Ministers have “failed to complete a single recommendation” from the first phase of a public inquiry into the devastating Grenfell Tower fire, Sadiq Khan has said.
The inquiry, which looked at where the June 2017 fire originated and how it spread to kill 72 residents in the north Kensington tower block, published its findings in a report in October 2019.
The report detailed several recommendations aimed primarily at the government, including vital changes to legislation that would require owners of every high-rise residential building to carry out regular inspections of lifts and share details of the floorplans and cladding materials with their local fire and rescue service. It also urged the development of national guidelines for large-scale evacuations.
To date, none of these recommendations has been implemented, and no deadline has been provided by the government for when they will be, according to the mayor’s office.
A spokesperson for the Justice4Grenfell campaign said: “From the day of the fire, there has been no real political will for accountability or action. It is in the gift of the government to grant an inquiry; they agree the terms of reference; they appoint the judge; yet there is no legal requirement for them to take on board recommendations and findings of [the] inquiries.”
Khan said he was “extremely concerned” by the lack of progress made by the government since the first phase of the inquiry was published more than two years ago. He announced that, meanwhile, the London fire brigade (LFB) had completed 26 out of 29 recommendations directed towards them and other fire and rescue services.
Various safety regulations have been introduced by the brigade, such as the use of smoke hoods to aid in the rescue of civilians in smoke-filled environments, and the use of 32-metre and 64-metre ladders to help tackle fires in high-rise buildings. It has also, the mayor said, rolled out an extensive training programme specifically for the brigade’s updated response to high-rise fires.
Earlier this month, the brigade deployed its 64-metre ladder and fire escape hoods after a fire broke out in a 21-storey housing development in Whitechapel.
The fire commissioner for London, Andy Roe, said: “While there is some work still to do, I am pleased to say that we now have important new policies, practices, training, and equipment in place to help protect Londoners and firefighters.”
Khan said the government and the housing and building industries must act now, rather than wait for the inquiry’s phase 2 report.
“Without faster action, the government is failing the Grenfell community, putting lives at risk and leaving residents feeling unsafe in their homes. The government, housing and building industries must not wait to implement the wholesale reforms that are needed to fix a broken system,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said Khan’s claim was “unfounded”. They added: “The government is making progress towards implementing the Grenfell Tower inquiry’s phase 1 recommendations.
“We’re introducing the biggest improvements in building safety for a generation – with tougher regulations that will give more rights and protections for residents and make homes safer.
“Our new building safety regulator will enforce a more stringent regulatory regime for high-rise residential buildings, and oversee the safety and performance of all buildings.”
• This article was amended on 22 March 2022. The Grenfell inquiry’s phase 2 is continuing to gather evidence and is not yet at the report stage, as an earlier version implied.
