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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/30/the-guardian-view-on-grenfell-tower-more-heads-must-roll
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| The Guardian view on Grenfell Tower: more heads must roll | The Guardian view on Grenfell Tower: more heads must roll |
| (11 days later) | |
| Kensington and Chelsea’s political and administrative leadership failed in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. In the days after the deadly fire – which has now claimed 80 lives – so cack-handed and chaotic was the council response that responsibilty for taking care of the survivors was handed over to a central government-appointed team of London’s council chiefs. Kensington and Chelsea’s own chief executive Nicholas Holgate only went after the communities secretary intervened to tell him to go. Mr Holgate seems to have thought he should have been allowed to continue collecting his £15,000-a-month pay cheque despite appearing useless in an emergency. Kensington council leader Nick Paget-Brown disgracefully suggested sprinklers were not fitted during the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower because residents did not want the disruption. His attempt to block journalists from a council meeting which he shut down when the courts forced him to hold it with the media present was shameful. It’s unbelievable it took No 10 to intervene before Mr Paget-Brown went. | Kensington and Chelsea’s political and administrative leadership failed in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. In the days after the deadly fire – which has now claimed 80 lives – so cack-handed and chaotic was the council response that responsibilty for taking care of the survivors was handed over to a central government-appointed team of London’s council chiefs. Kensington and Chelsea’s own chief executive Nicholas Holgate only went after the communities secretary intervened to tell him to go. Mr Holgate seems to have thought he should have been allowed to continue collecting his £15,000-a-month pay cheque despite appearing useless in an emergency. Kensington council leader Nick Paget-Brown disgracefully suggested sprinklers were not fitted during the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower because residents did not want the disruption. His attempt to block journalists from a council meeting which he shut down when the courts forced him to hold it with the media present was shameful. It’s unbelievable it took No 10 to intervene before Mr Paget-Brown went. |
| Grenfell Tower is a catastrophe at the heart of the country’s capital and after two weeks the council cannot get a grip on the situation. It’s good news that the chief executive of the company that managed the Grenfell Tower resigned – but it should just be a prelude to the removal of the rest of the council leadership on whose behalf he operated. Given the acute need in the borough to heal divisions, reassure residents and provide long-term services to victims, the time has come for central government to relieve Tory councillors of duties they patently cannot fulfil. It seems clear that local politicians, including deputy leader Rock Feilding-Mellen, who chaired the council’s housing committee and oversaw the refurbishment of the 24-storey block, are perhaps too consumed with the questions of responsibility – such as did cost-cutting play a part in the disaster – that the fire raises. There may be plenty more prodding from a public inquiry, police investigations into potential criminal offences, inquests into the deaths and potentially a slew of civil claims. | Grenfell Tower is a catastrophe at the heart of the country’s capital and after two weeks the council cannot get a grip on the situation. It’s good news that the chief executive of the company that managed the Grenfell Tower resigned – but it should just be a prelude to the removal of the rest of the council leadership on whose behalf he operated. Given the acute need in the borough to heal divisions, reassure residents and provide long-term services to victims, the time has come for central government to relieve Tory councillors of duties they patently cannot fulfil. It seems clear that local politicians, including deputy leader Rock Feilding-Mellen, who chaired the council’s housing committee and oversaw the refurbishment of the 24-storey block, are perhaps too consumed with the questions of responsibility – such as did cost-cutting play a part in the disaster – that the fire raises. There may be plenty more prodding from a public inquiry, police investigations into potential criminal offences, inquests into the deaths and potentially a slew of civil claims. |
| The local authority needs a heightened sense of clarity about its operations, accounting and prospects. At present it is aloof and inscrutable. Ministers should put the council into special measures and send in a new team to take over its running. The London mayor could play a part. Ministers should disband the failed tri-borough experiment which has seen a raft of highly paid council bosses but apparently not enough staff underneath them to ensure residents don’t lose tenancy rights or have their immigration status probed. In recasting the character of the council, one has to wonder what Kensington thinks it was doing building up £274m of reserves and offering rebates to residents paying the top rate of council tax. With residents of tower blocks across London facing being turfed out because of fire risks, perhaps Kensington could spend the money buying up empty properties to house them? It might help erase its well-earned image of an uncaring political class tone-deaf to the concerns of voters. | The local authority needs a heightened sense of clarity about its operations, accounting and prospects. At present it is aloof and inscrutable. Ministers should put the council into special measures and send in a new team to take over its running. The London mayor could play a part. Ministers should disband the failed tri-borough experiment which has seen a raft of highly paid council bosses but apparently not enough staff underneath them to ensure residents don’t lose tenancy rights or have their immigration status probed. In recasting the character of the council, one has to wonder what Kensington thinks it was doing building up £274m of reserves and offering rebates to residents paying the top rate of council tax. With residents of tower blocks across London facing being turfed out because of fire risks, perhaps Kensington could spend the money buying up empty properties to house them? It might help erase its well-earned image of an uncaring political class tone-deaf to the concerns of voters. |
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