representatives from a number of government departments including the home office, treasury and the department for communities and the department for communities and localhave faced a very challenging few days with increasing hostilities from local residents demanding answers as the horror of this tragedy has unfolded. damian green spoke this morning, trying to address some of those concerns. he spoke about the £5 million of emergency funding being released and set that is just the start, there will be more funds to come forfurther the start, there will be more funds to come for further expenses. he said there is a better coordinated effort on the ground to help people looking for answers about loved ones being cared for in local hospitals. but damian green this morning was also pressed over whether prime minister theresa may has been able to show enough empathy. after the meeting yesterday of the recovery task force there is now from today on the ground a central operation precisely to answer all those perfectly reasonable questions that people have in these desperate circumstances. there will be a combination of the local council and central governmen

it is from the department for communities and local government. their responsibilities under the emergency review that we send them yesterday. as we said, in the most serious cases, this involves residents being moved out of their homes while they are made safe. it is clearly distressing for those involved, every effort will be made to reduce disruption as they make temporary arrangement in line with their emergency plan. the government is offering resilience in getting this done as swiftly and safely as possible. that means there will be five tower blocks on the estate and swiss cottage with 161 households in each which will effect, we believe, 805 residents. the very big commitment from camden council and a huge amount of disruption an ease for those residents who will be hoping for reassurance for how long they will be disrupted for and where they will be disrupted for and where they will be disrupted for and where they will live. will be back with they will live. will be back with the council scene when they appear to make that statement. first

safety concerns on the outcome of those tests we have shared our data with the department for communities and local governmently should not have burned so quickly. instead of a fire which devoured the tower, it should have been contained, like this fire, in camden, five years ago. this tower is now being evacuated. so the police tests have thrown up a string of questions. how did it spread? the materials used are under suspicion, but was the design of the refurbishment also to blame? did the work, completed last year, breach building regulations? and are the laws governing building standards clear enough and tough enough? this is a criminal investigation. police seizing documents from the companies that managed and refurbished g re nfell tower. and they will consider potential criminal charges, breaches of health and safety, or even corporate manslaughter, though that is difficult to prove. for several decades now, councils have been putting up cladding to improve the look and installation of their ageing tower blocks. now, in what amounts to a crisis for that strategy, some of it is being taken down. in isli

the department for communities and local government says checks have been made in 25 council areas acrossngland, and so far the failure rate is 100%. in 25 council areas across england, 79 people died in the grenfell tower fire in west london 11 days ago, prompting the nationwide review. fire in west london 11 days ago, duncan kennedy reports. fire in west london 11 days ago, pendleton in salford, the latest location where tower block cladding is being removed, and unsettling sight for another group of residents who have lived here many years. sight for another group of residents who have lived here many yearsm has left us, as residents, very confused and very concerned about the safety of where we live. tonight the safety of where we live. tonight the government released new figures showing the latest building still have tests on cladding. they show a 100% failure rate on samples. 60 buildings have now failed those tests. the buildings stretch across 25 local authorities. immediacy is to give advice to the residence, to reassure the residence, and ensure those buildings that are high ris

for us, and is here now. phil, just tell us about this letter and the debate over cladding? the investigations are continuing as to the precise cause. it seems to the department for communities and local governmentl serve abt at dclg sent to the chief executives of all local authorities and housing associations in england with instructions to check the cladding on any high—rise social housing that they're responsible for. specifically, what they're being asked to look for is the type of cladding that we revealed last week was used on the grenfell tower refurbishment. now what this letter says is that if any local authorities or housing associations identify that type of cladding, even if they're not sure exactly what it's made of or what's in it, they have to send it away for testing at the government's expense. it doesn't go on to say what happens next, but you can imagine that if the wrong sort of cladding is identified, that it's going to have to come down. wow. i mean one of the big issues and it's been amazing it hasn't been resolved is this cladding compliant with the regulations? philip hammond said he didn't think it was allowed. what is the truth? it's a matter of sow man ticks. it's a

the department for communities and local government has released a statement on the situation in camdenthe safety of residents is paramount... that statement coming out, 800 households in evacuate did from camden. 0n the line is ahead of the residents association in the chalcot estate. we heard from him briefly before. thank you forjoining us. can you let us know what is happening now? are most people leaving? there's lots of people leaving? there's lots of people leaving at the moment with their bags packed. they have been told to pack bags for two, four weeks and a lot of people are leaving. we have camden council staff knocking on people's doors, and the fire service are spoiling to people what is going on. why exactly this evacuation is happening? i am not too sure. the fire risk is to do with the insulation on some of the gas pipes on the building and some of the fire doors. that is all i know at the moment. where are people being sent? to the sports centre and anybody that has family that they can go to, they are being advised to go to their family. if they have nowhere to go they

across the country, so an announcement of an audit of those countries by the department for communities and local governmenther or not a similar type of cladding was seized. and also a lot of the air here about missing relatives and friends. the bbc understanding that at least 70 people now could be missing and dead. the police refusing so far to put a number on the missing. really, the reverberations from the disaster, not just reverberations from the disaster, notjust on reverberations from the disaster, not just on those reverberations from the disaster, notjust on those directly reverberations from the disaster, not just on those directly affected but those the ring for their fate in what many people are calling death traps right across the country. mark, for now, thank you. let's return to the town hall where the protest has been taking place in the last hour or so. let's return to our correspondent dan johnson. dan, bring us up today. for more than two hours now people have been protesting on the steps of kensington and chelsea borough council offices. very loud and clear message to the council that p

the department for communities and local government says checks have been made in 25 council areas across

although they haven't been formally announced yet, they have been tested by the department for communities and local governmentf the result. why do you think it is we have got this position wherever bridgeman has been taking place within say, last 18-24 been taking place within say, last 18—24 months, and yet safety is still being compromised? —— this position where refurbishment has been taking place. it is right that local authorities, where they can't guarantee the safety of the tower block, make every effort to make the tower block said, whether that is removing cladding or doing other works, that is appropriate that they do that —— to make the tower block safe. you have hit the nail on the head, though, what we have seen in recent yea rs, head, though, what we have seen in recent years, we have seen local authorities and fire services, the underfunded and i'm really concerned —— chronically underfunded. it is a matter of resourcing the planning departments and making sure we have adequate numbers of building control officers, that when refurbishment works are taking place, can go out on site and check tha

safety concerns on the outcome of those tests we have shared our data with the department for communities and local governmentn data has been shared with every council. we are also concerned about the fridge freezer in this matter and we have been working with the department of energy, business and industrial strategy who are working with hotpoint on the safety of the fridge. we know the fire wasn't started deliberately and we know the fridge freezer in this matter has never been subject to a product recall before. further tests are ongoing onto the fridge. that was the detective superintendent from the metropolitan police. just the news coming in on the cladding. we are hearing from portsmouth city council that cladding is being removed from two portsmouth tower blocks. the city council is removing cladding from two high—rise buildings as a precautionary measure following independent testing. lemington house and horatio house has pledged that is being removed to ensure high safety sta nda rds is being removed to ensure high safety standards are in place. no other blocks are affected to see portsmouth city co

the department for communities and local government says checks have been made in 25 council areas acrossngland, and so far the failure rate is 100%. 79 people died in the grenfell tower fire in west london 11 days ago, prompting the nationwide review. former chief fire and rescue adviser sir ken knight said he was impressed by the rate at which tests are being carried out on tower blocks. i think it's going well. the arrangements were set up, as i said, very early after the fire itself. of being able to do with up to 100 tests a day. they have not reached anything like that level, of course. there is no backlog of tests now. it doesn't mean to say there won't be the samples coming in, and the local figures show a worrying result, with some of those tests, but nevertheless the testing has been going at pace. all of those panels that have failed those tests, either the housing authority or the local authority, either has been informed or if they haven't been informed, will be informed within the next few hours, i understand. they evidently know the urgency of the need to test and that is w

there will be a combination of the local council and central government, the department for communitiesnment and other departments as necessary, representatives of those departments have been on the ground immediately accessible to the residents all those questions can be answered. we've moved very fast to set up a public inquiry. we want that to be set up as fast as possible, we will appoint a judge as chairman within days rather than weeks, we have said it will produce interim reports so people will not have wait a long time very importantly, the residents will have a direct voice. they will be consulted on the terms of reference of the public inquiry and if they want legal representation at the public inquiry, the government will pay for that, so the residents' voices will be heard very loud at the public inquiry, that is the body which will look at the cladding and all the other issues that have arisen. course some of the key questions facing ministers at the moment will be what more can be done to help the emergency services who are going through the slow process of searching the u

local authority would be able to cope with the enormous challenges that are now facing a huge number of displaced residents and people affected. we have spoken to the department for communities and local government, and that help has been offered, there has been a cold structure working on the needs people have and those needs change. as time goes by, people need different kinds of support. i have been out this morning at the westway sports centre, i am told the council is neverin centre, i am told the council is never in evidence, that was not my perception. why then is it the perception. why then is it the perception of so many residents?m has been a completely traumatic week for many people and i do understand that. it does take time in any situation to get emergency lines, contact points up and running and there is a huge community sector in north kensington doing wonderful work but we need to bring that together and really to think long term about the people affected, particularly their housing needs. one of the things the prime minister is proposing is that there should be people in high visibilityjackets so people in high visibilityjackets so people could see who they are and we see today

safety concerns on the outcome of those tests, we have shared our data with the department for communities and local governmentcladding and insulation simply should not have burned so quickly. instead of a fire which devoured the tower, the damage it should have been little more than this — a fire in camden in 2012, a fire contained. so the police test have thrown up a string of questions. how did it spread? the string of questions. how did it spread 7 the materials string of questions. how did it spread? the materials used are under suspicion. that was the design of the refurbishment also to blame? did the refurbishment also to blame? did the work completed last year breach building regulations? and are the laws governing building standards clear enough and tough enough? this is a criminal investigation. police are seizing documents from the companies that managed and refurbished grenfell tower. and they will consider potential criminal charges, breaches of health and safety, or even corporate manslaughter. although that is difficult to prove. for several decades now, councils have been putting up cladding to

safety concerns on the outcome of those tests we have shared our data with the department for communities and local governmentadding and installation simply should not have burned so quickly. instead of a fire which devoured the tower, it should have been contained, like this fire, in camden, five years ago. this tower is now being evacuated. so the police tests have thrown up a string of questions. how did it spread? the materials used are under suspicion, but was the design of the refurbishment also to blame? did the work, completed last year, breach building regulations? and are the laws governing building standards clear enough and tough enough? this isa criminal clear enough and tough enough? this is a criminal investigation. police seizing documents from the companies that managed and refurbished g re nfell tower. that managed and refurbished grenfell tower. and they will consider potential criminal charges, breaches of health and safety, or even corporate manslaughter, though thatis even corporate manslaughter, though that is difficult to prove. for several decades now, councils have been putting up cl

and welcome to bbc news. the government has revealed that the cladding on 60 tower blocks has failed fire safety tests, following the grenfell tower disaster. the department for communities and localernment says checks have been made in 25 council areas across england, and so far, no building has been deemed safe. 79 people died in the grenfell tower fire in west london 11 days ago, prompting the nationwide review. duncan kennedy reports. pendleton in salford, the latest location where tower block cladding is being removed, an unsettling sight for another group of residents who have lived here many years. it has left us, as residents, very confused and very concerned about the safety of where we live. tonight the government released new figures showing the latest buildings to have tests on cladding. they show a 100% failure rate on samples. 60 buildings have now failed those tests. the buildings stretch across 25 local authorities. immediacy is to give advice to the residents, to reassure the residents, and ensure those buildings that are high rise buildings are as safe as they possibly can as quickly as possible. the government says it can test around 100 samples in any 24—hour p

arc safety concerns on the outcome of those tests we have shared data with the department for communities and local government insured that that information data is being shared with every council. we are also concerned about the fridge freezer in this matter and we've been working with the department of energy business and industry, industrial strategy who are working with hotpoint on the safety of the fridge. we know this fire was not started deliberately and we know the fridge freezer in this matter has never been subject to a product recall before. further tests are ongoing onto that fridge. that news conference at new scotland yard ending in the last few minutes. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is at new scotland yard for us. to the test carried out by the police, this test was similar to the tests being carried out by the government on various cladding from buildings around the uk but a different independent test, i understand? that is right. the police have been very clear this morning, they needed to carry out their own test of this cladding because this is a potential criminal investigatio

the department for communities and local government says safety measures are being taken for each individual are still refusing to leave. two people have been left with life—changing injuries after an a substance, believed to be acid was thrown on them, through their car windows. resham khan was with her cousin celebrating her 21st birthday when they were attacked on wednesday at traffic lights in becton, east london. ms khan has damage to her left eye and required two skin grafts. no arrests have been made. one of the country's newest airambulance begins a week—long tour today. the essex and hertfordshire air ambulance has bought the augusta westland helicopter, the first one it's owned outright in its 20 year history. it cost six million pounds. we be showing the aircraft off to the good people, showing what they fundraising for. it is not impacting our normal service, still being provided. there are landings all over and it would be great to see people supporting us. all lines on the tube are running a good service. the woolwich ferry only has one service. the police have closed the m3 lo

we have spoken to the department for communities and local government, the prime minister and that helpen a goal structure, a team working on the news people have and those change as time goes by. we need to make sure we have that. i have been out this morning at the westway sports centre. i am told the council is never in evidence, but was not my perception. white is it the perception of so many residents? it has been a traumatic week for people living nearby. it does take time in any situation to get emergency lines, contact points up and running and there is a huge community sector in north kensington doing wonderful work but we need to bring that together, we need to think long term about the people affected and their housing needs. we had one of the things the prime minister is proposing was that there should be people in high fears so people could see who they are and we see today, there were indeed people visibly from the local authority close to the methodist church. had you held back from doing that because of concern that your staff might become a target if they advertise thei

the department for communities and local government says checks have been made in 25 council areas across the former chief fire and rescue adviser, sir ken knight, said he was impressed by the speed at which tests are being carried out on tower blocks. i think it's going well. the arrangements were set up, as i said, very early after the fire itself. of being able to do with up to 100 tests a day. they have not reached anything like that level, of course. there is no backlog of tests now. it doesn't mean to say there won't be the samples coming in, and the local figures show a worrying result, with some of those tests, but nevertheless the testing has been going at pace. all of those panels that have failed those tests, either the housing authority or the local authority, either has been informed or if they haven't been informed, will be informed within the next few hours, i understand. they evidently know the urgency of the need to test and that is why the arrangements were putting place. i think they are coming in at the speed that they do. i'm sure, and i can't tell you at the moment o

pointing still to the cladding and that's been reinforced by a statement from the department for communities and local governmentiew on high buildings up and down the country. an audit of how many high—rise buildings there are, how old they are, how many people they contained and crucially, whether they have been maintained and whether the refurbishment has included the installation of cladding. we have heard today that the supplier of the cladding, confirmation that they used a plastic version of the cladding as opposed to a more fire retardant mineral all version, the difference being £2 per paddle cut —— per panel, so the borough may have saved £5,000, but what a price to pay per such a horrific event. the feeling around down there very much echoed here. frustration, despairforthe missing. all around here, pictures and photos of missing people plastered all over walls and churches and cars. i spoke because another 12—year—old girl who is still missing. her mother and her father and sister managed to get out but she was separated from them on the way down somehow and her cousin saying they have not heard anyth

the department for communities and local government is co—ordinating the tests, which can take place tower was established, russell curtis, who's a london architect who often works with local authorities and on social housing jane philpott, deputy assistant commissioner, london fire brigade. and conservative mp sir david amess, the chairman of the all—party fire safety and rescue group who joins us from chelmsford. we are also going to be talking and bringing you in the next few minutes a live police press conference from new scotland yard. the microphones are set up. nobody there at the moment, but they will do a press conference, bringing us the latest on the grand hellfire. thank you for coming in. tony, you worked as a housing opposite in the 1970s, you were there involved in it. what are your memories of grenfell.” there involved in it. what are your memories of grenfell. i work for a couple of years as part of the lettings team at kensington and chelsea, and we let homes at grenville tower. it wasn't the most popular of blocks, because it was a tower block —— grenfell tower. in

well, there were two big recommendations, we made several to the department for communities and local government give national guidance to all owners of tower blocks so they could do the right sort of fire risk assessments and ta ke sort of fire risk assessments and take everything into account and the other big recommendation was that all social landlords should publish all social landlords should publish a register of their fire all social landlords should publish a register of theirfire risks, what we found again and again was the information was not getting through to te na nts, information was not getting through to tenants, there is often a big turnover in his tower blocks of people and if you do not give every single new president enough information then it is likely they will not know what to do in the event of a fire. essentially, the fire risk safety recommendations we made have never been implemented except by individual councils that chose to do it. there has been strong words from the grunfeld tower action group in one of their blogs saying they were treated like vermin by the tenan

we have also had a statement from the department for communities and local government announcing thatncy fire safety review has been launched to assess similar buildings across the country. they say they have begun a thorough audit of all local authorities to determine how many such buildings there are, how many are of concern, and the detail of the buildings, how big they might be and how many people they might have living in them, and crucially, whether they have been refurbished within the last 15 years and whether the refurbishment included works to the cladding, reinforcing the idea that perhaps it was indeed the cladding that was behind this fire. the media today are reporting that they have spoken to a supplier of the cladding, which confirms that a cheap, plastic version of the cladding was used, less flame reta rda nt cladding was used, less flame retardant then the mineral or cladding —— mineral ore, which would have been cheaper. and if that was a contributing factor, there will be questions to answer for all those involved in the supply line for the cladding, and there is

so there will be a combination of the local council, central government, the department for communities and departments will be on the ground immediately accessible to the residents so those questions can be answered. can you respond to the speculation now, which is speculation now, which is speculation and i understand this, but the great concerns about the cladding that has been used on the g re nfell tower? cladding that has been used on the grenfell tower? was this the cheaper flammable version that has been reported as less safe? was that the one being used? that's precisely why we have moved very fast to set up a public inquiry. we want that to be set up as fast as possible and we will appoint a judge as chairman within days rather than weeks. we have said it will produce interim reports so people won't have to wait a long time, and i think very importantly the residents will have a direct voice. they will be consulted on the terms of reference of the public inquiry, and if they wa nt of the public inquiry, and if they want legal representation at the public inquiry the government wil

we are just hearing that number has gone up, the spokesperson for the department for communities and local government now risen to 1a buildings in nine local authority areas. including camden, manchester, plymouth and hounslow. so 1a tower blocks, now, we are hearing from the government hadn't found with cladding which raises safety concern. “— cladding which raises safety concern. —— have been found. police have charged darren osborne with terrorism—related murder and attempted murder, after the attack at a mosque in finsbury park in the early hours of monday morning. the 47—year—old has appeared at westminster magistrates' court — our reporter helena lee is there. it was a very brief hearing and only lasted for mac minutes. he appeared in the dock year at court one of the magistrates' court. he had on a white issue, had officers either side of him, and had a black eye. he was asked to stand, gave his name and date of birth, he was then asked for his address. he said he didn't have an address. and then the charges were read out in court. he has been charged with murder and attempted murder, in relat

in the last couple of days and we have had the latest set of figures from the department for communities and local governmentg samples have failed a combustibility test that has been carried out by the building research establishment is 60, and thatis research establishment is 60, and that is 60 out of 60, so every single one of the samples that has been submitted for test has failed, has not proven to be of a sufficient standard when it comes to the risk of fire. there are 25 local authority areas affected in the course of the tests carried out so far. they are from buildings across england. let me just far. they are from buildings across england. let mejust break far. they are from buildings across england. let me just break them down for you. a number of london boroughs feature prominently. that is the buildings in barnet, one in brent, five in camden, where we have of course been hearing from on the chalcots estate they are. one from hounslow, one from islington, one from lambeth, two from wandsworth, and other local authority areas outside of london affected, four in manchester, one in doncaster, one in

because the government was keen on cutting back on regulations and red tape rather than adding to them. the line from the government department responsible, the department for communities and localll on breakfast. there is politics going on as well. there is a government to be formed by theresa may in terms of a majority government. and there has been a resignation? yes, so, plenty of politics, something of a pause button for obvious reasons yesterday, though not entirely, given what went on last week in the general election. what is happening todayis general election. what is happening today is the prime minister is inviting in five political parties from northern ireland, all of this trying to ensure that devolved government can return to northern ireland after the collapse of that earlier this year. that is a big deal of itself but it is complicated by the fact that the conservatives are also talking to northern ireland's uup about a deal to ensure theresa may can be propped up in downing street —— dup. and some feel that deal cannot mean the government can be impartial about matters relating to northern ireland. and tim farron, leader of the lib dems, is resigning. he says h

and can have confidence of being as safe in their homes. the work started immediately by the department for the communities and local government including local at, to look at the issues in their tower blocks, and assess those tower blocks. we do not yet know the absolute cause of the fire in 6 re nfell tower, absolute cause of the fire in grenfell tower, that work is ongoing. we will take what action is necessary coming out of that, including learning the lessons that come out of it. she speaks about the issue, the honourable lady speaks about the issue of regulation, there is rigorous fire regulation in place, if there are requirements to change that that come out, if there are requirements to change that that come out of the investigation currently taking place, of course, we will act and we will do so swiftly. just so honourable members of the house are aware, there is a numberof of the house are aware, there is a number of investigations, the police have opened a criminal investigation, the fire service and the building research establishment are investigating as quickly as possible the exact cause of the fire, so that any action that ca

and can have the confidence of being safe in their homes. work is -- the work started immediately by the department for communities of low government encouraging local authorities and they have been working with the fire service to look at -- to look at the issues in their tower blocks and to assess those tower blocks. we do not yet note the absolute cause of the fire in grenfell tower. that work is ongoing. we will take what action is necessary coming out of that including learning the lessons that come out of it. she speaks about the issue, the honorable lady speaks about the issue of regulation. of course, there is rigorous fire regulation in place. if there are requirements to change that that come out, if there are requirements to change ha that come out of the investigation that is currently taking place, then of course, we will act and we do so swiftly. just, mr. peeker so honorable and right honorable members of this house are aware, there are, of course, a number of investigations. the police have opened a criminal investigation. the fire service and the building research establishment are investigating as quickly as possible the exact caus

immediately after this statement, the department for communities and local government will contact anyse constituents are affected and the communities secretary will provide a further update later today. mr speaker, we can test over 100 buildings a day, and the results come within hours. i urge any landlord who owns a building of this kind to send samples for testing as soofi as kind to send samples for testing as soon as possible. any results will be communicated immediately to local authorities and local fire services. landlords have a legal obligation to provide safe buildings and, where they cannot do that, we expect alternative accommodation to be provided. we cannot and will not ask people to live in unsafe homes. we got a lot of detail about the sort of support that will be provided to the grenfell tower residents. we know that £5,000 was going to be made available to families which have lost their homes. that money will not be a loan or grant, it will not have to be repaid. and there will be no immigration checks carried out on any of the residents affected in the fire, and on

has happened and what is unfolding you mentioned research, of government commissioned fire research, there is virtually no a team used to exist in the department for communities and localut they have gone after the cuts. if local authorities... the debate about cladding had been going on for a long time, we submitted evidence to parliament in 1999 about it. if the fire services or local authorities identified this and said, let's commissioned research, there is no want to go to because every time you raise the issue, and david found this from a different angle, you run into obstacles, you are placing obstacles in the way of development, red tape and so on and that is the endless mantra. about fire safety will run into that brick wall. that's the irony. we talked on that first night after the fire and the people who knew and had real worries were those who had voices that were not being heard. not being heard, no. is your sense that that is now changing? i don't believe that is changing, i heard that theresa may said she understood about inequality — if she did she would rapidly start reversing some of the conservative rydon misled the council in terms of the cladding i