A GOVERNMENT £1bn fund to make buildings safe from fire will not be enough, the Greater Manchester High Rise Task Force has said.

The group has told the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee that the Building Safety Fund would not allow high rise and high risk buildings to be protected from fire.

And buildings in Greater Manchester alone may need a quarter of the budget, they said.

The submission to the inquiry on cladding remediation is the latest effort from the task force to ensure issues facing residents are understood and addressed.

In its written submission, the task force made clear that although a welcome development, the fund for non-ACM cladding will not be sufficient to address fire safety deficiencies in high rise buildings, let alone other high risk premises. To date, more than one-fifth of high rise buildings in Greater Manchester have identified significant fire safety deficiencies relating to their construction or refurbishment.

The task force has said the fund should not be restricted to replacing cladding on buildings more than 18m and funding must be available to ensure all affected buildings are made safe.

Salford Mayor Paul Dennett who has chaired the Task Force since its inception in 2017 submitted evidence on behalf of the Task Force and reiterated concerns that have been raised with Government.