Thousands may have to be
No hiding place for guilty parties in judge-led inquiry into blaze, says PM
unsafe homes”, signalling that residents may have to be evacuated. Firefighters and town halls are trying to identify how many and which blocks across the country are potential death traps.
Councils were ringing the Communities Department, desperate to find out if they own any blocks at risk. Three samples sent in were combustible.
Some town halls have yet to send in material more than a week after the Grenfell fire. Mrs May said “no stone will be left unturned” in the judge-led inquiry into the blaze in North Kensington. “For any guilty parties, there will be nowhere to hide,” she said.
She also said it was right that the chief executive of Kensington and Chelsea council, Nicholas Holgate, had resigned following its dismal response to the disaster, in which at least 79 people are feared to have died. The Standard revealed this week that more than 100 social housing blocks in London have cladding, with a small number of these having similar materials to that used at Grenfell.
Three blocks in Barnet are believed to have similar cladding of aluminium composite material. The council insisted that the overall cladding system on its blocks was different to Grenfell and that the insulation was non-combustible.
In an early-morning statement to Parliament on Grenfell and wider checks of cladding, Mrs May told MPs: “Shortly before I came to the chamber, I was informed that a number of these tests have come back as combustible.
“The relevant local authorities and local fire services have been informed, and, as I speak, they are taking all possible steps to ensure buildings are safe and to inform affected residents.
“All social landlords have been instructed to carry out additional fire safety checks on tower blocks and ensure the appropriate safety and response measures are in place.”
Owners of private residential flats have also been offered free testing of samples. Asked whether the Grenfell cladding on complied with regulations, Mrs May said: “The material is being tested, the information that the fire and police are able to give publicly, they will give.
‘It is a tragedy and an outrage because every single one of those deaths could have been avoided’ Jeremy Corbyn
This is part of the criminal investigation.” Some experts have suggested that the building regulations were flawed.
Mrs May, who faced criticism for failing to meet local residents immediately after the fire, said she had spoken to victims again yesterday. She added that she expects an interim report by the public inquiry as “early as possible”, which is expected to be this summer.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the residents of Grenfell Tower were “let down both in the immediate aftermath and so cruelly beforehand”. “It is both a tragedy and an outrage because every single one of those deaths could and should have been avoided,” he added.
New Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad said that “words must be followed by deeds” in the wake of the fire.
Mrs May was also urged to set up an emergency fire protection fund. Housing expert Karen Buck, Labour MP for Westminster North, said: “We can’t have authorities that have already had massive budget cuts having to cut other vital services in order to make buildings safe. Some of them will need sprinkler systems, others cladding taken off and others different measures like changes to access arrangements. This must not be left to a postcode lottery of safety.”
Labour MP Yvette Cooper said: “The Government should set up an emergency fund right now to support local councils.”