Published: Wednesday 29 May 2019
A Kensington and Chelsea Council spokesperson said:
“As we made clear in our opening statement to the inquiry, the budget for the Grenfell Tower refurbishment was increased on the two occasions that the council’s lead members were asked to increase it – from £6m to £9.7m, and then again to £10.3m.
“We hope the Public Inquiry and ongoing police investigation will get to the bottom of why cladding assessed as unlikely to comply with the Building Regulations was put on at least 400 buildings nationwide, according to the Government’s latest data release.
“Whilst we must let the Public Inquiry and police investigations determine what went wrong, we can say that no one at RBKC would have intentionally put lives at risk and no one at the council foresaw the tragedy that would unfold. To report anything to the contrary would be simply wrong.”
On housing and property
A council spokesperson added: “Councils do not make money – from property acquisitions or otherwise. And officers at the council worked to their understanding of the HRA and capital spending rules and regulations and worked to increase the amount of housing in the borough, and improve the quality of housing in the borough.
“We continue to look at ways we can do this, but we have already openly acknowledged that the property agenda was too focused on commercial matters when there should also have been more attention to other objectives, particularly affordable homes and social value. As outlined to the Huffington Post already, we are changing the way we work and we believe recent decisions and efforts around important community buildings demonstrate these commitments.”