Details of the Terms of Reference for the Grenfell Tower Public
Inquiry have been published and the Prime Minister has announced
that the Housing Minister will meet with social housing tenants to
discuss the broader questions around social housing and the
challenges they face.
The Chair of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry received over 550
written responses to a consultation document on the terms of
reference for the Public Inquiry including a joint response to the
consultation document submitted by ARCH together with the Chartered
Institute of Housing (CIH), National Federation of Almos (NFA) and
Inside Housing (IH). Click here to see copy of the CIH/ARCH/NFA/IH
response.
Although the response to the consultation indicated that many of
those affected by the fire and some others felt strongly that the
scope of the Inquiry should be very broad and should include an
examination of social housing policy and broader questions of a
social, economic and political nature, the Inquiry Chair considered
that such matters were not suitable for a judge-led inquiry and
would add significantly to the length of time needed to complete
its work.
The Inquiry's recommended Terms of Reference are therefore
limited to examination of the circumstances surrounding the fire at
Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017, including:
- The immediate cause or causes of the fire and the means by
which it spread to the whole of the building;
- The design and construction of the building and the decisions
relating to its modification, refurbishment and management;
- The scope and adequacy of building regulations, fire
regulations and other legislation, guidance and industry practice
relating to the design, construction, equipping and management of
high-rise residential buildings;
- Whether such regulations, legislation, guidance and industry
practice were complied with in the case of Grenfell Tower and the
fire safety measures adopted in relation to it;
- The arrangements made by the local authority or other
responsible bodies for receiving and acting upon information either
obtained from local residents or available from other sources
(including information derived from fires in other buildings)
relating to the risk of fire at Grenfell Tower, and the action
taken in response to such information;
- The fire prevention and fire safety measures in place at
Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017;
- The response of the London Fire Brigade to the fire; and
- The response of central and local government in the days
immediately following the fire.
Read Sir Martin Moore-Blick's letter and
recommendations to the Prime Minister. In responding to the letter
from the Chair of the Inquiry, the Prime Minister has accepted the
recommended Terms of Reference for the Inquiry without amendment
and announced an immediate start date of 15 August for the
Inquiry.
However, in doing so, the Prime Minister said that she was
determined that the broader questions raised by the fire -
including around social housing - are not left unanswered.
As part of this work the Prime Minister promised that the
Government will now consider how best to address the social housing
issues and that Housing Minister, Alok Sharma, will personally meet
and hear from as many social housing tenants as possible, both in
the immediate area around Grenfell Tower but also across the
country to help build up a comprehensive picture of some of the
immediate issues facing tenants, as well as to identify any common
concerns that must inform any national approach. Read the Prime Minister's response to Sir
Martin Moore-Blick.
A further announcement on this aspect of work to be led by the
Housing Minister is expected soon and ARCH Chief Executive John
Bibby has been in touch with officials at DCLG to offer to
facilitate meetings with the Housing Minister and the ARCH Tenant
Group on this wider review.