A SOUTHAMPTON MP has hit out at the government's £3.5bn cladding fund, saying they have 'not done it for everyone'.

Itchen member Royston Smith made the comments after a city flat-owner says she has been struggling with panic attacks and anxiety over not knowing when flammable insulation will be removed from her home.

As reported, Natasha Letchford, who owns a sixth-floor flat at Empire View near to Southampton Central train station, says she goes to bed every night “not knowing” how quickly the nine-storey building “would go up if there was a fire”

She also labelled the new fund, which minister say they hope will help end the “cladding scandal”, as “disappointing”.

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This was a feeling backed by the Conservative MP.

He described the government’s contribution as ‘generous’ but ‘not enough.’

He said: "If you unpick [the government’s contribution] some of it’s very good.

"They have made a significant contribution to try to sort [the potentially unsafe cladding] problem out but they’ve just not done it equitably and they’ve not done it for everyone."

He added: "My proposed amendment to the Fire Safety Bill said that leaseholders should be in the act and they shouldn’t have to pay for [the renovation], this change doesn’t do that. The cash is very helpful and generous of the government, but it isn’t enough because it doesn’t protect all leaseholders. It only protects some of them.

"People that live in blocks over 18 metres, today they know that’s their situation is okay. But if you’re in a block over 17m you are going t have to pay a contribution, on top of insurance premiums and waking watch patrols."

As reported, the scheme has been put in place to remove safety issues following the horrific Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017.

Residents across the country have said they feel “trapped” and that homes are “worthless” as structural issues on buildings across the country remain unresolved in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

National opposition leaders have previously claimed up to 11 million people are at risk from life-changing costs and unsellable properties amid the UK’s cladding crisis.