Londoners will never forget the 72 innocent lives that were lost in the Grenfell Tower fire seven years ago.
This was an unimaginable tragedy in the heart of our city and the biggest loss of life in a residential fire since the Second World War. A night of shame for Britain that left physical and emotional scars that may never heal as a community was fatally let down.
The Prime Minister has apologised to the Grenfell community for the failures of successive governments that led to the disaster. And the “systematic dishonesty” Sir Martin Moore-Bick identifies in his report by those firms that made and sold the cladding panels and insulation products that were fitted to the tower is truly appalling.
But we know that no words of ours can hope to assuage the grief and loss endured by the survivors, bereaved and residents who have waited too long for the change and justice they deserve.
The Grenfell Fire Inquiry report marks a significant moment in understanding what happened and why. Its findings are devastating.
As Sir Martin stated: “The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable, and that those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years and in a number of different ways.”
The report reveals a terrible culture within an industry in the years leading up to the tragedy — those who build and maintain our homes — of putting profit before people and where safety took the back seat. And it shows a building safety system that was fundamentally broken, with baked-in deficiencies that went unchallenged by different governments — leaving too many buildings with unsafe cladding, and a pace of remediation that was too slow. The consequences of those failures are still being felt today.
When Angela Rayner and I visited the scene of the block of flats devastated by fire in Dagenham only last week, we saw and heard about the dangers many residents continue to face. As an MP for an east London constituency with among the most cladded high-rise blocks in the country, I have long campaigned for urgent remediation of affected buildings.
Now, as minister for building safety, I have the opportunity to work in lockstep with the deputy prime minister to drive change across the industry further and faster.
We will bring the full power of government to bear on this task. We will consider the report closely to progress its recommendations and we will respond in full to the inquiry’s recommendations within six months.
Progress has been made since 2017 — and we supported the last government’s work to improve the system to make today’s homes safer. What this report also reveals is the need for further reform to drive a stronger culture of safety throughout the system, from top to bottom. But what is clear is that the speed of work to fix unsafe cladding has been too slow. Since coming into office, we have met with regulators and other industry partners to press for urgent action to make buildings safe. And our message to building owners is clear.
The funding is there — with the government investing £5.1 billion to remove dangerous cladding and industry providing the rest.
All single blocks of residential flats above 11 metres now have access to a scheme to fix unsafe cladding, and qualifying leaseholders are protected by law from crippling bills for historical safety defects. There is no excuse for a building owner to not enter a cladding scheme they are eligible for.
Any owners who fails to do so, will be held to account. We will not sit by while you fail to act. As the Prime Minister said yesterday, we are willing to force freeholders to assess their buildings and enter remediation schemes within set timetables — with a legal requirement to force action. We also expect developers and social housing providers to accelerate remediation of buildings. I will be meeting with key players to agree action to do so.
Meanwhile, we will support the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service as they complete their investigations and bring prosecutions.
We will use the findings of the Grenfell Inquiry as a catalyst for change.
