Following the Government's acceptance of all the findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry on 26 February 2025, it agreed to take action to deliver the 58 recommendations. The aim - to build a more robust and trusted regulatory system to deliver quality safe homes for all.
In the first progress report to be published yesterday, it was confirmed that 1 of the 58 recommendations has been completed and the remaining 57 are in progress. Given the nature of some of the recommendations, which will require the undertaking of significant work (including consultations and legislative changes), it is not surprising that in the first three months much remains to be achieved.
It is expected that the wholesale changes required by some of the recommendations will take in the region of four years to be completed. The next report, which will be published in the September, will include an overall timeline for implementation and delivery. This will allow observers to measure the performance of those involved in the reforms and will hopefully provide a level of accountability for the Government and other involved parties.
In terms of the recommendation which has been achieved – number 57 focused on casualty bureaus. A casualty bureau is the central point where all information related to an incident is received, collated, and assessed. The recommendation required that these are described in a way that makes it clear that they do not provide information to the public about people affected by the emergency.
Whilst it has been decided that the name will remain the same, the National Police Chiefs Council has worked to update the standard operating procedures and will monitor delivery of those procedures. Further, work has been undertaken to better communicate the functions of a casualty bureau especially when they are deploy following critical incidents.
It is noted that this work had been commenced before the Government committed to deliver the Grenfell recommendations as it had also been recommended by the Kerslake independent review of the Manchester Arena bombing.
Finally, the Government has committed to publishing progress reports quarterly until all 58 recommendations has been implemented. The first report can be accessed here: Grenfell Tower Inquiry Government Progress Report
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