Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is a British public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people and destroyed Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. To date the inquiry has been running for seven years since it was set up in 2017 and has disclosed over 320,000 documents to core participants, received over 1,600 witness statements, and held more than 300 public hearings. More than 530 individuals and organisations have been granted core participant status which it is believed to be the largest number accredited to a public inquiry in the UK.

The inquiry was divided into two phases, in general, phase 1 covering what happened on the night of the fire, and phase 2 covering how and why it happened. The phase 1 report from the inquiry was published at the end of 2019, and whilst the Pase 2 report has suffered a number of delays, the hearings for the second phase were finally closed on May 22, 2024 and the final report, was published on Wednesday September 4, 2024.

Also on May 22, Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Cundy said the release of the report is likely to delay being able to consider charges, as time will be needed to consider the final findings of the public inquiry into the disaster and the complexity of the investigation. The Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service officially said no charges would be announced until late 2026 at the earliest because of the increasing “scale and complexity” of the inquiry. Though nineteen companies and organisations are currently under investigation, along with 58 individuals over the disaster, it was confirmed that it is unlikely that any defendants would appear in court before 2027, if there are prosecutions.

Terms of Reference of the inquiry included the recommendation of measures to be taken in response to deficiencies found to exist in the matters under investigation, these were grouped in the Phase 2 report by reference to the subject matter under five headings: The construction industry, Social housing providers, The London Fire Brigade, Response and recovery and Vulnerable people. A detailed study of the issues relating to construction and the associated recommendations can be found in the article the Grenfell phase 2 final report recommendations for the construction industry, whilst a summary of the issued and the recommendations can be found in the article Grenfell Phase 2 final report for construction at a glance.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry website was set up to provide the latest information on the Grenfell Inquiry, including details of hearings, evidence and how to contact the inquiry team and continues to be available as a valuable source of information to visit the website use the following link:www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk/.