The Times - UK (2020-11-26)

26 2GM Thursday November 26 2020 | the times

News

A company that supplied combustible

insulation used at Grenfell Tower was

worried that building regulators were

“on to us” as it pushed for its material to

be approved for use on high-rise blocks.

The public inquiry into the 2017 fire,

in which 72 people died, heard yester-

day that Kingspan campaigned to have

its K15 foam insulation certified safe for

the high-rise market but faced ques-

tions from regulatory bodies con-

cerned by its performance in fire tests.

The company was given approval in

2008 from the British Board of Agré-

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Most preschool children now grow up

in households where parents work but

mothers still spend more than twice as

long on childcare as fathers, research

has shown.

A study into how the lives of under-

fives has changed over the past decades

highlighted the big impact of moves by

successive governments to encourage

mothers to return to the workplace.

The proportion of women with

younger children who return to work

has risen from 49 per cent in 1996 to

66 per cent two years ago, coinciding

with the expansion of free or subsidised

childcare and changes in the benefits

system to require lone parents to be

available for work once their children

reach a certain age. This shift has

Working mothers still do more childcare

meant that working mothers have

reduced the amount of time they spend

on childcare — but fathers have failed

to fill the gap.

On average mothers spent 199.4 min-

utes per day on childcare tasks in 2015,

down from 209.2 minutes per day in

2000. In the same period fathers
      increased their time spent on childcare
      to 90.7 minutes a day, up from 86.7 min-
      utes per day 15 years earlier.
      The study, by researchers at the
      Nuffield Foundation, said that the
      present generation of under-fives have
      strikingly different experiences from
      those who grew up two decades ago,
      and that they will be the first cohort of
      which a majority spent a big proportion
      of their time in formal care settings
      such as nurseries.
      About 64 per cent of families in Eng-

land used formal paid childcare last

year, according to a government sur-

vey. Although no equivalent figure was

available for families 20 years ago, re-

searchers indicated that the number of

children in early years education has

risen by 56 per cent since 2001-02, and

the number of childcare places has

risen by almost 90 per cent over the

same period.

Today’s preschool children are also

likely to have fewer siblings than those

two decades ago, to have older parents

and to live with a step-parent, it said.

The study, analysing 130 pieces of re-

search, stated that there was significant

evidence of the benefits of formal child-

care for children over the age of two,

although it said that more recent

research had found that educational

benefits were modest and not sustained

over the longer term. It also said that

evidence of the benefits of childcare for

children under two was inconclusive,

with some studies suggesting that long

hours in formal childcare in the first

two years was associated with “poorer

behavioural outcomes”, although this

may be partly explained by poor quality

provision.

Carey Oppenheim, the report’s

author, said: “These changes are funda-

mental, impacting where children are

looked after and by whom and how

they are spending their time. The early

years are such an important stage of life

that it is essential we understand fully

what has changed, the inequalities

between families and what we should

be doing to enhance the wellbeing and

life chances of children over and above

the confines of early years policy.”

Greg Hurst

Grenfell cladding firm feared watchdog was ‘on to us’

ment (BBA) for the material to be used

widely.

Months later, however, the certifying

body asked to amend the certificate to

make clear that the insulation boards

had only been tested on a specific clad-

ding system and were not approved for

wider use.

A Kingspan executive emailed col-

leagues telling them to “let the file gath-

er dust” and negotiations over the issue

dragged on until 2013 before a more

restrictive certificate was issued.

In other emails shown to the inquiry

there were discussions about “what we

can and cannot get away with”. After a

meeting in 2013 to discuss the final ver-

sion of the BBA certificate, one member

of staff wrote: “The phrase used more

than once yesterday was ‘they’re onto

us’. Even if being used in a tongue-in-

cheek way (we’re not doing anything

immoral or illegal after all) it does per-

haps reflect the position we are in.”

Kingspan accepted the new certifi-

cate, noting that the restrictions on the

use of its insulation boards were “in the

smallest possible font and buried deep

in the certificate itself”.

However, it produced marketing

material for the product that mislead-

ingly claimed that it was “capable for

use [on buildings above] 18 metres”. K15

was one of two insulation products

used during the refurbishment of Gren-

fell Tower. The cladding system, which

also contained highly flammable alu-

minium composite material panels, has

been found to have fuelled the rapid

spread of the blaze.

The inquiry had previously heard

that there were concerns in the indus-

try about the fire safety of K15 on high-

rise buildings. An industry insurer was

threatened with an injunction when

they threatened to advise clients not to

use the material.

The inquiry continues.

Sean O’Neill Chief Reporter