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Grenfell Inquiry restart delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions
The restart of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions currently being applied in England, Inside Housing has learned.
Sources told Inside Housing that inquiry officials confirmed that hearings will not begin on Monday as scheduled, with no definitive date for a restart yet given.
The inquiry closed early for its Christmas break on 9 December after someone on the inquiry team tested positive for COVID-19.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the inquiry team said: “In light of recent developments and the prime minister’s announcement on Monday evening, oral evidence will not continue as scheduled on Monday 11 January 2021.
“The inquiry is making plans to switch to remote hearings, and hopes these can begin as early as possible in February.”
This will be the second delay to phase two of the inquiry after the hearings were paused for 17 weeks last year because of the first national lockdown.
The second phase is looking into the events that led up to the fire, as well as the response after the fire, and will run across eight modules. Before Christmas, the inquiry was still taking evidence for module two, which examined the flawed testing regime that led to the dangerous cladding being installed on Grenfell.
It contained a number of major revelations about how the companies that manufactured the flammable materials installed on the tower got their products through the testing regime.
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This included testimony from Jonathan Roper, an employee of insulation manufacturer Celotex, who alleged that the company had knowingly failed to disclose that it had used additional fire-resistant boards to pass a fire test, agreeing that some of the company’s actions were “misleading” and that he had been made to “lie for commercial gain”.
The inquiry also saw evidence which appears to show that Arconic, the manufacturer of the aluminium composite material used on the tower, knew about the material’s fire risks. In a series of emails stretching back seven years, Arconic staff highlighted the dangers of Reynobond PE to colleagues. One internal email in 2015 from Claude Wehrle, Arconic’s technical support head, said: “PE is dangerous on facades, and everything should be transferred to fire resistant as a matter of urgency.”
The delay will cause frustration for the bereaved and survivors, and it will mean the publication of the phase two report will likely be pushed well into 2022.
Earlier this week, building safety minister Lord Greenhalgh called on bosses at Arconic to “step up to the plate” and stop hiding behind a French statute that would protect them from having to give evidence at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
In November Richard Millett, lead counsel to the inquiry, said that lawyers for two Arconic employees – Mr Wehrle and Gwenaëlle Derrendinger – had pointed to a French law carrying potential criminal sanctions for those who disclose commercial matters to foreign courts, known as the French blocking statute.
Arconic has said that individuals who have declined to participate in the inquiry have taken the advice of separate counsel and that the company has no influence on those decisions.
Grenfell Inquiry's full statement
In light of recent developments and the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday evening, the Inquiry has decided to temporarily suspend oral hearings. Accordingly, oral evidence will not continue as scheduled on Monday 11 January 2021.
This was a difficult decision, but the increase in transmissibility of the new variant of Coronavirus means that there is a significant increase in the risk of infection facing anyone who travels to and works at the Inquiry’s premises, notwithstanding the robustness of the arrangements in place. In the current circumstances it is unreasonable to ask witnesses and Inquiry team staff to travel into a particularly high-risk area to attend the Inquiry.
The Panel is keen to maintain the momentum of the Phase 2 hearings, and so has made the decision to switch to remote hearings as soon as possible. The Panel recognises that the subject of remote hearings was fully explored with core participants last spring during the first 2020 lockdown, and that it was not in favour of that option for the reasons it gave. However, the Panel has decided it is better to have remote hearings than no hearings at all while the current restrictions are in place, and wishes to emphasise that this is a temporary measure to be used only for as long as it is absolutely necessary.
The Inquiry is working with its supplier to make urgent preparations for remote hearings, including safely distributing equipment to witnesses and testing it to ensure that hearings proceed smoothly. The Inquiry hopes to start remote hearings as early as possible in February, and will write to core participants as soon as possible to confirm the resumption date and any other details, including how bereaved, survivor and resident core participants will be able to follow the proceedings remotely.
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