Grenfell Tower Inquiry & Government response - Florence Eshalomi, Housing Committee Chair comment

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• Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Chair comment

Florence Eshalomi, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, said: “I welcome the Government’s announcement today that they accept the findings of the Grenfell Tower inquiry report and will take forward its recommendations.

The tragedy at Grenfell exposed numerous systematic failings in a wide range of areas, in building and product standards and testing, fire safety, and within central government and at local authority level, which must be addressed. Grenfell also highlighted the underlying issue of the stigma faced by those living in social housing, where their concerns were too often cruelly neglected and ignored. This culture must change, and the Government should set out what they will do to ensure that social housing tenants are dealt with respectfully and their complaints responded to.

“It should not be forgotten that many of the victims of the fire at the Grenfell Tower were disabled people. To help ensure such a tragedy is not repeated, it is vitally important the Government addresses the issue of Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) for disabled people. The Government needs to set out how residential PEEPs will be made enforceable and how they will ensure disabled people in the private rented sector have the same access to PEEPs as those in social housing.

“The Government’s announcement that they will create a single construction regulator, and a Chief Construction Adviser is welcome. The HCLG Committee looks forward to examining the detail of the Government’s plans later this year.

“The HCLG Committee will be holding a short inquiry to undertake an initial examination of the Government’s response to the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations and to explore progress on the wider programme of work around building and fire safety and remediation.”

Evidence session

The HCLG Committee expects to hold two evidence sessions for the short inquiry on Grenfell and building safety, with the first evidence session expected to be held on the morning of Tuesday 18 March.

Witness details will be confirmed in due course.

The evidence sessions are expected to look at the future of the tower site and the community memorial, the Government’s remediation acceleration plan, and measures on fire safety and evacuation.

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