The findings and recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 were discussed at length by members of the House of Lords on Friday 22 November 2024, with many sharing their frustrations about the government’s slow pace of fire safety remediation
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG), Lord Khan of Burnley led the debate, stating it was “abundantly clear that far too many buildings remain unsafe”.
Citing the latest government data on building safety remediation (October 2024), he said that of the 4,834 residential buildings 11 metres and more in height identified with unsafe cladding, 50 % had either started or completed remediation works.
“We must go further, faster,” Lord Khan said. “Investment in remediation will rise to over £1 billion in 2025-26, and we have previously committed to accelerating the pace of remediation through targeted measures. I am pleased to say that more on this will be outlined imminently.”
Referring to Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s report, Lord Khan commented on “a disappointing lack of remorse, apology or accountability from the organisations and individuals who failed in their duties”, with owners and developers now “dragging their heels in…making their buildings safe”.
“We have seen that poor culture and a lack of integrity in our fire and rescue services lead to operational incompetence and thereby risk public safety. We must also acknowledge the impact of the failures in the fire safety industry. Collective action is imperative to raise standards in key roles, such as fire risk assessors, and to ensure that there is sufficient oversight of safety-critical work,” he said.
Lord Khan also outlined recent measures taken by the government: “I can confirm that the Cabinet Office has sent preliminary letters to companies named in the inquiry. For those found by the inquiry to have been part of these horrific failings, this is the first step in stopping them being awarded government contracts.”
He added that the new “competence and conduct regulatory standard for social housing staff” should extend to all housing and all residents and that “our aim must be to support a more accountable, resident-centred housing system”.
“Independent reforms have been made since 2017, but we must go further,” he reiterated. “I am sure that noble Lords will agree that this Government, the emergency services that serve to protect us, and those who build and maintain our homes must work together to create a fully modernised fire and rescue service and an effective, vibrant, innovative and, above all, safe housing sector, not just for now but for future generations to come.”
Baroness Sanderson of Welton spoke of a need for a “formal monitoring of the implementation of inquiry recommendations”, noting Sir Martin’s recommendation for it to be made a legal requirement for the government to “maintain a publicly accessible record of recommendations made by select committees, coroners and public inquiries, together with a description of the steps taken in response”.
She also spoke about the need to bring the responsibility for fire and safety into one department and under one secretary of state: “Of all Sir Martin’s recommendations, my personal view is that this would be one of the hardest to implement. Government is not good at overcoming silos, and there is specialist knowledge particular to each department, which is why they each hold certain responsibilities. That said, given the comprehensive way in which the system failed, this would not only address some important practical issues but help to re-establish what should have been a given but which somehow got lost along the years—that fire safety really matters,” Baroness Sanderson said.
Lord Porter of Spalding said: “The victims will not see justice until people are in a criminal court facing manslaughter charges. Only then will the victims get the justice they deserve. It has taken far too long to get to this stage. I honestly believe that, part way through the inquiry period, the criminal case should have been running in a parallel process, because the people who suffered need to get justice, and the only way that that justice will be delivered is when somebody has their liberty taken away from them.”
He later added: “I have worked on a building site for most of my working life. I did a proper job: I was a brickie by trade. If we worked on a building site in the winter and the sand was frozen, which happens in English winters, we would chuck pallets into the sand heap and light them, to help pour the sand out. We used offcuts of insulation as firestarters—it is solid petrol, so it burns really well. That was not a secret—everybody knew that—yet we were still allowing people to put it on buildings.”
Baroness Pidgeon recalled the recently published National Audit Office (NAO) report, which estimates between 9,000 and 12,000 residential buildings over 11 metres in need of remediation work. Up to 60% of these buildings have yet to be identified by the government.
“I think it is clear to us all that the scale of the cladding and wider fire safety crisis is far greater than we first thought,” she noted.
Also commenting on the NAO report was the Earl of Lytton, who said: “We have inadequate information on residential block types and their construction risks, despite the seven years we have had to collect that data in detail. We do not account properly. The NAO report earlier this month does not take any account of non-cladding defects, which the House of Commons committee has heard are likely to be equal in scale and cost to the cladding defects. If you are talking about the budget for fixing cladding, you may need to double that figure for the rest of what needs doing.
“We are doing nothing about buildings below 11 metres. We do not even know how many there are, how they are constructed or what the risks are.”
Baroness Brinton touched on evacuation strategies for vulnerable residents, including personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs), calling the government’s response to several public consultations on this topic “very slow, with no firm date in sight”:
“Speaking as a disabled person, I say that one of the areas that most worried me was that 40% of the disabled residents in Grenfell Tower died,” she told the House.
In response, Lord Khan said that “we must ensure that the most vulnerable in our society are protected”, adding that the Home Office would “soon bring forward proposals”, including a “person-centred risk assessment” to identify “appropriate equipment and adjustments to aid their fire safety and evacuation”.
Closing the debate, he said: “This government will imminently set out plans to increase the pace of remediation, protect leaseholders from additional costs, and ensure that those who are responsible for the building safety crisis pay to help put it right.”
You can watch the debate here.
You can access the full transcript here.