Grenfell emergency plan was ‘15 years out of date’

SHOCKING FINDINGS RELEASED IN PUBLIC INQUIRY REPORT

THE tenant management organisation which managed flats in Grenfell Tower was completely unprepared for a disaster as its emergency plan was 15 years out of date.

The shocking findings are among those released in the report on the first stage of the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower tragedy, which killed 72 people in June 2017.

The documents were formally released to the media on October 30, but had been extensively leaked after being previously released to some residents.

The first phase of the inquiry looked at the emergency plans drawn up by Kensington & Chelsea Council and Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), which looked after thousands of council homes in the borough.

Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick says in his report the TMO had its own emergency plan, but “for what it was worth it was 15 years out of date.”

The council was the first responder under the Civil Contingencies Act and also had a plan for how to respond to an emergency.

Sir Martin found that “both the TMO emergency plan and the council’s contingency plan were silent about how, if at all, they were to complement each other” if there was an emergency.

The TMO plan did not include updates about the extensive changes that had been made to the tower which were finished in 2016, including new cladding – known as aluminium composite material – that was fitted to the outside of the tower from the fourth to 23rd floor. It was this highly combustible cladding which Sir Martin said was the “principle reason why the fire developed so fiercely” and with such deadly effect.

The emergency response plans also contained the wrong number of flats in the tower –120 instead of 129.

The plans contained wrong and out of date telephone numbers for vulnerable residents who would need help to get out if there was an emergency.

Sir Martin said that the council’s director of housing Teresa Brown, from the TMO, who was at Grenfell from 3.50am on the night of the fire, had not realised the plan of the building was out of date.

Robert Black, the TMO’s boss, even told the inquiry it had no role in responding to the fire and it was “a spare part”.

Sir Martin said senior executives “did not have a clear view of what they were supposed to do on the night of the fire”.

He also criticised the huge delays in the TMO providing details about residents to the emergency services which came “unsatisfactorily late”.

The first of the council’s LALOs (local authority liaison officers) on the scene, Nicholas Layton, was asked for a list of people in the tower by the fire brigade at around 4.34am – two-and-a-half hours after the fire was declared a major emergency.

He asked Mr Black for the details and “chased” him three times for the list. He still did not have it when he left the tower at 7am, the report says.

The report also criticises Mr Black for not ensuring important emails were forwarded to the LALOs or fire brigade and assuming that Ms Brown had done it.

The report also found there were differences in the training the council LALOs had.

The first pair on the scene, Michael Rumble and Nickolas Layto, had not received similar training.

The inquiry also said there should have been better coordination and information sharing which “would have made more use of their expertise” and would have helped get lists of information the firefighters needed more quickly. It said Mr Rumble was not told about the severity of the fire when he got there at 3.10am, which would have helped him prepare for his role. Contractors were appointed in 2014 to carry out building work on the inside and outside of the 1970s tower block.

The £10 million project was funded by Kensington & Chelsea Council, which made the cash available to Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which looked after the borough’s council homes in 2012.

The council’s building control department inspected the work at Grenfell Tower between August 2014 and July 2016. The building certificate was signed off by the council on July 7 2016, just under a year before the fateful fire, which inquiry chairman Sir Martin said “tore apart” a “vibrant and strong community”.

Responding to the publication, a spokesman for the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation said: “We welcome the recommendations and insight the inquiry report has provided regarding the response on the night of the tragic fire and renew our deepest sympathies to the bereaved, survivors and their families.

“We recognise this report is a significant step towards ensuring nothing like this can ever happen again. We will now be contributing to Phase Two of the inquiry, which will bring a greater understanding of the underlying causes of the fire.”

Mr Black issued a statement, adding: “My thoughts will always be with the victims, survivors and their families. I cannot begin to imagine the impact this appalling tragedy has had on so many people.

“In terms of the report itself, this is clearly a time for reflection and learning and I will be considering its findings carefully.

“Looking ahead, Phase Two of the inquiry will be hugely significant and I will be helping with that in any way I can.”

The hard-hitting report said the “principle reason” the fire spread so quickly was because of the “highly combustible” cladding.

Sir Martin also said the “decorative” architectural crown, added to the 24–storey building as part of the refurbishment, also played a “significant role” in the fire’s devastating spread around the building.

He criticised the “lack of effective communication” between the London Fire Brigade control room and incident commander which meant important information was not shared. He criticised “serious deficiencies” in command and control and said many communications systems did not work properly.

He said the fatal blaze “tore apart” a strong and vibrant community and “many people are mourning relatives, friends and neighbours with whom they shared their lives”.

Sir Martin said: “It is already clear to me that there are steps that can and should be taken now to improve the safety from fire of all those who live in high-rise buildings.”

He said it was not surprising that people living in high rise blocks with combustible cladding “are concerned for their safety”. He said it was essential that panels with polyethylene cores on the outside of buildings are removed as “quickly as possible”.

He repeated concerns in the “apparently slow progress in carrying out the work”.

Recommendations included:

■ A legal responsibility for owners and managers of high rise blocks to give the fire and rescue services details about the design of outside walls and the materials used – and to update them of any changes

■ Fire and rescue services should also ensure staff understand the risks of fires taking hold in the outside walks of tower blocks and to spot the signs

■ New law making owners and managers of high rise blocks give fire services up-to-date plans of every floor in the block, with details of where they can find fire safety systems. Every tower block should also have an up-to-date premises information box with the crucial details of floor plans and lifts firefighters can use.

Grenfell United, the local campaign group which is fighting for justice for the bereaved, said: “We are glad to read this report totally exonerates our neighbour in flat 16. The Whirlpool fridge started the fire and our neighbour did everything he could do try to stop it and raise the alarm. He is long overdue an apology from media and corporates that tried to scapegoat him.

“One of the most important conclusions for us is Sir Martin MooreBick found that the building was not compliant with building regulations. This finding means that RBKC and KCTMO have serious questions to answer in Phase 2 of the inquiry, as do each of the corporates involved, including Arconic, Celotex, Studio E and Rydon.

“This finding adds to our determination to see criminal charges brought against those responsible for turning our homes into a death trap.”

Councillor Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington & Chelsea Council, said: “We fully accept the findings and the criticism of the council and we will be looking closely at the recommendations in the coming days to see how they can be implemented in our borough to make sure people are as safe as they can possibly be in their homes.

“We hope phase two delivers the same clarity when the time comes, and all organisations involved act upon the findings, resisting the temptation to point the finger at each other during or after the process. We must all take responsibility for what has happened. No matter your point of view, your role, or which organisation you represent or worked for, Grenfell is a tragedy that should not have happened. It is a tragedy that can never happen again.

“We will continue doing all we can to assist and help the public inquiry, as demonstrated in phase one, and we understand that the actions and decisions of those serving the council prior to June 14 2017 will be under intense scrutiny

“We welcome this and we hope those giving evidence over the coming months and years accept it.

“Our first thoughts and our last thoughts will always be with those who lost their lives, their families, their friends. We will help to ensure lessons are learned and they can be applied by every council, every authority, every building owner, every private landlord, and every single person that has responsibility for housing in this country.”

We recognise this report is a significant step towards ensuring nothing like this can ever happen again