Salford Council is considering litigation over tower block refurbishments  which weren’t ‘up to the required standard’ – and which included aluminium cladding.

But councillors have warned that any legal action should not slow down the removal of the cladding at the high rises.

Residents at nine Pendleton Together-run blocks have been waiting a year for the material to be stripped from their homes.

The council and Pendleton Together – which manages the homes on behalf of the town hall – said last year they would replace the cladding containing aluminium composite material – similar to that which was used at Grenfell Tower.

But work has only started at one block so far.

Coun Michael Wheeler told members at the growth and prosperity scrutiny meeting on Monday evening that a lawsuit should not slow down the process of removing the dangerous cladding.

“Someone has dropped a ball here and we believe someone should pay for it,” he said.

“However, we did say that the absolute priority is the residents’ safety and getting the work done.

“That’s why we all agreed that nothing would hold us back from doing the work – we’d get it done and we’d pursue litigation later. Why are we 12 months later and the work is just beginning?”

Deputy mayor John Merry had said earlier in meeting that the council had had to ‘prepare itself’ for litigation against the sub-contractor who did the work.

“The problem is we have potential litigation issues to deal with at a future point with the people who put the cladding on in the first place so we need to be careful that we get as much information as possible,” he said.

But he insisted that the delay in removing the material was a result of the council having to identify the ‘right technical solution’ – for which it had received ‘no help’ from the government, he said.

Negotiations with the Private Finance Initiative contractor Pendleton Together Operating Limited also slowed things down, he said.

Two months after the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June last year, the council confirmed it would borrow £25 million to fund the re-cladding and a sprinkler system.

Work is now underway in Plane Court.

But Coun Robin Garrido said he was ‘amazed’ it had taken so long to start work, pointing to progress made at tower blocks run by City West.

He couldn’t ‘get his head round’ the fact that work in one half of the city was close to finishing, while in the other, work had just started, he said.

“I’d like a lot more answers,” he added.

The city’s head of place, Ben Dolan, accused Garrido of comparing ‘apples with pears,’ saying City West had less work to do and more freedom to do it.

The delay was due to the ‘complexity of the programme of the work,’ he said, and the PFI contract.

In a statement given later, Merry said: “The council continues to review all options to get works done as quickly as possible on the tower blocks in Pendleton. Our priority is to make the buildings as safe as possible for the people who live in them.

“We will also seek to recover any monies that we provide as a loan to our PFI contractor or any costs we cover where we believe a contractor is responsible.”

In Monday’s meeting he had said the council was collecting evidence relating to the three-year refurbishment at nine Pendleton Together high rises which was contracted out to Keepmoat – now part of Engie.

The nine blocks were refurbished as part of £650m PFI at 1,250 homes in the area.

A spokesperson for Engie said “We are investigating this matter and therefore we have no comment to make.”

But frustrated residents attending the meeting laid out their concerns about the properties, arguing that there are problems with the infrastructure, as well as housing allocations.

Two residents from Spruce Court said children and people with disabilities were being housed in higher floors of the 22-storey building and said windows were unsafe. They also said there was confusion surrounding fire evacuation plans.

Pendleton Together said that it hadn’t been ‘sighted’ about specific concerns raised in the meeting but said it had a ‘package of measures in place to ensure the safety of residents.’

“We have, following advice from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, moved to an evacuation policy in case of fire.  We have written to residents with the details of this and display information in communal areas as reminders.

“Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Services have also worked to support residents who may have individual needs to help them evacuate in an emergency.”

Coun Kate Lewis had said in the meeting that residents feel that they’re ‘not being listened to.’

“I got a sense that there’s a breakdown in trust,” she added.

One resident at Spruce Court, Julie Edison, said: “they won’t even have a meeting with the tenants.”

Pendleton Together said “Recently we booked and paid for meeting space to enable a community meeting to take place.  We would encourage residents to contact us directly if they have any concerns in relation to these or any other matters.”

Coun John Merry had suggested drop-in sessions with Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey, as well as individual one-to-one meetings in which residents could express their concerns with housing bosses individually.

But another resident at the block, Elizabeth Okpo, said “This is not individual.

“The concerns that people are having are several people having the same thing.

“When they have been addressed individually, people have been fobbed off.

It’s not going to be individually because when it is you blame the tenants,” she added.

The cladding used in Pendleton is Aluminium Composite Material (ACM). Pendleton Together said at the time that it was ‘fitted correctly to the manufacturer’s specification and certified by an independent expert.’