The human rights of Grenfell Tower’s residents were breached by both their local council and the Government, according to the country’s equalities watchdog.
The use of combustible cladding on the tower and allocating flats high in the building to elderly and disabled people (many of whom died) came in for particularly strong criticism – in a move which could have major repercussions for the owners of other high rise blocks across the country. After a 15-month investigation, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said “the state either knew, or ought to have known, of the real and immediate risk to life posed by the cladding on Grenfell Tower”, that regulation had failed and that it had also failed to tell residents about the dangers they faced. It also criticised the official handling of the fire’s aftermath, citing witnesses who alleged that the response of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Home Office had been “overshadowed by racism”. The EHRC has a duty to promote awareness of and protection of human rights in the UK, and its inquiry is the first into the disaster to conclude.
Its chairman David Isaac, said: “Everyone has the right to life and the right to safe adequate housing, but the residents of Grenfell Tower were tragically let down by the public bodies that had a duty to protect them.” The EHRC points the finger firmly at both the Government and Kensington and Chelsea council, which owned the tower. It said the use of combustible cladding raised questions about whether the UK has met its duty to protect life. It warned that, with many other residential and public buildings still covered in ACM cladding, “the failure to protect lives and violation of article 2 continues”.
Wide-ranging consequences
“Grenfell raises many questions about the suitability of the housing in the tower, for example, placing older, vulnerable and disabled people on upper floors,” its report says. “Many of the people killed by the fire were older people who were housed at height.” Firefighters told the inquiry they did not know how to tackle the fire in the building’s cladding, and the EHRC said the Government would be breaking its duties under the European convention on human rights if it did not train firefighters to do so. It must also reconsider stay-put policies for buildings with similar cladding. Other issues that could amount to breaches of human rights included a lack of planning for what to do with evacuated residents, poor and sometimes non-existent consultation with residents and that “responsible authorities did not make reasonable adjustments for disabled people living in Grenfell Tower”.
It said: “The state has failed, and continues to fail, to meet its equality and non-discrimination obligations, in particular in relation to disabled people, older people, women and children and, in particular, ethnic minority groups.” Officials at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government stressed that Ministers are determined to ensure a tragedy like Grenfell can never happen again, that it is reforming building regulations and has banned combustible cladding on high-rise residential buildings, as well as hospitals, residential care homes and student halls of residence. Councillor Elizabeth Campbell, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said it would learn from the report. “That is part of our commitment in making sure Grenfell never happens again, whatever it takes and whatever the consequences for the council.”
By Patrick Mooney, Editor