The Government should fund the fitting of fire safety sprinklers in council owned tower blocks, a House of Commons housing committee has said.

The recommendation has been made by a cross-party group of MPs who has investigated tower block safety after the Grenfell tower fire last year.

Now Birmingham City Council, which plans to fit retro-fitting safety sprinklers in all its 213 blocks by the end of 2020, has written to the Government Housing Secretary James Brokenshire asking for help with the £31 million cost.

The committee made a range of recommendations on high rise safety, including outlawing combustible materials from all buildings and stopping conflicts of interest, such as builders appointing their own safety inspectors.

The committee stated: "Where structurally feasible, sprinklers should be retro-fitted to existing high-rise residential buildings to provide an extra layer of safety for residents. The Government should make funding available to fit sprinklers into council and housing association-owned residential buildings above 18 metres, and issue guidance to that effect to building owners in the private sector."

It added that it was taking too long for the Government to confirm if and when it would pay up.

West Midlands Fire Service during a training exercise.

Last summer in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire Birmingham City Council committed to fitting sprinklers as a priority. If Government refuses to pay it will have to cancel other housing renovation work or borrow money to cover the £31 million cost.

It has already launched a three year programme of installations starting with the highest risk properties.

Now Birmingham MP Jack Dromey (Lab, Erdington) is calling on the Government to pay up.

He said: “One year on, despite all the warm words from Ministers, they have a failed to honour their pledge to help Birmingham City Council carry out the necessary work advised by the West Midlands Fire Service to retrofit sprinklers to Birmingham’s 213 tower blocks. The delay in making Birmingham’s tower blocks safe is putting lives at risk.

“All the more wrong is how this delay affects council tenants. Newer tower blocks, overwhelmingly privately owned, already have sprinklers under current regulations. However, Birmingham’s 213 tower blocks are older, built without sprinklers and publicly-owned. It is these blocks that desperately need the retrofitting of sprinklers to make them safe.

Jack Dromey MP

“The Government should not treat social tenants as second-class citizens whilst they continue to delay in providing the necessary funding to make their homes safe."

The committee also concluded a ban on flammable cladding for new high-rise buildings being considered by the Government in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy does not go far enough.

Combustible materials must be urgently outlawed in all existing tower blocks and other high risk buildings, such as residential homes, hospitals, student accommodation and hotels, MPs said.

Tower blocks on Birmingham's Druids Heath estate.

Ministers were also told to introduce immediate reforms to complex building safety rules "before more lives are lost".

The industry is "riven with conflicts of interest" such as builders choosing their own inspectors, manufacturers picking lenient product testers and Fire Rescue Authorities inspecting the work of their own commercial trading arms, MPs said.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "There is nothing more important than keeping people safe in their own homes and we agree fundamental reform of the regulatory system is needed.

"That is why we are acting quickly, including consulting on banning the use of combustible materials on high-rise residential buildings, and plans for changing the law to achieve meaningful and lasting reform of the building regulatory system, with strong sanctions for those who fail to comply and restructuring building regulations fire safety guidance to ensure it is clear.

"In addition we are making £400 million available to fund the removal of unsafe cladding on high rise social residential buildings owned by local authorities and housing associations and have announced a package of measures to drive forward swifter action in the private sector."