Responding to the publication of the Hackitt review into building regulations in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) Matt Wrack said:
“It is perverse that the Hackitt review does not recommend an outright ban on flammable cladding despite claiming that a new regulatory framework would stop the use of these materials. The safest course of action for the public and for firefighters is for these dangerous materials to be taken out of the equation entirely.
“The government has this afternoon announced a consultation on the banning of combustible cladding which means it will take months before action, if any, is taken. A wholesale ban on combustible material is the most-straight forward and efficient way the government could put public safety first; they have instead chosen to kick it into the long grass.”
"Although we welcome Hackitt’s recognition that systemic change is necessary to improve safety, we are deeply concerned that the report seems to prioritise business concerns over public safety. At one point in the report it is recommended that an inspection regime be put in place that will not cause regulators to lose business. The profits of regulators should not be an area of concern when we are talking about a fire that claimed the lives of 72 people. Instead the system of inspection and regulation, including specific regulators, need to be publicly owned and accountable.”
