Cladding crisis: Welsh government lack of action claim

The Welsh government should focus on its own response to the cladding crisis, rather than political rows with Westminster, campaigners have said.

In England about 40 construction firms have signed a UK government pledge to fund any required fire safety work.

Climate Change Minister Julie James said she was "disappointed" at the UK government's "England-only" approach.

The UK government said building safety was devolved but urged the Welsh government to take similar action.

However, leaseholders said the political arguments were not helping those living with the problems "24/7".

Following the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, a number of apartments blocks in Wales were found to have fire safety defects and remediation work is yet to be carried out on many of them amid rows over who should pay.

Ms James said the UK government's approach to addressing building safety issues in England was making it harder to ensure developers in Wales were taking their responsibilities seriously.

In England the building safety levy introduced by Levelling Up Minister Michael Gove will see the industry raise £3bn over the next 10 years to address issues.

Ms James has called on the UK government to extend the developers' pledge and the levy beyond England.

"The UK government's unilateral approach to building safety issues makes it harder to ensure all developers take their responsibilities to contribute towards the cost of fixing building safety problems in Wales seriously," she said in a written statement to Members of the Senedd (MSs) on Thursday.

However campaigners frustrated by what they regard as a lack of action by the Welsh government accused Ms James of "missing the fundamental point".

The Celestia development in Cardiff Bay has been identified as having fire safety defects, including with the cladding.

Mark Thomas, chair of the Celestia Management Company, which is responsible for the running of the 450 apartment complex, said: "There's a lot discussion about conflicts between the Welsh government and the English [UK] government and consequential funding and Mr Gove's unilateral actions, but that doesn't actually help us living with the problem on a 24/7 basis".

Welsh Conservative MS Janet Finch-Saunders accused Ms James - who also holds responsibility for housing - of a "petulant abdication of responsibility".

"Devolution cannot mean taking responsibility when ministers fancy it - it is their duty and the job for which they are more than well paid," she added.

Redrow - the developer behind the Celestia complex, and one of the signatories to the developers' pledge in England - said it would look to treat its customers in England and Wales "fairly" while a Welsh government plan was developed.

In a statement, Redrow said: "We have consistently said that we believe the housebuilding industry, alongside main contractors and material suppliers, should play its part in resolving the issue of legacy fire safety in high rise buildings and that the financial burden should not be borne by leaseholders."

Laing O'Rourke - which was contracted to build the Celestia buildings - said it had "engaged proactively" with Redrow and the management company.

The Welsh government said work has already been carried out, or is planned, to remove non-compliant aluminium composite cladding from all affected buildings in Wales.

It has also set up a Welsh Building Safety Fund worth £375m and a Leaseholder Support Scheme to help those facing "extreme hardship" as a results of costs connected to building defects.

A UK government spokesman said: "We have been working with the devolved governments to help shape building safety policy and are in regular dialogue with the Welsh government on the issues raised.

"Our new industry wide agreement in England will make sure developers pay to fix the problems they created, including both cladding and non-cladding defects.

"While building safety is a devolved matter, we encourage the Welsh government to introduce the same legal protections as those under the Building Safety Act and are committed to supporting them in this task."

You can see more on the story on BBC Politics Wales on Sunday 15 May at 10:00 BST on BBC One Wales, or on the iPlayer.