The Government should introduce an independent national oversight mechanism and not be ‘left marking its own homework’ when implementing the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower inquiry, says the cross-party Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee in a letter to Secretary of State Angela Rayner.
A month ahead of the eighth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, the Committee expresses its hope that the Government will introduce an independent mechanism in the upcoming ‘Hillsborough Law and that this will apply to the implementation of the recommendations of all public inquiries.
The Committee’s letter to the Secretary of State (and to Alex Norris, Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Local Growth) says that the introduction of an independent mechanism will help reduce the risk of future governments, ‘repeating the catastrophic mistakes which have historically led to state-related deaths, from Hillsborough, to the infected blood scandal, to the Grenfell Tower fire itself’.
Following a short inquiry on the Government’s response to the Grenfell Inquiry, the Committee has today shared a series of key findings. The Committee’s letter outlines recommendations to Government on areas including engagement with Grenfell residents, capacity in the building control sector, the work of the Building Safety Regulator and delays in the sign off on the safety of buildings, Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPS), the Building Safety Levy, and on fire and rescue services.
Florence Eshalomi, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee said: “It’s right that the Government have accepted all the recommendations from a Phase 2 report that outlined deep failings that led to the Grenfell disaster. But how can the loved ones of the Grenfell victims be asked to trust the Government to mark their own homework when they have spent nearly eight years fighting for answers as to why people were denied the most basic level of safety? That’s why as a Committee we strongly endorse calls for an independent mechanism to hold Government to account on implementing the Phase 2 recommendations.
“Unfortunately, it’s clear that there are still groups, particularly those from minority ethnic backgrounds, who feel that they have not been able to fully contribute to these processes. Before making any future decisions as part of its management of the Grenfell site, the Government must take steps to address these issues, including by ensuring they have up-to-date contact details of those affected by the fire and that everyone on this list is contacted and their input sought.”
“The Grenfell fire highlighted the toxic stigma too often faced by those living in social housing, where resident concerns were cruelly dismissed, neglected and ignored. As a Committee, we are determined to shine a light on this issue and to hold the Government to account for their role in addressing the systematic failings in building safety, product standards and testing, and fire safety exposed by the tragedy at Grenfell. Never again must people be left without such basic levels of safety in their own home.”
In the letter to the Secretary of State, the HCLG Committee express deep concern at the comments at the Committee’s evidence session from Andy Roe, Commissioner, London Fire Brigade, regarding how fire-safe existing care homes are (which the Commissioner said“keeps me awake at night.”).
The Committee question the wisdom of the decision not to mandate sprinklers in existing care homes and calls on the Government to urgently review the decision to mandate sprinkler installation in new care homes, but not existing care homes.
