MINISTERS were told to get their “heads out of the sand” today as MPs slammed their plans to fix dangerous cladding eight years after the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government was criticised for still not knowing how many of up to 7,000 buildings remain unsafe, how much their remediation will cost to address nor how long it will take.

Campaigners welcomed the damning report by the public accounts committee (PAC), which backed their calls to make industry pay for the removing the deadly cladding.

The MPs shared victims’ “scepticism” over Labour’s ability to deliver on its plans to remove dangerous cladding from buildings.

Eight years after the blaze, which claimed 72 lives, they warned that “residents and taxpayers still face unacceptable levels of uncertainty and lack of action in resolving the cladding crisis.”

Labour pledged last year that all buildings higher than 18 metres with unsafe cladding on its scheme will have been remediated by the end of 2029.

Similar buildings higher than 11m will either have been remediated, have a date for completion or its landlords made liable for severe penalties by the same time period, its Remediation Acceleration Plan says.

But up to 7,000 unsafe buildings are “yet to be identified, and government has yet to find a way to secure financial contributions from manufacturers of dangerous cladding,” said MPs.

The End Our Cladding Scandal (EOCS) campaign group thanked PAC for “shining a light on the failure of the government to relieve the appalling impact of the unresolved cladding and building safety crisis on leaseholders and residents.

“We particularly thank the committee for uniting behind our scepticism that the current remediation plans can deliver on what has been promised.

“Labour has tied itself up in knots and prioritised growth, building and cutting red tape while wilfully forgetting the mistakes of the past and the hundreds of thousands of people who remain trapped in unsafe homes.

“The government must get their heads out of the sand and stop ignoring the impact of non-cladding defects.

“We desperately need leadership, and all innocent leaseholders protected with industry made to pay instead.”

Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “Eight years after Grenfell, it is still not known how many buildings out there have dangerous cladding, and when it will be removed.

“I was utterly appalled by the evidence given to our inquiry, showing residents still mired in the national cladding crisis, with no immediate solutions at hand.

“Leaseholders with modest financial means can often be left with potentially large financial liabilities, effectively rendering their property unsaleable.

“There are two main reasons for this – one, the non-cladding defects in buildings, and two, where leaseholders also have a share in the freehold.”

He also warned of the possible “chilling effect on housebuilding overall, with social housing providers forced to divert resources to remediation rather than badly needed new homes.”

Sir Geoffrey added that despite promises to make industry pay, the “government has yet to find a way to secure this outcome.”

The Communist Party of Britain’s housing expert, Lorraine Douglas, backed the calls for making industry pay, with the government underwriting the costs to developers who go bankrupt as a result.

She said: “It’s the people who are responsible that need to be held accountable and made to pay.

“It’s completely out of order that leaseholders should be held financialy liable for this.”

Unison assistant general secretary Jon Richards added: “No-one should be forced to live in a home in which they feel unsafe.

“Yet thousands of people are still living and working in dangerous properties.

“Ministers accepted the findings of the independent inquiry and now need to push on with reforms to boost protection for social housing tenants and prevent a repeat of such an avoidable tragedy.

“The legacy of Grenfell has to be safer homes for everybody.

“Unsafe cladding must be removed from every tower block in the country as a priority.”

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “We continue to work closely with industry, local authorities, and residents to accelerate remediation efforts while ensuring those responsible for unsafe buildings cover the costs, with new penalties and criminal sanctions on building owners who refuse to take action.”

The government was asked by the committee to give updates on its progress later this year.