A BRADFORD MP has criticised "the Government for failing to deal with the cladding crisis" after work has only just started on two Bradford buildings which were evacuated two years ago.

Contractors began removing the Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding from Appleton Point, on Hamm Strasse, and Landmark House, on Broadway, in February, almost two years after both buildings had to be evacuated after failing fire safety inspections.

Naz Shaw, MP for Bradford West, said: “The Government has failed to deal with the cladding crisis, and even after Grenfell, lessons have still not be learnt.

"Two years on and only now is the cladding being removed on these buildings, and this solely rests on the Government.

"The Government has a duty to fix this mess, and it starts by properly funding for the removal of such cladding and not shelving the costs on innocent leaseholders by forcing them into debt.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housings, Communities and Local Government said: “Our multi-billion-pound investment will protect those in the highest risk buildings from unaffordable costs and ensure no leaseholder will ever pay more than £50 a month to remove cladding. We are making significant progress nationally, with works complete or underway in around 95 per cent of the high-rise buildings identified at the start of 2020 as having unsafe ACM cladding.

“Government funding does not absolve building owners of their responsibility to ensure their buildings are safe. Where developers or contractors have undertaken defective work, building owners should take action to recover costs.”

Julian Jackson, Bradford Council's Assistant Director of Planning, Transport and Highways, said: “We are aware that those responsible for Landmark House and Appleton Point, have secured government funding to remove the ACM cladding from them and that these works have now started on site.

“Although it has taken a long time to reach this point, we have worked closely with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and those responsible for the buildings to ensure that any occupants remained safe whilst the works were arranged and funding secured. It is good news for residents and leaseholders that works have now started.”

A West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson added: “We are pleased to see any action taken to remove inappropriate cladding from buildings. We continue to urge those responsible for buildings where flammable cladding remains to take steps to remediate such issues as soon as possible.”