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Labour has accused the government of letting people live in "potential deathtraps" after it emerged that it failed to act after a building cladding material failed fire safety tests.

Shadow Housing Minister Sarah Jones has accused Tory Minister Kit Malthouse of misleading MPs over a promise to remove any building cladding that failed fire tests in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire which killed 72 people two years ago.

The removal of flammable cladding from all tower blocks and public buildings is a key demand of the Mirror’s Grenfell Never Again campaign.

In January, Mr Malthouse told a parliamentary select committee previously said that material that failed a large-scale ‘British Standards’ fire test would — like Grenfell-style ACM cladding — be considered too dangerous to be left on buildings and be removed immediately.

(Image: REX)

But now Mr Malthouse has admitted that for the last eight months his department has been aware of another cladding type that failed a large-scale fire test.

The Government was informed that High Pressure Laminate cladding (HPL) – failed the test in a third party test when it was tested with certain insulation in November.

In his reply, the Housing Minister admitted: “We are aware of one BS 8414 test carried out in the UK in 2014 on High Pressure Laminate panels in combination with combustible insulation material.

"This test was commissioned by a private company and the department only became aware of the test in November 2018.

"We understand that the arrangement tested failed to meet the criteria for passing the test.”

(Image: PA)

Last night Mr Reed told the Mirror: "They should have taken immediate action to remove it from buildings and keep people safe.

“We already know ministers were warned about flammable cladding before Grenfell went up in flames.

He added: "All flammable cladding must immediately be banned and removed, including HPL.”

The Mirror understands that while the cladding failed the test, it performed better than the type of panels used on Grenfell Tower.

The government's independent expert panel has previously said that the combination of materials should only be used if they have a passed the appropriate safety test and written to building owners to ask them to clarify the materials in their cladding.

But the result of that failed test only emerged when Labour MP Steve Reed wrote, Mr Malthouse to ask about HPL.

The £200million government fund set up to pay for the removal of the ACM cladding used on Grenfell Tower does not cover other flammable materials like HPL.

(Image: PA)

Labour’s Ms Jones said: Mr Malthouse had "serious questions to answer".

She added: "Not only did the Government withhold this test result from people living in potential deathtraps, but the Housing Minister appears to have misled MPs in an important select committee evidence session.

“It’s scandalous that six months after being told this cladding was lethal, the Government has not made any effort to remove it, or even find out how many buildings are covered.

Ms Jones added that the government must "urgently widen" fire tests to include all suspect cladding and give any building which fails a fire test access to the government's cladding removal fund.

"Lives are at stake and we must do better,” she said.

Last week the Mirror revealed that resident's in blocks across the country faced being left thousands of pounds out of pocket to replace the dangerous HPL cladding on their buildings.

Last night a MHCLG spokesperson said: “There should be no buildings in this country with this combination of cladding and insulation.

“Building owners are legally responsible for ensuring the safety of their buildings and need to make sure this is the case.

“They should be well aware of their responsibilities as we issued clear-cut advice in December 2017, reinforced last December, telling them to check that only safe cladding and insulation combinations had been used on their buildings."