‘Unsafe’ material not removed from all Cambridgeshire and Peterborough buildings 10 years after Grenfell tragedy

One person said they were ‘slightly concerned’ to see it still hadn’t been removed

Nearly ten years on from the Grenfell Tower fire, ten high-rise buildings in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough still have unsafe cladding, but the combined authority say they are “confident” it will be removed in time to meet government targets.

In a performance report given to the combined authority’s overview and scrutiny panel, it was noted that four residential buildings have had their cladding or flammable insulation partially or fully replaced.

This included three high-rise buildings, of seven stories or more, and one medium-rise building defined as having five or six stories. This was the same number of buildings with unsafe cladding replaced as the last time the figures were brought to panel in June.

The report noted that it is “ultimately the responsibility of building owners” to make sure that “risks have been identified and necessary action taken”. It said that “very good progress has been maintained” and the authority is “on track to carry out all necessary assessments and engagement with landlords” to meet their targets.

Out of the region’s 34 high-rise residential buildings – 21 require no further action but ten still need to have their cladding replaced. Cllr Anna Bradnam, of South Cambridgeshire District Council, said she was “very glad to see” buildings assessed and fixed but “slightly concerned” that ten still hadn’t. The Liberal Democrat councillor asked what was being done to monitor them.

Daniel Buckridge, performance and evaluation manager, said he had been advised that Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service had written to the owners “to check on their progress or what their plans are for remediation”.

He said there had been an issue with the government sharing details of buildings that had joined the national cladding scheme, but when given access they would be able to “get progress updates on those directly from that system”.

He said: “Once we have that, we’ll have a better understanding of what’s going to be delivered when and we’ll be able to then perhaps set targets for when we expect those remediations to be complete.”

Cllr Bradnam said: “I don’t know how many years we are on now from Grenfell tower, but writing a letter to the landowners seems a relatively mild thing to be doing. This is something that, actually it was quite some time after that, but the requirement came in that unsafe cladding should be removed”.

Mr Buckridge said the target for cladding to be removed is December 31, 2029 for high-rise buildings and December 31, 2031 for medium rise buildings. These deadlines were introduced in July 2025.

Of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s 144 medium-rise residential buildings, 59 needed no further action and 84 must have their cladding replaced.

He said: “We’re working with resources that have been passed on to us, but this wasn’t previously a duty for combined authorities. We are confident that we’re going to meet those targets.”