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| Reality Check: Is Grenfell Tower council outspending the government? | Reality Check: Is Grenfell Tower council outspending the government? |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The Claim: Kensington and Chelsea Council says it will spend more on the rehousing and recovery operation for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire than the government has promised to spend on housing in one quarter (three months) in the whole of the UK. | The Claim: Kensington and Chelsea Council says it will spend more on the rehousing and recovery operation for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire than the government has promised to spend on housing in one quarter (three months) in the whole of the UK. |
| Reality Check Verdict: The council is wrong. The British government is only responsible for housing in England and is spending more per quarter than Kensington and Chelsea will spend on Grenfell. | Reality Check Verdict: The council is wrong. The British government is only responsible for housing in England and is spending more per quarter than Kensington and Chelsea will spend on Grenfell. |
| The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea says it's planning to spend £235m on what it calls the Grenfell "recovery" operation. | The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea says it's planning to spend £235m on what it calls the Grenfell "recovery" operation. |
| This money includes: | This money includes: |
| There's no doubt that all of this is going to cost a fortune - not least because the borough is one of the most expensive areas of the UK. But even taking into account the sky-high prices of west London land, the council's claim doesn't stack up. | There's no doubt that all of this is going to cost a fortune - not least because the borough is one of the most expensive areas of the UK. But even taking into account the sky-high prices of west London land, the council's claim doesn't stack up. |
| So why did it get it wrong? It's not hard to understand why the council got into a muddle. | So why did it get it wrong? It's not hard to understand why the council got into a muddle. |
| It all comes down to one of the biggest problems faced by anyone trying to get their head around government spending: knowing for sure when the cash is going to be spent. | It all comes down to one of the biggest problems faced by anyone trying to get their head around government spending: knowing for sure when the cash is going to be spent. |
| The council told BBC Reality Check that it was comparing its spending with the government's Affordable Homes Programme. | The council told BBC Reality Check that it was comparing its spending with the government's Affordable Homes Programme. |
| This is the key scheme overseen by the Department for Communities and Local Government to funds new homes in the social sector. | This is the key scheme overseen by the Department for Communities and Local Government to funds new homes in the social sector. |
| The AHP was set up in 2010 and it runs until 2021. Up until the end of the summer, the Treasury had approved £7bn for the second five-year phase which we are now in. That works out at £350m a quarter. | |
| If that was the figure the council was talking about, its claim was already wrong. | If that was the figure the council was talking about, its claim was already wrong. |
| But then the council clarified it was referring to a new part of the affordable homes spending: an additional £2bn that the prime minister announced at October's Conservative Party Conference. | But then the council clarified it was referring to a new part of the affordable homes spending: an additional £2bn that the prime minister announced at October's Conservative Party Conference. |
| If that £2bn was spread over the five years to 2021, it would work out as £100m per quarter. That's lower than Kensington and Chelsea's Grenfell spending - so the council looks like it's right. | If that £2bn was spread over the five years to 2021, it would work out as £100m per quarter. That's lower than Kensington and Chelsea's Grenfell spending - so the council looks like it's right. |
| But in fact, that new money is an additional investment for only the final two years of the Affordable Homes Programme. | But in fact, that new money is an additional investment for only the final two years of the Affordable Homes Programme. |
| That works out at £250m per quarter. And that's more than the council's projected Grenfell recovery bill. | That works out at £250m per quarter. And that's more than the council's projected Grenfell recovery bill. |
| BBC Reality Check likes to challenge itself by discovering new and complicated ways to push figures further. So we decided to give the council another chance to be right. | BBC Reality Check likes to challenge itself by discovering new and complicated ways to push figures further. So we decided to give the council another chance to be right. |
| We lumped all £9bn of the current affordable homes spending together, without worrying too much about which particular year it applied to. When you spread that over the five years of the programme, the projected quarterly average was £455m - still far more than the council's Grenfell recovery budget. | We lumped all £9bn of the current affordable homes spending together, without worrying too much about which particular year it applied to. When you spread that over the five years of the programme, the projected quarterly average was £455m - still far more than the council's Grenfell recovery budget. |
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