
We are disappointed that the Hackitt Review hasn’t recommended a ban on combustible materials or the use of untested cladding systems. This is a human rights issue and we have written to the government expressing our concern about the continued use of this material. While the government has provided money to remove dangerous cladding, they should go further than Dame Hackitt suggests and ban it or it could be failing in its duty to protect people’s lives.
