STEWART PATERSON

Political Correspondent

THERE are no flats in Glasgow clad in same way as Grenfell Tower the council leader has said.

Susan Aitken said residents in flats which have the same type of cladding will be told over the weekend and early next week.

However, she said that there is no safety threat and there were no plans at present to release the information on the location of the flats to the wider public.

Ms Aitken responded after the Scottish Government Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart, criticised the council for failing to provide the information asked of it over how many buildings had the same cladding used in Grenfell, aluminium composite cladding.

Last week the Evening Times reported how a council official revealed 57 privately owned high rise properties in Glasgow had similar cladding to Grenfell Tower .

Ministers had asked repeatedly for clarity and more information but the council was unable to provide it and officials declined the offer of staffing help form the Government to obtain the information.

MSPs were told the council should be able to provide the “clarity” required on the nature and extent of the cladding on these buildings by the end of this week.

Ms Aitken repeated the Government would have the details by Friday.

She said: “There is no equivalent of Grenfell with the wrapped around cladding Grenfell had. There is a small number of private development with ASM cladding. There is no suggestion it is to the extent of Grenfell Tower or that it is improperly fitted.

“There is no suggestion of any threat to the public.”

While the council was asked in June to provide details of cladding on private developments it was not until last week that the council leader became aware of the situation and the problems with supplying the relevant information.

She added: “This was work going on between government officials and council officers.It was not information I was party to I became aware of the issue and the failures on Wednesday last week when it was raised at the Local Government Committee.”

She then instructed officials to accept the offer of help form the government and has been critical of the councils Building Control department.

She added: “ Weaknesses have emerged from this process.”

Mr Stewart said it was a matter of urgency.

He said: “Glasgow City Council have a responsibility to residents to progress this work as a matter of urgency.”

Bill Dodds, the head of building standards at the Scottish Government, said it was “mainly clarity around the extend of the cladding” they were seeking.

He told the committee: “The majority of the requests for clarity are around the age of the building, the height of the building the extent of the cladding material and so on.

“It’s quite important to clarify in Grenfell the entire building was overclad with ACM (aluminium composite material).