To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department is aware of any fire safety tests carried out in the UK on High Pressure Laminate cladding prior to June 2017.

We are aware of one BS 8414 test carried out in the UK in 2014 on High Pressure Laminate (HPL) panels in combination with a combustible insulation material. This test was commissioned by a private company and the Department only became aware of the test in November 2018. We understand that the arrangement tested failed to meet the criteria for passing the test. The Department’s Advice Note 14, first issued in December 2017 and reissued in December 2018, made clear that a wall system which did not contain materials of limited combustibility would only meet the requirements of Building Regulations’ guidance if it had passed a BS 8414 test. The Department has commissioned its own BS 8414 test of an HPL panel with non-combustible insulation as well as carrying out a programme to research the performance in a fire of non-aluminium composite materials, including HPL.