2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:49 pm on 1 February 2022.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 2:49, 1 February 2022

We have made significant strides to improve building safety in Wales following, obviously, the fire at Grenfell Tower, and that includes: we've removed unsafe ACM cladding from the majority of high-rise buildings in Wales at no cost to leaseholders, and the last remaining buildings now have work under way, so that's all the buildings; amendments to building regulations banning the use of combustible materials on the exterior of high-rise residential buildings, hospitals and care homes; and we've also made amendments under the Fire Safety Act 2021, which brought the external envelope of buildings within the remit of responsible persons.

In September, the Minister for Climate Change launched phase one of the Welsh building safety fund, which provides funding for fire safety surveys and the creation of building passports. That essential first phase really takes a holistic approach that goes beyond just cladding and will identify what measures and actions are required for multiresidential buildings, to make them as safe as possible. We've also provided £375 million over the next three years to support the remediation of building safety issues in multi-occupied residential buildings that have got existing defects, and just a couple of months ago, in December, the Minister for Climate Change announced the development of the leasehold support scheme, which is intended to support leaseholders who are experiencing significant financial hardship as a result of these issues. So, a huge amount of work is being done by Welsh Government.