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Sadiq Khan brands handling of Grenfell residents’ complaints ‘a disgrace’ in statement to inquiry

News30.03.2112.30 PM by Peter Apps

Sadiq Khan has branded “the dismissive treatment” of complaints made by Grenfell Tower residents “a disgrace” in an opening statement to the inquiry on his behalf.

Anne Studd QC gave an opening statement for the mayor of London (picture: Grenfell Tower Inquiry)

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London mayor Sadiq Khan has branded “the dismissive treatment” of complaints made by Grenfell Tower residents “a disgrace” in an opening statement to the inquiry on his behalf #UKhousing

Following the opening of the phase of the inquiry that will examine the actions of the tower’s social housing providers yesterday, opening statements were delivered this morning for the mayor of London, the Fire Brigades Union and the London fire commissioner.

Anne Studd QC, appearing for Mr Khan, issued a stinging criticism of the failure to act on complaints by residents, some of them directly impacting fire safety, in the years before the fire.

“The mayor of London wants to make clear that he regards the dismissive treatment of the tenants of Grenfell Tower when they were making justifiable and as it turned out prophetic complaints to be a disgrace,” she said.

She added that Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) was “everything a tenant management organisation should not be”.

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“It was not community based, it was not cooperatively run. It was not representative and it was not responsive to residents needs or feedback,” she said.

Ms Studd quoted several resident witness statements, including one which said: “My impression of the TMO’s attitude towards the tower was that it was social housing and that we, its residents, would get what we were given and be grateful for it.”

She said the inquiry should ask whether the treatment of the tower’s residents demonstrated “institutional indifference” towards them.

It followed opening statements from survivors yesterday, which listed several instances of specific complaints about fire safety being ignored, including in relation to broken fire door self-closers and the malfunctioning smoke ventilation system – both of which were significant factors on the night of the fire.

Ms Studd said the fire had demonstrated the need for a stronger voice for social housing residents and called for “a commission for social housing residents who would give strength to those underrepresented voices”.

Martin Seaward QC, representing the Fire Brigades Union, focused on a specific question relating to the use of the firefighters lift at the tower.

The lift should have been designed so that firefighters could use a key to take over control of its operation, but when this was attempted by officers on the night, the mechanism did not work.

This meant the lift was unavailable for use to transport equipment and effect rescues in the early stages of the fire when lobbies were unaffected by smoke.

Three residents are also believed to have died after attempting to leave the tower in the lift but got stuck in smokey conditions when its doors opened unexpectedly on the 10th floor.

Mr Seaward challenged the view of one of the inquiry’s expert witnesses that the reason the lift failed on the night was due to firefighters using the wrong size of key.

He showed images of the mechanism (below) which showed it had become “caked in builders’ dust and debris” and said investigators found it was only operable after it had been removed and cleaned.

He suggested the mechanism may have become contaminated during the refurbishment, citing witness evidence from Rydon that the lifts had been regularly used to transport building material around the tower.

He noted that the switch was moved during the works to floor two before being reconnected and invited the inquiry to conclude that it may not have been contaminated if it had been “secured or covered during the works”.

He said the conclusion that the mechanism only failed because firefighters used the wrong key was based on “self-serving” witness evidence of those who should have inspected the switch and found it faulty.

Finally, Stephen Walsh QC, appearing on behalf of the London fire commissioner, discussed whether or not risk assessment and enforcement before the fire should have included the external walls of the building.

He said the London Fire Brigade wrote to the government in 2013 to clarify this position and was told it did not.

The government’s Fire Safety Bill, currently passing through parliament, amends legislation to make it clear that risk assessment and enforcement will in future apply to the external walls.

The Grenfell Inquiry will now pause for three weeks and resume on 19 April with oral evidence from the residents of the tower who raised complaints.

It is expected this will be given in person at the inquiry’s premises in west London, drawing to an end the reliance on Zoom hearings which has been in place since February due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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