Published: Wednesday 2 October 2024
In her open letter to bereaved and survivors after the publication of the final Grenfell Tower Inquiry report on Wednesday 4 September 2024, the Leader of the Council fully accepted the report’s findings and apologised unreservedly for the Council’s failure to listen to residents and to protect them.
The Inquiry highlighted that many other organisations and companies failed the residents of Grenfell Tower and contributed to the tragedy. That does not diminish the Council’s own role and its own failings. We could, and should, have done more to keep people safe in their homes and to care for people in the aftermath of the fire.
At this point it is now necessary for the Council to update further on the legal processes surrounding the recovery of public money from companies involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower and the subsequent inquiry.
This update is not connected to the inquiry timeline or the timing of the publication of the final report, but connected to the end of a legal standstill process that has been underway for a number of years and is now coming to an end. A standstill is a voluntary arrangement reached between two parties involved in a dispute.
The Council is in a process of claiming against some of the companies involved to recover some of these costs in Civil Courts. Given the nature of these legal proceedings it would not be appropriate for the Council to comment on specific detail, but, in line with our commitments on transparency and candour we wanted our residents to be aware of the steps we are taking and hear it from us first.
As is well documented, the Council spent significant amounts of public money on the response to the Grenfell tragedy, to try and support the bereaved, survivors and immediate community. This includes the costs of rehousing, financial assistance, and the subsequent payment of compensation. It is not known if recovering these costs will be fully successful, but any money received back will go towards these costs.
The Council has always sought to limit any financial impacts of the tragedy on taxpayers, and further information will be shared with residents throughout this process, which is likely to take many years from this point.
Our thoughts will always be with the bereaved, survivors and our communities and we are determined to continue the improvement in culture and services here at the Council, in light of Grenfell.