Final Grenfell report to be released in autumn

Grenfell tower hoardingImage source, PA
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Grenfell United said it waits in anticipation of the report's findings

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The Grenfell Inquiry has said its final report will be published in the autumn.

The inquiry has written to core participants stating that the Phase 2 report will be published on 4 September 2024.

It comes as the Met Police and Crown Prosecution Service said no charges would be announced until late 2026 at the earliest due to the "complexity" of the inquiry.

Grenfell United said: "We said 10 years until justice only yesterday, and today's update has confirmed that. We now have a long awaited date for publication and wait in anticipation of the findings."

The second phase of the inquiry will be published on 4 September and will examine how the tower block came to be in a condition that allowed the fire to spread. The final hearing for this phase of the inquiry took place in November 2022.

The report into phase one focused on the factual narrative of the events on the night of the blaze. It was published in October 2019.

It concluded the tower's cladding did not comply with building regulations and was the "principal" reason for the rapid and "profoundly shocking" spread of the blaze.

Image source, PA
Image caption,

The fire in June 2017 claimed the lives of 72 people

"When the report is finally released, we need to know that Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s recommendations will be implemented by the new government in power," the bereaved families and survivors group said.

"Nearly five years since the publication of the first report, the Tory government has failed to implement four of the phase one recommendations.

"The Public Inquiry phase two report will hopefully give us the truth we deserve, but it needs to bring the change we so desperately need to see.

"This change is the legacy for our loved ones. And to ensure no one suffers like us."

The Department for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities said: "We are grateful to Sir Martin for the important work of his Inquiry and will carefully consider his final report and recommendations.

"We will never forget the 72 lives lost at Grenfell and remain absolutely committed to securing justice for the bereaved, survivors and the wider community."

The government added that of the 15 recommendations recommended to government in Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, it had completed 11 and work was ongoing with the remaining four.

It said it had also introduced the Building Safety Act, which had brought in "tough new building safety standards".

The police investigation, codenamed Operation Northleigh, has been under way for nearly seven years alongside the two-part public inquiry.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy has said the Met has "one chance" to get the investigation right and they "owe that to those who lost their lives" in the fire.

The investigation has become increasingly complex as the Metropolitan Police considers the web of 19 organisations and companies as well as 58 individuals involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower before the fire which killed 72 people in June 2017.

Officers have gathered more than 27,000 pieces of evidence from the tower itself.

Mr Cundy said he accepted it was "a long time" to wait for justice, but rushing the investigation and making mistakes would be "a worse case scenario".

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