Last weeks cladding debate in Parliament was of real importance to people living across Dagenham and Rainham, particularly leaseholders in buildings that require retrofits to meet safety regulations.

Labour MPs put forward a motion to protect leaseholders and shared owners who have been shouldering astronomical retrofit costs which they are not morally responsible for. The motion also increased the pressure on government to make all homes safe by 2022.

The Tories abstained on the vote, choosing to turn their backs on 11 million people currently living in homes with dangerous cladding. We are three and half years on from the Grenfell tragedy and more than a decade on from the Lakanal House fire inquiry. It beggars' belief that the government are still dragging their feet on this.

The Labour motion to Parliament proposed introducing the successful approach taken in Australia on building safety. This includes the government setting up a task force and fund to meet the upfront costs of speedily removing external cladding and insulation materials – making the buildings safe and protecting leaseholders and taxpayers from the costs involved.

The plan is for those responsible for the cladding scandal to meet the costs, with this to come from a levy on the profits of the developers and builders.

The government talk about the £1bn they have made available, but we know that at best this would only deal with 600 of the 3,000 blocks of flats that are above 18 metres in height. This money doesn’t even touch the many more thousands of blocks of flats that are below 18 metres and are not subject to current safety regulations.