The Grenfell Public Inquiry has published its Phase 1 report
into the events of the 14 June 2017 fire at Grenfell Tower in which
72 people lost their lives.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is an independent public inquiry led
by Chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick, set up to examine the circumstances
leading up to and surrounding the fatal fire at Grenfell Tower on
14 June 2017. The Inquiry is considering matters in two phases.
This Phase 1 report includes a detailed description of the
events of the night of 14 June 2017 as well as Sir Martin's
findings about the nature of the building, origins of the fire, its
subsequent development, response of the London Fire Brigade and
steps taken by other emergency services.
Phase 2 hearings will begin on 27 January 2020 and will examine
in detail the refurbishment work and cladding products used on the
building, compliance with relevant legislation as well as the
complaints from and communication with residents and the management
of the building by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea as
well as its Tenant Management Organisation.
The Phase 1 report is almost 1,000 pages long and organised into
four volumes, containing a series of recommendations set out in
Chapter 33 of the report, grouped under 17 headings.
The full report and recommendations can be
downloaded from the Grenfell Inquiry website
Many of the recommendations in the Phase 1 report relate to the
fire service but also included are a number of significant
recommendations for owners of high-rise buildings.
Key among the recommendations for owners and managers of
high-rise buildings are:
- The development of national guidelines for carrying out partial
or total evacuations of high-rise buildings - including protecting
fire access routes and procedures for evacuating people who require
assistance.
- Owners and managers of high-rise buildings should be required
to draw up and keep under review evacuation plans, with copies
provided to local fire and rescue services and placed in an
information box on the premises.
- All high-rise buildings should be equipped with facilities to
enable the sending of an evacuation signal to the whole or a
selected part of the building.
- Owners and managers of high-rise buildings should be required
to draw up personal evacuation plans for residents who may struggle
to self-evacuate with information about them stored in the
premise's information box.
- Fire services should be equipped with smoke hoods to help
evacuate residents down smoke-filled stairs.
- An urgent inspection of fire doors in all buildings containing
separate dwellings, whether or not they are high-rise buildings and
a legal requirement on the owner or manager of these buildings to
inspect fire doors at least every three months to ensure
self-closing devices are working effectively.
- All high-rise buildings should have floor numbers clearly
marked in a prominent place, which would be visible in low light or
smoky conditions in a means that all residents can understand.
- Owners and managers of high-rise building should be required by
law to carry out regular inspections of any lift required for use
by firefighters and the mechanism that allows them to take control
of lifts.
- Owners and managers of high-rise building should be required to
provide details of external walls and materials used to the local
fire service, and inform them of any changes to ensure that fire
services personnel at all levels understand the risk of cladding
fires.
- The Inquiry Chair decided not to issue a recommendation that
individual flats be provided with fire extinguishers or fire
blankets; and
- At this stage, although noting the recommendation from the
coroner investigating the Lakanal House fire that the use of
sprinklers be encouraged, the Report makes no recommendations at
this stage on the retro-fitting of sprinklers but the Inquiry Chair
said he would consider the matter in phase two of the Inquiry.
Copies of the report were laid before Parliament and the
findings of the Phase 1 report were discussed on 30 October in a
debate led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson who promised that a
further debate would be scheduled at the earliest opportunity after
the forthcoming General Election.
In the Prime Minister's statement to Parliament on
the Grenfell Phase 1 Report, the Prime Minister
confirmed that the Government intends to accept in principle all of
the recommendations that the Inquiry makes of central government
and where Sir Martin recommends responsibility for fire safety be
taken on by central Government, the Government will legislate
accordingly.
In responding to the debate in Parliament, Housing
Secretary Robert Jenrick said that the Government will be taking
forward a social housing White Paper as "an important step in
providing security and dignity to individuals who feel that they
have not been listened to and that their views are not respected."