Three more bosses resign over Grenfell Tower blaze

Council leader steps down and says he ‘accepts responsibility’

THREE council bosses who were responsible for Grenfell Tower resigned yesterday amid mounting anger over the authority’s response to the killer inferno.

Nicholas Paget- Brown, leader of Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council, finally bowed to pressure to step down and said he accepted responsibility for ‘perceived failings’.

His deputy, Rock Feilding-Mellen, who was responsible for housing in the borough, resigned at the same time.

Robert Black, chief executive of Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), which managed the block, had fallen on his sword earlier.

Three years before the blaze, Mr PagetBrown received a letter from Grenfell residents who claimed officials were ‘brazenly breaking the law’.

He also faced widespread criticism for the council’s response to the disaster and for saying residents believed ‘sprinklers aren’t the answer’.

The leader’s position became untenable after he attempted to ban the Press from the council’s first meeting since the disaster on Thursday. He later abandoned the meeting after a High Court judge ordered that journalists and the public be allowed to attend.

Mr Paget-Brown had previously offered to stand down, but his colleagues in the council’s cabinet refused to accept his resignation.

But after senior politicians repeatedly called for his head, he said yesterday: ‘This council has been criticised for failing to answer all the questions that people have. That is properly a matter for the public inquiry. As council leader I have to accept my share of responsibility for these perceived failings.

‘In particular, my decision to accept legal advice that I should not compromise the public inquiry by having an open discussion in public yesterday has itself become a political story. And it cannot be right that this should have become the focus of attention when so many are dead or still unaccounted for.’

The first cabinet gathering since the disaster claimed at least 80 lives was halted abruptly by Mr Paget-Brown on Thursday evening when reporters turned up.

Downing Street supported calls for the meeting to be made public, with a spokesman saying: ‘Our view is that access to democracy should always be easy and we think that is vital if people want to retain confidence in our democratic system.’

In his resignation letter, Mr Feilding-Mellen, a fellow Tory, expressed ‘deep sorrow, grief and shock’ over the tragedy and said it was ‘almost unbelievable’ that such an incident could happen in modern Britain.

Mr Black’s resignation was announced in a statement from KCTMO, where he earned around £150,000 a year as chief executive.

Allegations of incompetence and malpractice by the firm, which tenants said provided an ‘absolutely appalling service’, are likely to form a key part of the police investigation and public inquiry into the disaster.

In a carefully-worded statement, KCTMO said Mr Black had agreed to ‘step aside’ so he can ‘concentrate on assisting with the investigation and inquiry’.

His position had been under threat ever since Theresa May told MPs that residents had expressed their concerns about the firm, which ran the 24-storey tower block on behalf of Kensington and Chelsea council. The day after the fire, Mr Black was asked about warnings previously given by residents and whether he regretted not installing a sprinkler system. He said he could not comment given the ongoing investigation and added: ‘We had no expectation this would happen, we are absolutely devastated by it.’

Mr Black insisted that KCTMO, which was paid £11million by the council in 2016 to run its housing stock, had taken its responsibility for the safety of residents seriously.

His resignation came hours after leaked emails showed fireproof cladding at Grenfell Tower had been downgraded to save £300,000. An email from KCTMO to a contractor, sent in 2014, expressed a desire for ‘good costs’.

Using aluminium cladding instead of fire-safe panels made of zinc could mean a ‘ saving of £293,368’, the email said. The cladding fitted to the tower block dur- ing a £8.6million refurbishment had a flammable polyethylene core that has been blamed for the rapid spread of the blaze.

Documents from June and July 2014 seen by The Times show that a project management company called Artelia UK appeared to come under political pressure to reduce costs.

KCTMO sent Artelia UK an ‘urgent nudge email’ about cladding prices. It said: ‘We need good costs for Cllr Feilding-Mellen and the planner tomorrow at 8.45am!’

The use of cladding is the focus of a criminal investigation and will be a central issue in the public inquiry that will be led by retired appeal court judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick.

The firm declined to comment on the details of the leaked emails. Four bosses have now quit in the wake of the blaze. Council chief executive Nicholas Holgate resigned a week after the fire.

‘Absolutely appalling service’