Latest news with #GrenfellInquiry
Daily Mirror
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Repeat of Grenfell fire warning issued as ministers 'left marking own homework'
MPs said it is 'completely unacceptable' that survivors and bereaved families of the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster 'are still awaiting justice for that terrible day' Ministers must not be 'left marking their own homework' over the Grenfell Tower tragedy, MPs have warned. The Commons' housing committee has written to Housing Secretary and Deputy PM Angela Rayner calling for an independent body to be introduced to oversee the Government's response to public inquiries. In their letter, MPs said it is 'completely unacceptable' that survivors and bereaved families of the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster 'are still awaiting justice for that terrible day'. They welcomed the Government's decision to accept the recommendations from the Grenfell Inquiry's final report but said there must be an independent mechanism to hold it to account for implementing them. It warned there are 'significant risks of these recommendations not being implemented effectively if independent oversight is lacking'. READ MORE: Sadiq Khan urged to block high rise building that skirts Grenfell building rule by 30cm The committee called for a national oversight mechanism to be included in the upcoming Hillsborough Bill. It demanded a new system be in place before the tenth anniversary of the deadly Grenfell Tower fire on June 14, 2027. The letter said an oversight mechanism will "reduce the risk 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'. Campaigners on a range of scandals, including the Grenfell fire and infected blood victims, have previously called for a national oversight mechanism - an independent public body - to be put in place, responsible for collating, analysing and following up on recommendations from public inquiries. They have argued that, without such a body in place, governments can delay the implementation of, or even ignore entirely, recommendations from public inquiries. Elsewhere, the letter raised fire safety concerns in care homes after London's Fire Commissioner Andy Roe told the committee earlier this year that it 'keeps me awake at night'. MPs called on the Government to 'urgently review' its decision to mandate sprinklers in new care homes, but not existing ones. Florence Eshalomi, the committee's chair, said: '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?' She continued: '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.' A Government spokesperson said: "The Grenfell Tower tragedy claimed 72 innocent lives in a disaster that should never have happened. We are acting on all of the Inquiry's findings, working closely with industry, local authorities and the bereaved, survivors and residents, and have committed to updating on progress regularly. "We have also committed to introducing a more robust system to improve the transparency, accessibility and scrutiny of inquiry recommendations received by government."
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Expert warns against quick-fix online fire safety training years after Grenfell
The chairwoman of a group reviewing building control in England in the wake of the Grenfell Tower blaze has vowed she is determined to bring about a 'culture change', as she warned against 'dubious' online training courses on fire safety. Dame Judith Hackitt criticised 'quick fixes' which she said will not work towards rebuilding public confidence in an industry which has been heavily criticised since Grenfell, and urged businesses to see proper training as an investment rather than a cost. She will chair the first formal meeting of the Building Control Independent Panel this month, set up to look at whether changes are needed to the current system across England. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry found an issue with building control bodies tending to co-operate with companies who wanted their proposals to be approved, instead of enforcing building regulations 'rigorously'. The inquiry recommended an independent panel look at whether it is in the public interest for building control functions to be performed by those with a commercial interest in the process, or whether all such functions should be carried out by a national authority. The panel is due to present a report to the Government in autumn and Dame Judith suggested it will be as 'hard-hitting' as her 2018 one. That report identified 'deep flaws' within the building regulations system, as she argued ignorance and indifference had created a 'race to the bottom', where there was a desire to do things 'as quickly and cheaply as possible rather than to deliver quality homes which are safe for people to live in'. Asked what might be expected from her report this year, Dame Judith told the PA news agency: 'I think my track record speaks for itself, doesn't it? I'm unlikely to change my approach. 'I was honest and hard-hitting in my report seven years ago. I've continued to keep the pressure on government and on industry for the last seven years. I see no reason to change. 'I am determined to drive through this culture change that is needed across the whole of the built environment.' Next month will see bereaved and survivors mark eight years since the fire in west London in June 2017, which resulted in 72 people losing their lives. Asked what her message is to the many who say they have still not seen justice delivered or enough wholesale change in the system so many years on, Dame Judith said: 'I share their frustration that it's taking so long, but that's no reason to give up. 'We will get there. We will drive this change. We owe it to the people who lost their lives to do that.' Dame Judith said she is 'absolutely confident that things are better now than they were in 2017' after building control came under the Building Safety Regulator which launched in 2023. She added: 'We have moved from where we were. Is that enough? Is there more we need to do? 'I'm not going to speculate until we have looked at the evidence, but we will do that at pace, and we will deliver our report before the end of the year.' Dame Judith urged 'more people to take personal responsibility and leadership in different parts of this built environment sector' after recently visiting a fire door safety centre which she praised for its efforts. She said businesses must understand that proper training is essential as 'money spent on cheap training and substandard training is money wasted'. Dame Judith added: 'Spending it on this sort of training is an investment in your people. It's not a cost.' She praised Fire Door Maintenance Training and Development, which describes itself as the largest such practical training centre in the UK, saying she saw a 'real sense of purpose' in the people training there. Dame Judith said that despite the sector-wide knowledge of the need for thorough training in aspects such as ensuring fire doors are properly maintained, the take-up of such training has been 'very mixed, very variable, and some of the training courses that have sprung up, I think, are of dubious quality to say the least, particularly online ones'. She referenced one-hour online video training which might promise someone competency once they had completed it but added: 'That's not the case.' Dame Judith added: 'Let's be clear, there's a place for online training and familiarisation. 'But to get people to the level of competence that they need to be on things that are safety critical, like fire doors, that practical training with someone assessing whether you are doing the job properly and are competent to do the job properly, is crucial. 'We're trying to rebuild public confidence here in an industry, and quick fixes aren't going to do it. 'You know, a quick training session online in many cases, is just not enough.' She highlighted Fire Door Maintenance as 'what good looks like' in an industry where many others have been slow to act and change. Nicola John, managing director at the firm which sees people training in realistic settings with doors and corridors, said they wanted to offer a 'practical training facility for practical people doing a practical job' in contrast to online courses alone. Ms John added: 'The issue that we have is that it's not currently mandated, so we only attract the people who have the same mindset currently.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Expert warns against quick-fix online fire safety training years after Grenfell
The chairwoman of a group reviewing building control in England in the wake of the Grenfell Tower blaze has vowed she is determined to bring about a 'culture change', as she warned against 'dubious' online training courses on fire safety. Dame Judith Hackitt criticised 'quick fixes' which she said will not work towards rebuilding public confidence in an industry which has been heavily criticised since Grenfell, and urged businesses to see proper training as an investment rather than a cost. She will chair the first formal meeting of the Building Control Independent Panel this month, set up to look at whether changes are needed to the current system across England. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry found an issue with building control bodies tending to co-operate with companies who wanted their proposals to be approved, instead of enforcing building regulations 'rigorously'. The inquiry recommended an independent panel look at whether it is in the public interest for building control functions to be performed by those with a commercial interest in the process, or whether all such functions should be carried out by a national authority. The panel is due to present a report to the Government in autumn and Dame Judith suggested it will be as 'hard-hitting' as her 2018 one. That report identified 'deep flaws' within the building regulations system, as she argued ignorance and indifference had created a 'race to the bottom', where there was a desire to do things 'as quickly and cheaply as possible rather than to deliver quality homes which are safe for people to live in'. Asked what might be expected from her report this year, Dame Judith told the PA news agency: 'I think my track record speaks for itself, doesn't it? I'm unlikely to change my approach. 'I was honest and hard-hitting in my report seven years ago. I've continued to keep the pressure on government and on industry for the last seven years. I see no reason to change. 'I am determined to drive through this culture change that is needed across the whole of the built environment.' Next month will see bereaved and survivors mark eight years since the fire in west London in June 2017, which resulted in 72 people losing their lives. Asked what her message is to the many who say they have still not seen justice delivered or enough wholesale change in the system so many years on, Dame Judith said: 'I share their frustration that it's taking so long, but that's no reason to give up. 'We will get there. We will drive this change. We owe it to the people who lost their lives to do that.' Dame Judith said she is 'absolutely confident that things are better now than they were in 2017' after building control came under the Building Safety Regulator which launched in 2023. She added: 'We have moved from where we were. Is that enough? Is there more we need to do? 'I'm not going to speculate until we have looked at the evidence, but we will do that at pace, and we will deliver our report before the end of the year.' Dame Judith urged 'more people to take personal responsibility and leadership in different parts of this built environment sector' after recently visiting a fire door safety centre which she praised for its efforts. She said businesses must understand that proper training is essential as 'money spent on cheap training and substandard training is money wasted'. Dame Judith added: 'Spending it on this sort of training is an investment in your people. It's not a cost.' She praised Fire Door Maintenance Training and Development, which describes itself as the largest such practical training centre in the UK, saying she saw a 'real sense of purpose' in the people training there. Dame Judith said that despite the sector-wide knowledge of the need for thorough training in aspects such as ensuring fire doors are properly maintained, the take-up of such training has been 'very mixed, very variable, and some of the training courses that have sprung up, I think, are of dubious quality to say the least, particularly online ones'. She referenced one-hour online video training which might promise someone competency once they had completed it but added: 'That's not the case.' Dame Judith added: 'Let's be clear, there's a place for online training and familiarisation. 'But to get people to the level of competence that they need to be on things that are safety critical, like fire doors, that practical training with someone assessing whether you are doing the job properly and are competent to do the job properly, is crucial. 'We're trying to rebuild public confidence here in an industry, and quick fixes aren't going to do it. 'You know, a quick training session online in many cases, is just not enough.' She highlighted Fire Door Maintenance as 'what good looks like' in an industry where many others have been slow to act and change. Nicola John, managing director at the firm which sees people training in realistic settings with doors and corridors, said they wanted to offer a 'practical training facility for practical people doing a practical job' in contrast to online courses alone. Ms John added: 'The issue that we have is that it's not currently mandated, so we only attract the people who have the same mindset currently.'
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ministers making 'painfully slow' cladding progress
The Scottish government has been accused of making "painfully slow" progress on removing unsafe cladding from buildings. It came as ministers announced plans to speed up efforts to inspect and repair buildings in response to the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster. Housing Minister Paul McLennan announced that people with concerns about unsafe cladding would be able to apply to a £10m fund to have their building assessed. But opposition MSPs criticised the government for failing to confirm a date when the work would be completed. McLennan also defended the government's housebuilding record after it was announced the number of new homes built in Scotland last year slumped to less than 20,000, with completions by the social sector down by almost a quarter. Scottish ministers given new powers to tackle cladding Cladding: 'We felt trapped in a flat worth zero' A cladding remediation programme was set up in the aftermath of the Grenfell tower block disaster in London, which claimed 72 lives. However, ministers have been criticised for its slow progress. As of November 2024 there were 107 entries on the programme – which can be either individual buildings or multiple properties in a development. The government said in September that work had not been completed on any of the buildings, with work having started on just five. UK government statistics for England showed that, as of September last year, remediation work on unsafe cladding had been started or completed on half of about 5,000 identified buildings, with work completed on almost a third (29%) of them. In a statement to parliament, McLennan announced a "renewed plan of action" on cladding remediation alongside as the government published its response to the second phase of the Grenfell Inquiry. He said the £10m fund would be open to properties owned by local authorities, registered social landlords and privately individuals. "This investment is designed to reduce risk and the broadest range of properties as quick as possible," the minister said. MSPs unanimously passed the Housing Cladding Remediation Bill in May last year in a bid to speed up the process. It gave ministers the power to assess and carry out remediation on buildings with unsafe cladding - with any work then recorded in a special register. But as of last year it was reported that only £9m out of £97m received from Westminster via Barnett consequentials to deal with the issue had been spent. McLennan did not provide an update on the work done on the 107 earmarked properties, or how much of the UK government money had been spent. Scottish Conservative housing spokesperson Meghan Gallacher said progress had been "painfully slow" in the eight years since the Grenfell disaster. She said Scotland was "miles behind" the UK government in removing unsafe cladding south of the border, describing the announcement as a "kick in the teeth" to concerned residents. Speaking after the statement, the MSP said: "Despite receiving nearly £100m from the UK government to fix the problem, work has only begun on five of 107 affected properties and Paul McLennan clearly has no clue when that work will be completed." Labour housing spokesperson Mark Griffin said: "We're in a remarkable position where we've had more ministerial statements on cladding than we've had buildings remediated." The Grenfell announcement came after the government faced criticism over the latest housebuilding figures. Although SNP ministers declared a housing emergency in 2024, new figures show the number of homes built that year fell by 7% to 19,797. The number of properties started dropped further, falling 9% from the 2023 total to 15,050. Private housebuilders completed 15,066 new homes and started construction work on 11,617 – down 12%. That meant 2024 had the lowest number of new homes started by private builders than any year since 2013 - with the exception of 2020, when the Covid pandemic impacted building works. Social housing providers - such as councils and housing associations - built 4,731 homes in 2024 and started work on 3,433 properties. While the number of properties started was up by 2% from 2023 the number of completions was down by 22%, and was the lowest since 2017. The Scottish government has set the target of delivering 110,000 homes for affordable rent or purchase by 2032. The data showed that by the end of December, 26,039 homes had been completed – meaning about 84,000 homes will have to be built by 2032 if the government is to achieve its target. The Tories said ministers were "asleep at the wheel", while Labour accused them of "reckless incompetence". McLennan said the government had a "strong track record" of building affordable housing. He said that from 2007 - the year the SNP came to power - to 2024 more than 136,000 affordable homes had been delivered, including 97,000 for social rent. The minister added that, as of March last year, that was 47% more affordable homes per head of population than England and 73% more than Wales. Plan to make landlords fix mould in social housing Record number of children in temporary housing
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Seven organisations to be investigated over Grenfell fire
Seven organisations will be investigated over the Grenfell Tower disaster and all 58 recommendations of a public inquiry will be met, the government says. Those organisations could be prevented from bidding for public contracts, while two existing bodies will be merged to form a single building safety regulator as part of the changes. The government has also backed a new "Hillsborough Law", which would create a legal duty for public authorities to tell the truth and be transparent. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said it will only begin implementing the changes from 2028. It is already working on a list of reforms to building safety, which came from the cladding crisis following Grenfell. The fire in the west London tower block killed 72 people in 2017, the inquiry found all their deaths were avoidable. Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said the Grenfell Inquiry had "exposed in stark and devastating detail the shocking industry behaviour and wider failures that led to the fire, and the deep injustices endured by the bereaved, survivors, and residents". "We are acting on all of the Inquiry's findings, and today set out our full response, detailing the tough action we are taking to drive change and reform the system to ensure no community will ever have to face a tragedy like Grenfell ever again. "That means greater accountability, stronger regulation, and putting residents at the heart of decision-making. We must deliver the fundamental change required. We owe that to the Grenfell community, to the country, and to the memory of those who lost their lives," she added. The inquiry report found the fire was the result of a chain of failures by governments, "dishonest" companies and the fire service, which lacked a strategy for dealing with high rise cladding fires. The government's role in failing to regulate safety in the construction industry became apparent early in the Grenfell inquiry and during the hearings it apologised for its "past failures in relation to the oversight of the system that regulated safety in the construction and refurbishment of high rise buildings." Wednesday's announcement is part of a continuing effort to strengthen the regulations and oversight of construction. The seven organisations will be investigated for professional misconduct using powers under the Procurement Act passed in 2023. On Wednesday, the government published a new Construction Products Reform Green Paper setting out possible penalties for companies found to have breached safety obligations. These include fines based on the company's revenue and powers to limit individuals being involved in the industry. However, officials will not currently say if these penalties will be applied retrospectively. The failures which led to the Grenfell fire happened in the years before its refurbishment in 2016. Ministers are also promising a new single construction regulator will improve standards in the industry. In a rapid series of reforms since the fire, the Conservatives set up both a Building Safety Regulator and a National Regulator for Construction Products. Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the chairman of the Grenfell Inquiry, recommended there should be just one body. The government will effectively merge the existing ones into a single regulator in what the housing ministry described as further "sweeping construction, building and fire safety reforms". These are likely to introduce new rules on the testing of specific construction products. The Grenfell disaster was caused by the use of highly flammable cladding backed by insulation which also contributed to the spread of the fire. Manufacturers either concealed evidence of the risks their products posed or made false and misleading claims, the inquiry found. The housing ministry wants to create stronger enforcement of safety standards but also force the construction industry to be more transparent and take responsibility to ensure a fire like Grenfell does not happen again. The London Fire Brigade failed to respond to the rapid spread of the fire at Grenfell due to poor training and a lack of guidance about how to deal with flammable cladding. The government is setting up a new College of Fire and Rescue later this year to "improve the training and professionalism of firefighters". Another finding of the inquiry was that Grenfell was inspected by a fire risk assessor who lacked the necessary training and experience. The government will bring in certification for assessors. The government will provide an update on its work to meet the Grenfell recommendations every three months as part of an attempt to beef up the impact of public inquiry findings. The MHCLG has now taken over responsibility for fire safety from the Home Office and says it will support both the continuing police investigation and plans for a memorial which will replace the tower once it is dismantled in two years' time. Grenfell Report: Key findings from the inquiry Grenfell's 'path to disaster' that led to 72 deaths 'She was so proud to live in Grenfell Tower': The 72 people killed by the fire Grenfell Tower fire: What happens next?
