Grenfell survivors tell council the culture has still got to change

THE culture has still got to change, Grenfell survivors and residents have warned the council which owned the tower.

Their concerns come after the housing and communities minister Robert Jenrick told Kensington and Chelsea Council he was pleased it had made progress after the fatal fire exposed its poor relations with the tower’s residents and neighbours.

In its fifth and final report published this spring, the Grenfell Task Force said the local authority has changed since the June 2017 fire which claimed the lives of 72 residents.

However, it said: “We remain concerned about the pace of change in the culture across the council and the quality of the relationship with the bereaved and survivors and the wider affected community.”

In a letter published this month, Mr Jenrick told Conservative council leader Elizabeth Campbell and chief executive Barry Quirk, both appointed after the fire, that he was pleased about the progress.

He said moves include a stronger senior leadership team and “bespoke support” for the bereaved and survivors and an “ambitious new housing strategy”.

However, he expects progress on the “significant work” needed “in relation to culture change and improving relationships with the wider community”.

“I will not hesitate to take further action should there be insufficient progress,” he said.

One Grenfell survivor who also lost a relative in the blaze said: “The leadership has still not got a grip on the big picture.”

He said the next stage of the inquiry will expose the pain the council caused Grenfell residents in the way they were treated about their concerns about the tower’s refurbishment.

Samia Badani, co-founder of The Space, which supports the community’s recovery from the traumatic events, said the council really needs to engage with residents.

She said: “The cultural shift needed is a shift in power relations, changing from telling us what to do and saying instead ‘how can we help?’”

She called for an independent review into the council’s engagement with the North Kensington community, which includes the residents of Grenfell Tower, and said proper engagement means “co-designing solutions” instead of just telling people what is happening.

“It’s making decisions together,” she said.

She welcomed Mr Jenrick’s acknowledgement of the recommendations and added: “What we want them to do is to embrace the power in the community and this community is more than capable of making decisions.”

She added: “Everyone has a role to play, everyone is meaningful.

“Every single person matters in North Kensington and every single one has potential.”

A council spokesman said Grenfell recovery is the “number one priority”.

He said: “We continue to focus on honouring the commitments set out in our recovery strategy, including rehousing, providing personalised support to the bereaved and survivors through our dedicated service and delivering a range of initiatives to support the local community.

“Alongside this work, we continue to drive changes to our organisational culture, our services and our relationship with our communities.

“These changes have the lessons from Grenfell at their heart.”