Consultation process proving ‘time consuming’ says Inquiry

In its latest update, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry team says that the process of writing to those who ‘may be subject to criticism’ in the phase two report is ‘time consuming’ and means that the report won’t be seen until June 2024 at the very earliest.

Commonly known as Maxwellisation, the process of writing to people is set out in rule 13 of the Inquiry Rules. The Inquiry has already written to those involved with the refurbishment of the Tower, local and central government as well as London Fire Brigade.

The Inquiry team says that many chapters are complete but work continues on those relating to products, certification, the Tenant Management Organisation and ‘experimental work conducted by some of the Inquiry’s expert witnesses.

Explaining why the process is taking so long, the Inquiry team said that they have to give recipients time to respond and then more time to consider if the response affects their drafting. ‘Nonetheless, we are probably over half-way through the process, having sent out over one hundred letters so far.’

The Inquiry team said it hoped to send the report to the Prime Minister before the next anniversary – seven years after the fire in west London that claimed 72 lives.

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