London Fire Brigade have responded to the Governments announcement that funds of £30 million will pay for costs of installing an alarm system in buildings with unsafe cladding.

London Fire Brigade Commissioner Andy Roe said: “The announcement of the Waking Watch Relief Fund is a welcome step in the right direction towards reducing some of the costs to leaseholders for remediation work to make their buildings safer.

“The deadline for building owners to apply for support to remove dangerous cladding from their buildings has also been extended and while we welcome the opportunity this gives for more people to apply, we remain concerned about the length of time people are still being forced to live in buildings with dangerous cladding.

“The number of buildings in London with waking watches in place continues to rise as more work is done to uncover potential fire safety risks in the built environment. We are deeply concerned about the scale of the issues being uncovered and will continue our work with building owners and those responsible for fire safety to identify and address risks and keep Londoners safe.

“We should all feel safe in our homes and those responsible for residential buildings have a legal obligation to meet their responsibilities and address all fire safety risks identified. We will continue to work with Government around how this fund can be best used to ensure the safety of buildings now and in future.”

For more information, visit the London Fire Brigade website