Inspection of the London Fire Brigade’s progress to implement the recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 1 report
On 14 June 2017, a fire at Grenfell Tower, a high-rise residential building in North Kensington, West London, cost 72 lives. On 15 June 2017, the then Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Theresa May MP, announced a public inquiry into the causes of the fire. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry was set up to examine the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire.
In August 2020, the Home Secretary commissioned HMICFRS to review how the London Fire Brigade was progressing with its plan to implement the recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report. The inquiry published its report on 30 October 2019. Our report, just over one year later, shows the public how well we think the London Fire Brigade has responded.
Our terms of reference included commenting on the extent to which:
- the governance arrangements put in place by the commissioner of the brigade were effective at ensuring progress against the action plan for delivering the recommendations; and
- the brigade had made progress with each of the in-scope recommendations in the action plan.
We are encouraged by the progress the brigade has started to make over the past year. Clearly, there has been a sustained focus and effort on understanding the lessons from the fire and acting where the inquiry recommended it should.
It is impossible to judge progress over the past year without recognising the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. We were impressed by the brigade’s preparedness for, and response to, the pandemic. However, the brigade has told us that Covid-19 has affected its ability to make some of the planned improvements. And there is still a huge amount of work for the brigade to do.
Get the report
Get the press release
London Fire Brigade must do more to fully address failings from Grenfell
Find out more about the Grenfell Tower Inquiry
Inspection of the London Fire Brigade response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry