<p><span>It will be difficult to pursue overseas companies over their role in fixing the cladding crisis, Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has said.</span></p> <p><span>Speaking at the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee yesterday (February 21) on his plans to resolve the building safety issue, Gove commented that “some of the most egregious transgressors are companies that are based outside the United Kingdom. There are therefore practical difficulties in pursuing them in the way that we would want to”.</span></p> <p><span>He said that UK-domiciled businesses were “easier to engage with”, and it was more straightforward to convey to them “what the consequences of non-engagement might be”.</span></p> <p><span>Gove also acknowledged the government’s role in the building regime that is now being overhauled following the Grenfell tragedy. “I would not like anyone to think that it was anything other than a shared responsibility to deal with this situation. Government have to shoulder some of that responsibility as well.”</span></p> <p><span>Housebuilders and developers had “engaged positively with the negotiating process” of addressing the cladding issue, Gove noted. He added that the industry had </span><span>acknowledged “that the work required in order to ensure that the buildings they are directly owners of should take place”.</span></p> <p><span>HBF, in …