Grenfell Tower inquiry goes into year-long hibernation

The public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster will rarely sit this year, with campaigners worried that the momentum for radical reforms to housing safety, building regulations and tenants’ protection could fade and disappear as time passes.

The first stage of the inquiry ended in December. It has heard from hundreds of witnesses – survivors, families and friends of the 72 people who died, the firefighters and many more emergency responders, as well as expert wintnesses – in an attempt to set out the events leading up to the fire and what exactly happened on the night of 14 June 2017.

Whether recommendations from stage one will be issued before the year-end we do not yet know, but the inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick, has already said that stage two hearings are unlikely to start before the end of 2019.

Many participants believe it should be possible to publish some initial recommendations from stage one by March this year. These relate to issues like the ‘stay put’ guidance in the event of a fire, the safety equipment provided to residents and firefighters, the resident consultation processes which landlords must undertake before major works begin and the quality of components used in residential buildings. The installation of water sprinklers is another contentious issue.

Building safety delays

The Government’s banning of combustible materials in the future building schemes has failed to satisfy campaigners, who understandably want to see it removed from existing buildings including those below 18 metres in height.

The second stage of the inquiry is due to focus on the management of the tower, communications with residents, its refurbishment and fire safety. This means that conclusions about aspects of building safety and how they need to be improved – which could affect many thousands of other tower block residents – are likely to be delayed until 2021. Survivors and families of the deceased claim this is denying them justice.

The survivors’ group Grenfell United has said the defensiveness and silence of companies involved in the flawed refurbishment of the tower, was “an insult to our families and continues to put families at risk across the country”.

Meanwhile teams of lawyers acting for the building companies involved in the refurbishment of the tower as well as for Kensington & Chelsea Council, are now being given time to trawl through more than 200,000 documents collected by the inquiry team, so they can prepare for stage two of the inquiry.

Broken culture

Ed Daffarn, who escaped from the 16th floor of Grenfell Tower, spoke as stage one of the inquiry came to an end. He said: “What’s key isn’t that Grenfell is remembered for what happened before the fire, but for the change we achieved after the fire.”

“We are looking to change the culture around social housing and the institutional indifference it entails. Grenfell United has come to believe that can be achieved through a two-pronged attack – tenants’ voice and regulation. Grenfell wouldn’t have happened if we had been heard and respected … People are still not being listened to.”

It is remarkable to think that not all of those who were made homeless by the fire have yet to move into permanent housing.

In addition there are 370 high-rise residential and publicly-owned buildings in England where ACM cladding systems remain in place and are unlikely to meet current Building Regulations guidance. Only 67 buildings have had all of their combustible cladding removed in the near 20 months that have passed since the Grenfell Tower fire.

There are even 13 private sector residential buildings where the cladding status is still to be confirmed.

By Patrick Mooney, editor