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A Grenfell task force says it’s concerned that change at the council is still far too slow

Concerns have been raised about the pace of change, culture and quality of relationships Kensington and Chelsea Council has with those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

A task force, brought in by the government after the fatal fire nearly three years ago, said it was pleased that the council has made progress but said some residents and community groups said they their reception was “ill-considered or brusque”.

However, its fifth report – released just as councils throughout the country face their biggest test since Grenfell – said things were still not happening fast enough. 

The task force team which comprises of Aftab Chughtai, who chairs independent advisers to West Midlands police, Barnado’s chief executive Javed Khan, former Wiltshire council leader, Baroness Jane Scott and former councils housing director, Chris Wood, said more needs to be done.

“We remain concerned about the pace of change; the culture across the council; and the quality of the relationship with the bereaved and survivors and the wider affected community. Consequently, we remain unable to give you unequivocal assurance that RBKC is effectively delivering a recovery for the bereaved and survivors and the wider community in north Kensington.”

And they said: “We have noticed that the ‘law of diminishing returns’ has now come into play. After two-and-a-half years the support and challenge we provide to RBKC is sometimes welcome and sometimes not.”

Their report found:

*There’s been an improvement in clear written operational plans – but plans vary in quality

*Progress in developing “a convincing” housing policy which was praised for its ambition, including building 600 new homes – but “painfully slow” rehousing of last few households with complex issues, who were made homeless by the fire

There was still one household in a hotel, with six households in temporary homes and 194 of the 201 families now in permanent new homes, according to the latest figures

*A review of communications – with targeted information for the north Kensington community around Grenfell

*Better management of Grenfell recovery with “substantial improvement” since last summer 

*”Growing self awareness” of the council’s abilities – but called for more assurances that staff are supported and leaders are looking at stability at the council after “a lot of churn” recently

*Addressing the hostility and distrust some residents feel.

*It welcomed the new community assemblies, Grenfell project days and new community officers.

*However the commissioners said: “This issue has not been addressed with the urgency that we had hoped. The relationship with the wider community, by now, should be stronger than it currently appears to be. We continue to hear reports from community groups and individuals of cases where their reception by the council is either ill-considered or brusque.”

*The task force said their concerns “are about the culture of the council as a whole specifically and the ability of councillors and staff to make the most of every interaction.”

* It welcomed beefed up systems to “drive delivery” of services, with a monthly board meeting keeping an eye on progress and new senior posts in housing, communities, Grenfell partnerships, social investment, and planning and place.

However the task force said “Too often we have seen milestones being put back or taking longer than planned to deliver and the council putting forward reasons why it cannot do something rather than what it will do.”

They called on council bosses to change this “can’t do” approach.

“We would urge greater challenge from the senior Leadership where a “can’t do” attitude is expressed.

*The task force criticised the “unpopular” move to end the Grenfell recovery scrutiny committee in July and share its role of holding the council to account amongst its select committees.

The council also set up Grenfell assemblies in its place in north Kensington and the first one discussed health issues.

The task force team said: “We consider it was premature to remove the specific Grenfell Scrutiny committee and embed scrutiny of Grenfell Recovery in other Scrutiny select committees.

“ It would have been better to make sure the Public Assemblies were well established before changing the Grenfell Scrutiny arrangements.” 

Nabil Choucair who lost six family members in the fire and begged the council not to scrap the dedicated committee said: “One of the worst things they have ever done is getting rid of the scrutiny committee. That was something for everybody to look at and scrutinise everything.”

Mr Choucair has campaigned together with other bereaved and survivors for improved fire safety measures after his mother Sirria, sister Nadia, brother-in-law Bassem and his three young nieces Mierna, Fatima and Zainab, died on the 22nd floor of Grenfell Tower.

Resident Joe Delaney, who sat on the Grenfell recovery scrutiny committee said “The council continues to demand being judged for intentions rather than actions.”

The task force put the quality of leadership under the microscope and said change is a “difficult, challenging and long-term goal”. It urged the authority to keep its foot on the pedal.

The council’s deputy leader Kim Taylor Smith, who is lead member for Grenfell and housing said: “We are pleased to see that the progress against all recommendations has been recognised.”

He said the task force had noted that the council is setting its own bar very high.

He acknowledged that the task force was concerned about the pace of change and added: “It is important to stress that the Council is making progress right across the board. We are improving all services, not just the Grenfell recovery effort and officers are currently doing a superb job, working with communities, on our response to the Covid 19 challenge.”

Kensington’s Conservative MP, Felicity Buchan, said she would be closely monitoring developments and holding the council to account.

She said the task force found that the council had made progress “across the board, in particular on housing strategy.”

But she said: “Some challenges remain, inevitably with regard to improving relationships with the wider community given the scale of the tragedy.”

Ms Buchan said the Grenfell Projects Fund days held this winter where the community voted to distribute council cash for projects was a good example of new ways the authority “is working with and empowering the local community”. 

The Labour opposition said; “Almost three years since the tragedy, the Independent Grenfell Taskforce has assessed that RBKC is still not delivering a recovery that befits the needs of the bereaved, survivors and the wider community in North Kensington. The report, which includes comments on its revised governance and scrutiny arrangements, states the process continues with ‘uncertainty’, ‘disappointment’ and ‘missed opportunities’.”

And opposition leader Pat Mason said: “‘In the context of this fifth damning report, we are seriously concerned about the council’s ability to respond adequately to the Major Covid-19 Emergency the government has declared.”

Yvette Williams from campaigning group Justice 4 Grenfell, said more needs to be done and a change in thinking is still needed.

“This will never happen with just a suite of new written policies and governance arrangements; real change and a faster pace will only happen when the leadership has the personal and political will to do so.”

She added: “The goal is to change what they think about and how they value our community.”

https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/kensington-chelsea-council-been-painfully-18007565

We at the Justice4Grenfell send a message of love to all Mums, wishing you a beautiful and blessed Mother’s Day.

We also stand in awe, love and remembrance of the mothers who lost their lives at the Grenfell Tower disaster.

  💚 FORVER IN OUR HEARTS 💚

The Competition

We are inviting members of the local community to produce a ‘creative display’ for the wall space situated outside Latimer Road Underground Station (see image of the space below).

This is aimed at being a community space so we would welcome a display that reflects or represents the local community but we are open to all ideas and themes. The work could take the form of any creative display such as (but not limited to) a drawing, painting, photograph, graphic (3D media), poetry, sculpture or short story.

All entries must comply with the guidelines TfL uses for its advertising policy which can be found at: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/tfl-advertisingpolicy-250219.pdf

The winner will have their work displayed at the front of the station for at least 12 months as well as another winner prize. There will also be a number of other runner-up prizes.

Guidelines for the competition

The work must be submitted as a hard copy, in sizes from A3 to A2, OR as a high-resolution (300 DPI) photograph of sculpture or other 3-D media.

The work will then be reproduced onto a vinyl panel measuring 2 metres by 5 metres and attached to the hoarding on the outside of the station (see image of the space below). Please note there will be no electricity or power available so any work using media will need to factor this in.

Work should be submitted to: TfL, c/o Ann Gavaghan, IIY2 Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, SE1 8NJ.

Please clearly mark your name and contact details on your work.

Work will be returned following judging, with the exception of the winning entry. The deadline for submissions is Sunday, 19 April 2020.

Judging

The work will be judged by a panel of the following:

• Representative from Justice4Grenfell
• Brenda Edwards MBE, a local resident
• The Area Manager for Latimer Road Underground station
• TfL’s Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Talent and Managing Director for London Underground
• A representative of TfL’s Art on the Underground programme

Winner

The winner’s work will be displayed at Latimer Road station for a period of at least 12 months. There will also be a prize for the winner as well as a number of other runner-up prizes.

The winner will retain all rights to their artwork, but by entering the competition will give TfL the permission to display it at its station.

Eligibility

The competition will be promoted to all members of the Notting Dale ward and those using Latimer Road Station. It is not open to those employed by Transport for London or the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

Questions

If you have any questions about the competition please contact Ann Gavaghan by email [email protected] or call

Background

In 2018 TfL engaged with a wide variety of local people in the North Kensington area, to gauge ideas for improvements to Latimer Road Underground Station. One of the suggestions made was around improving the aesthetics of the station and the possibility of involving the community in this.

We identified a site on the outside wall of the station which could be used as a space to present a ‘creative display’. This would help provide something for the community to own and to also help improve the aesthetics of the station which were both things people suggested to us.

Week 1

Resignation of Panel Member

Newly appointed member of the Grenfell Tower inquiry panel, Benita Mehra resigned just two days before the resumption of the inquiry.  Lawyers for more than 60 participants had urged her to quit.   It was revealed that Ms Mehra, a former president of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES), had received funding from the Arconic Foundation for an apprentice conference. Arconic sold the flammable cladding that covered Grenfell Tower.  Requests have been made to the Judge and the Cabinet office for a new panel member to appointed swiftly.

Corporates ‘apply for ‘immunity’.  LFB and FBU Integrity

There were groans from bereaved families and survivors after an 11th-hour application was lodged by some private companies.  Harley Facades, main contractor, Rydon,  Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation and architects Studio E  are asking chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick to write to Attorney General Geoffrey Cox QC asking for an undertaking that would stop any evidence staff gave being used against them in any future criminal proceedings.  The integrity of the Fire Brigade Union and the London Fire Service was applauded as they chose to give evidence with openness and transparency in Phase 1.

Request for Terms of reference to included institutional discrimination

In his opening statement Imran Khan QC, who represented the family of Stephen Lawrence, said the Grenfell inquiry should follow in the footsteps of the MacPherson inquiry into Stephen’s death in addressing the issue of institutional discrimination. He said Inquiry should review and broaden the terms of reference to examine whether the council and tenant management association were guilty of institutional discrimination on issues of race, religion and class. We also think that disability should be included.

Monday sees the start of Phase 2 of the Grenfell Inquiry. There is a new venue, two additional panel members and the same terms of reference as phase 1.  So will Phase 2 deliver justice and long term change for the better? We think not!

At the start of Phase 1 in December 2017, Deborah Coles, the director of Inquest, said:

 “Grenfell is a shocking injustice and the need for the inquiry to get to the truth is of value to us all. It can only do this if the individual voices of the bereaved and survivors are not lost and silenced. Recognising the bereaved as victims, placing them at the heart of the inquiry, is essential to help humanise the legal process.

“To assuage the profound anger and mistrust requires meaningful engagement of those affected, along with prompt, full and proper disclosure and a panel representative of the community. This can help instil confidence and encourage participation.”

Has the Inquiry listened and acted on this crucial piece of advice? No

The new venue is nearer to north Kensington, enabling a shorter distance to travel and avoiding travel on the underground, bereaved families and Survivors asked for this. However they also raised issues about conditions inside the building, including the lack of natural daylight, poor ventilation, and a claustrophobic room for the hearings.  The same complaints have been raised about the new venue.

After eleven months of lobbying, Theresa May agreed to appoint two additional ‘diverse’ panel members to sit alongside the Chair. There appeared to be some confusion on what a diverse panel entailed.  What was needed were panel members that understood diverse communities like North Kensington.  To understand the full reasons behind what happened at Grenfell Tower, it is important that the inquiry appreciated the social and cultural aspects of the community where it happened.  However, this was interpreted by the cabinet office as putting ‘black and brown’ faces on the panel.    This lack of understanding led to the appointment by PM Boris Johnson, of Benita Mehra, an engineer, who previously ran an organisation which received a £71,000 grant from the Arconic Foundation, the manufacturer’s philanthropic arm. Yes, Arconic who manufacture the highly combustible cladding panel system, that the first phase of the inquiry has already established were “the principal reason why the flames spread so rapidly up the building” causing the inferno. Did Cabinet Office officials not carry out due diligence in checking any concerns regarding Ms Mehra’s suitability for the panel?  It also appears that they did not fully brief the Prime minister either.  How does this severe lack of care and scrutiny, keep the bereaved and survivors at the heart of the inquiry? Within any other public sphere, this would be tantamount to non-verbal bullying. .  Ms Mehra has now resigned on the eve of the inquiry.  

There has been no review or refresh of the Inquiry’s terms of reference for Phase 2.  The full terms of reference for the public inquiry, accepted in full by the then prime minister, Theresa May, are:

• The cause and spread of the fire;
• The design, construction and refurbishment of Grenfell Tower;
• The scope and adequacy of the relevant regulations relating to high-rise buildings;
• Whether the relevant legislation and guidance were complied with in the case of Grenfell Tower; The actions of the local authority and other bodies before the tragedy;
• The response of the London Fire Brigade to the fire and the response of central and local government in the aftermath.

 Broader questions on social housing, working class communities, social inequality or institutional discrimination were not included.  Calls for the inquiry to broaden its terms of reference and include these issues fell on deaf ears.  This implicitly reveals their lack of interest, to know if these matters played any part in the events surrounding the fire at Grenfell.  Moreover, there is no obligation for the Inquiry panel to make recommendations on vital changes for our communities in the future.

If you do not keep ‘people’ at the heart of it, then you lose touch with what the inquiry’s paramount role is. This is the litmus test of any Pubic Inquiry.  Inquiries are the responsibility of the government; that they did not listen and act once is unfortunate, to not listen and act twice is careless, thereafter we can only conclude that their consistent inertia is deliberate and belligerent.   Seventy-two men, women and children perished at Grenfell and our community has continued to make demands; we want the truth, we want accountability, we want answers, we want changes in our society to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. The consistent Institutional indifference shown by the local authority (RBKC) and the tenant management organisation to the former residents during the refurbishment of the Tower; appears to be also permeating through the Inquiry’s attitudes. When will they listen to the voices of those most affected? In the words of Deborah Coles, ‘without this (their voices) the inquiry will be flawed and will fail those seeking the truth and justice they deserve.’ We agree.