Council commits to drive up standards in response to Grenfell Inquiry report

The Council has committed to driving up professional standards and resetting the power imbalance between residents and the Council, following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry's phase two report. The Council has already accepted the Inquiry's findings, which included that the Council's Building Control department failed to perform its statutory function of ensuring that the design of the Grenfell Tower refurbishment complied with building regulations.

It also found significant failings in the way the Council responded in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, in leadership and governance and a breakdown in its relationship with residents.

Since September, through public meetings, drop-in sessions and in writing, bereaved, survivors and residents have provided their views on how the Council should respond to the Inquiry. Public meetings have been independently facilitated by the Right Reverand James Jones KBE.

What actions are in the Council's response?

The Council's response comes 12 weeks after the Inquiry report was published and includes:

• commissioning a review of the culture within the Council, examining questions of discrimination and how residents are treated.
• an end-to-end review of the complaints process. 
• establishing an independent advisory panel of bereaved family members, survivors and residents alongside independent experts in social housing, safety, customer service and organisational change.   
• extending an existing ban on contractors implicated in the Grenfell Inquiry.
• setting up a new corporate resident procurement panel to give residents a genuine voice in selecting and managing contracts, with training provided. 
• supporting 100 per cent of staff in building control to complete professional accreditation and training. 
• training staff to regard resilience and emergency response as part of their core responsibilities and including specific resilience responsibilities in all senior officer job descriptions. 

What has changed at the Council since 2017?

• We brought housing services back in house to build a more direct relationship with residents.
• We have strengthened our resilience team, working with communities to ensure we are better prepared for emergencies.
• We have put safety at the heart of our £374m capital programme with a dedicated in-house fire safety team.
• We have implemented the Phase 1 recommendations from the Inquiry report.

Read the response in full, on the Council's committee pages.

See the Leader's speech to Full Council on Wednesday 27 November.