Failings across a wide range of institutions, organisations and individuals that spanned many years led to the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower. So said Grenfell Tower Inquiry panel member and architect Thouria Istephan yesterday on the release of the final, Phase Two, report by the Inquiry into the fire in west London which killed 72.
Put simply, she said, ‘if you work in the construction industry and you do not feel the weight of the responsibility you have for keeping people safe – you are in the wrong job’.
In a statement, the Inquiry chair, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, said that the deaths were all avoidable (as echoed in the House of Commons, by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer). The second part of the investigations had taken longer than hoped, ‘partly because, as our investigations progressed, we uncovered many more matters of concern than we had originally expected’. The first report covered the events of June 14, 2017: how the fire started, how it escaped from the flat where it began and how it spread; and the firefighting operations of London Fire Brigade.
The second report goes over central government, and the setting of building and fire safety regulations and guidance; the Tenant Management Organisation, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, those who made and supplied the materials used in the refurbishment, and contractors and sub-contractors who installed them. All contributed to the fire in one way or another, Sir Martin said, ‘in most cases through incompetence but in some cases through dishonesty and greed’.
As for response to the fire, the Inquiry found, Sir Martin said, ‘that those who lost their homes as a result of the fire were badly let down by the organisations that should have provided the support they desperately needed’, even though Kensington borough as a ‘category one’ responder under the Civil Contingencies Act had a legal responsibility to respond and prepare for such serious incidents. Nor did London-wide resilience structures work effectively. Sir Martin said: “In the end it was local voluntary and community organisations that filled the gap by providing rest centres and temporary shelter.”
Among the Inquiry’s 58 recommendations are regulation and mandatory accreditation of fire risk assessors.
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For the Met Police, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said that the force ‘must examine the report โ line by line โ alongside the evidence from the criminal investigation’, which will take at least 12 to 18 months. โThis will lead to the strongest possible evidence being presented to the Crown Prosecution Service so they can make charging decisions.”
London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said: โIn 2019, the Brigade accepted every recommendation from the Phase 1 Report and we have since implemented significant changes to how we operate. This year, we completed every recommendation directed at us as part of Phase 1. We have introduced important policies, new equipment, improved training and better ways of working, particularly in how we respond to fires in high-rise residential buildings, and Londoners are safer as a result.”
Peter McGettrick, chairman of the charity the British Safety Council, said: “We welcome the publication of the final report by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. It is a sobering and comprehensive report which has brought forensic attention to the institutional failings that led to this tragedy, the responsibility for which must be shared across multiple stakeholders.
“Safety must be at the core of any changes, and we need to see an appropriate and proportionate response by all parties, which delivers on the recommendations in the Inquiry’s report and ensures greater clarity, transparency and professionalism at all levels. Progress has been made in the past seven years, especially in terms of new legislation and regulation on building safety and social housing, but there is clearly much more to do. The Inquiry’s recommendations build on this and we look forward to the Government’s response and action to deliver on them.”
In an ‘open letter to the bereaved and survivors of Grenfell’, Elizabeth Campbell, Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council said that the council fully accept the findings, ‘which are a withering critique of a system broken from top to bottom’. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “The road to justice is still too long, and change must be delivered without any further delay.”
In reply to PM Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons, Conservative leader Rishi Sunak pointed to how the last Parliament passed the Fire Safety Act 2021 and the Building Safety Act 2022 and a new building safety regulator, in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), was created. “But I also know that these are stepping stones towards a fire and building safety regime that remains persistently fit for purpose,” Mr Sunak said.
Photo by Mark Rowe, Grenfell Tower, London W11, in 2021.
