Task force sent to Grenfell council as leader admits: ‘We can’t cope’
A GOVERNMENT task force has been sent into the council responsible for Grenfell Tower after the council’s leader admitted it could not cope.
Elizabeth Campbell, the newlyelected leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, asked the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for help with the area’s “longer term recovery” after the tragic fire.
The statement came as police said they had removed all “visible” human remains from Grenfell, and had made 87 “discoveries”, but the catastrophic damage caused by the blaze means “that is not 87 people”. Investigators have faced “apocalyptic” scenes inside the building but will now sift through 15 tonnes of debris from each floor in the search for further human remains.
There were scenes of panic yesterday as a motion detector attached to the tower triggered an alarm, prompting fears that the charred building might collapse.
Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, sent an independent Recovery Taskforce to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to offer support to survivors, the families and friends of those who lost their lives and residents in the wider community.
Mr Javid said the team would be made up of “experienced and senior people with a track record in delivery” – including members from local government – and it would report directly to him. While the force will consider all aspects of the recovery operation, he said it would have a special focus on housing, regeneration and community engagement.
The move stops short of demands from London Mayor Sadiq Khan for ministers to appoint external commissioners to take over the whole borough.
Mr Javid was able to save the Conservative-run council from the embarrassment of being taken over because the council asked for help, rather than having it forced upon them.
Ms Campbell said: “The unprecedented scale of this incident makes it impossible for one organisation to cope on its own. That’s why my first action as leader was to ask DCLG for help, and I’m delighted that they have been so swift to respond.”
Yesterday afternoon residents of buildings close to Grenfell Tower fled their homes in fear after the motion detector on the ground floor of the burnt-out block picked up movement and triggered an alarm, described by officials as a “red flag”.
Police officers were sent to the area to reassure locals who refused to go back to their homes in the confusion.
Just 14 families affected by the June 14 fire have accepted alternative accommodation, with the rest still living in hotels.
Hayam Atmani, 10, told the BBC that she and her family had turned down the offer of a “small” flat which was “too far from school”. She broke down in tears as she said she finds it hard to sleep and has “nightmares about if it happens again”.