Bereaved Grenfell Tower families hope for prosecutions from inquiry findings

The final report on the fire in 2017 is being published, opening the way for a new phase in the aftermath of the disaster

Grenfell Tower in west London. PA Wire

Families of victims of the Grenfell Tower fire were presented the final findings of a government investigation into the blaze on Tuesday, seven years after they made calls for those responsible to be held to account.

The report, being made public on Wednesday, is the second and final instalment of the years-long Grenfell inquiry. The judge-led panel has sought to establish how a small fire in an apartment of the 24-storey tower block in West London had spread so quickly, killing 72 residents. Those who received the report were asked not to talk about it before its official publication.

Bereaved families and those displaced by the fire will be able to start criminal prosecutions, which had been put on hold until the inquiry's end. Part of the blame is expected to land on the government and local council authorities, who were previously accused of not implementing new regulation that emerged from earlier tower block blazes in 1991 and 2009.

Just a week ago another fire broke out in a tower block in East London, renewing calls for better building safety. Campaigners also say there has been little progress in removing the highly combustible cladding aluminium composite (ACM) panels, which were banned after they were found to have been used in the Grenfell Tower.

Hundreds of residents were trapped during the blaze, which had torched the building within a couple of hours. The initial advice for residents to stay in their apartments from firefighters proved fatal for dozens. Highly combustible cladding and insulation materials used during the building’s refurbishment in 2016 were blamed for the fire’s rapid spread.

The first report published in 2019 had named the private companies, government and local council authorities behind the decisions that led to highly flammable material being used on the building. The report’s findings tomorrow are expected to cut through the web of blame.

In the initial report, cladding firm Arconic was found to have rigged fire tests, knowing its product was highly combustible, while insulation manufacturer Celotex had hidden the presence of poor quality material. Building materials company Kingspan had sold the insulation products for use on high-rise buildings without adequate fire tests.

The report found that the government and the council had “failed to act” on recommendations from the coroner of a 2009 housing block fire in South London. The council appointed an “inexperienced” building control officer who had not worked on residential high rises before.

Mohammed Al Hajali, who had fled Syria in 2014 and lived with his brothers in the building, was among those killed. His brother Omar described how firefighters repeatedly told them to stay in their apartments as the fire raged.

“Mohammad and I moved to the UK from Syria to be safe. I still do not understand how such a dangerous building could exist in the UK. I want change to happen and I want people who were responsible for the fire at Grenfell to be honest and to be held to account,” he told the Inquiry in 2020.