SCOTTISH housing secretary Mairi McAllan allocated another £20 million today to speed up removal of dangerous cladding following criticism of the “glacial pace” of remediation.

The Scottish government has repeatedly come under fire from opposition parties over the speed of its response following the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster in London which claimed 72 lives.

Ms McAllan said additional support will accelerate action to make buildings safer.

The minister, who was given the newly created role in June, said the number of properties eligible for government support will also be expanded.

She said the single open call fund, which allows owners and residents to apply for an assessment to determine the work required to make buildings safe, will be doubled to £20m this year.

A separate £10m fund will be made available to prioritise immediate works for buildings most at risk.

This will ensure every eligible application received before the end of December this year will be progressed.

The Scottish government said the fund has made 258 initial grant funding offers for building owners and residents to undertake single building assessments (SBAs).

It follows criticism from opposition parties at Holyrood that Scotland’s removal of dangerous cladding is falling behind other parts of the UK.

Just 0.2 per cent of potentially affected buildings have completed remediation work.

Out of an estimated 1,450 buildings that may require work to remove cladding, just three have been fully assessed under the cladding remediation programme.

Another 12 SBAs, which assess any risk to life as a result of cladding, are currently under way.

Only two buildings in Scotland have active remediation work being undertaken.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats said last week that the government was moving at a “glacial pace.”