Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner promises to speed up the removal of dangerous cladding from high rise buildings.

She was speaking the day after a scathing inquiry report into the Grenfell Tower fire disaster listed a catalogue of failings.

Law change

Rayner, who is also the House Secretary, suggested the law may be changed to ensure unsafe cladding is taken down quickly.

She warned that those responsible for the fire which claimed 72 lives in 2017 would face prosecution.

The report by Sir Martin Moore-Bick into the fire at the tower in North Kensington, West London (main picture), found that all of the deaths were avoidable.

Rayner told Times Radio that it was “not acceptable” that after seven years “we still have buildings that we are still trying to identify as well as a number of issues, including ownership of those buildings”.

To “do everything we possibly can to speed this up” there may need to be “changes to legislation”, she said.

Unscrupulous

More than 2,300 buildings 11 metres (36ft) or higher still need remediation work on unsafe cladding, government figures show, The Times reports.

Moore-Bick’s report blamed “unscrupulous” building companies for cladding on Grenfell in combustible material despite being aware of the risks.

“All contributed to it in one way or another, in most cases through incompetence, but in some cases through dishonesty and greed,” he said.

Criminal charges

The Metropolitan Police is investigating criminal charges, including corporate manslaughter, gross negligence, fraud and misconduct in public office.

But it could take another 12 to 18 months before files are sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Read the full inquiry report here

Picture of Sir Martin Moore-Bick: Grenfell Tower Inquiry.