Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 Report

“Professionalism, competence and putting people first,” was the key message from Ali Akbor OBE to the social housing sector when delivering the Report of the Public Inquiry into the events of and following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017.

The catastrophic fire took the lives of 72 people in 2017. After delivering the Executive Summary, the Rt Hon Sir Martin Moore-Bick read the names in turn of each person who sadly lost their life. As housing practitioners, hearing every death was avoidable is a sobering experience and our heartfelt condolences remain with the families and all effected by this disaster.

There have been significant changes in the sector since 2017. The renewed focus on consumer standards for registered providers of social housing echoes the message of Ali Akbor OBE. Similarly, the introduction of the Building Safety Act 2022 made steps to enhance the safety and management of high-risk buildings.

Moving forward, the report makes several recommendations which include:

• the appointment of a construction regulator to oversee all aspects of the construction industry
• bringing responsibility for all aspects of fire safety under one government department
• the establishment of a body of professional fire engineers, properly regulated and with protected status and the introduction of mandatory fire safety strategies for higher-risk buildings
• a licensing scheme for contractors wishing to undertake the construction or refurbishment of higher-risk buildings
• the regulation and mandatory accreditation of fire risk assessors
• the establishment of a College of Fire and Rescue to provide practical, educational and managerial training to fire and rescue services
• the introduction of a requirement for the government to maintain a publicly accessible record of recommendations made by select committees, coroners and public inquiries, describing the steps taken in response or its reasons for declining to implement them.

Making a statement to the Commons, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the Government would take “more radical action to stop something like this from ever happening again.” Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said the government will consider the 58 recommendations made in the report and “make sure that we do everything that we can to meet those and go beyond so that people are confident.”

As we all reflect on the contents of the report in the coming weeks and months, it’s important to consider the words of Thouria Istephan and Ali Akbor OBE respectively, for the Inquiry:

 

“The necessary change is also one of culture and behaviour. Change on this scale needs to be owned and led by those of us working in the sector.

 

“Regulations should not be treated as boxes to be ticked, but as a way of giving residents confidence that their homes are safe.”