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| The Grenfell Tower fire was a national disaster. It needs a national response | The Grenfell Tower fire was a national disaster. It needs a national response |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Six months on, it has become clear that the council can’t cope. Ministers must fulfil their responsibility | |
| Wed 13 Dec 2017 06.00 GMT | |
| Last modified on Wed 13 Dec 2017 13.12 GMT | |
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| Six months to the day after the Grenfell Tower fire, those directly affected are coming together with the wider community for a memorial service in St Paul’s Cathedral to honour the 71 people who lost their lives. | Six months to the day after the Grenfell Tower fire, those directly affected are coming together with the wider community for a memorial service in St Paul’s Cathedral to honour the 71 people who lost their lives. |
| The status of that national commemoration is as important as the timing. The event takes place in the same week as the start of the procedural hearings for the official Grenfell inquiry. Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend, and there are rumours that the prime minister will be there. For some, this will be a fitting tribute to lost loved ones and lost homes. For others, it will be a painful juxtaposition that will make it too difficult for them to attend. Elizabeth Campbell, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, has been asked not to go. | The status of that national commemoration is as important as the timing. The event takes place in the same week as the start of the procedural hearings for the official Grenfell inquiry. Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend, and there are rumours that the prime minister will be there. For some, this will be a fitting tribute to lost loved ones and lost homes. For others, it will be a painful juxtaposition that will make it too difficult for them to attend. Elizabeth Campbell, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, has been asked not to go. |
| It will be a national event, with appropriately local input. The cathedral will be decorated with a specially commissioned banner featuring the green Grenfell heart. Music will come from the Ebony Steel Band, and a children’s choir made up of girls from the Al-Sadiq and Al-Zahra schools. Their voices will remind us of the 18 children who died in the fire, and the youngest victim, a stillborn baby who never had the chance to breathe. | It will be a national event, with appropriately local input. The cathedral will be decorated with a specially commissioned banner featuring the green Grenfell heart. Music will come from the Ebony Steel Band, and a children’s choir made up of girls from the Al-Sadiq and Al-Zahra schools. Their voices will remind us of the 18 children who died in the fire, and the youngest victim, a stillborn baby who never had the chance to breathe. |
| It is right that this should be a national memorial service. But what that also highlights is the parallel and continuing failure of national authorities to fully step up and undertake their responsibilities with regard to those so grievously affected. Six months on, what has been accomplished for the survivors and bereaved, the local and wider communities? What has been put in place to help children and young people doing their homework in hotel rooms, or those in the community who grieve for their friends each day as they pass the tower? Answer: not nearly enough. | It is right that this should be a national memorial service. But what that also highlights is the parallel and continuing failure of national authorities to fully step up and undertake their responsibilities with regard to those so grievously affected. Six months on, what has been accomplished for the survivors and bereaved, the local and wider communities? What has been put in place to help children and young people doing their homework in hotel rooms, or those in the community who grieve for their friends each day as they pass the tower? Answer: not nearly enough. |
| I cannot pretend to speak for those affected, but I can tell you the most pressing issue: housing. It’s the problem that prevents people from moving on or processing their grief. We know that half of the households who need to be rehoused are still living in hotels. We know that four out of five will spend Christmas in one room, with no cooking facilities. We know that rehousing targets themselves have shifted or been missed: from Theresa May’s famous “three week” pledge, to “by Christmas”, to “by the first anniversary”. If there was little trust at the beginning, it has fallen further with each failed promise. | I cannot pretend to speak for those affected, but I can tell you the most pressing issue: housing. It’s the problem that prevents people from moving on or processing their grief. We know that half of the households who need to be rehoused are still living in hotels. We know that four out of five will spend Christmas in one room, with no cooking facilities. We know that rehousing targets themselves have shifted or been missed: from Theresa May’s famous “three week” pledge, to “by Christmas”, to “by the first anniversary”. If there was little trust at the beginning, it has fallen further with each failed promise. |
| The council says it is buying “two homes a day”, but there are issues with the quality of housing being procured. The much-publicised luxury flats bought early on weren’t completed for months. Properties are being offered and then withdrawn. Several families have been allocated homes that are inadequate: unadapted for disabilities, or outside the borough. Survivors are being made to bid against each other. Homes fall through. People are demoralised and lose hope. | The council says it is buying “two homes a day”, but there are issues with the quality of housing being procured. The much-publicised luxury flats bought early on weren’t completed for months. Properties are being offered and then withdrawn. Several families have been allocated homes that are inadequate: unadapted for disabilities, or outside the borough. Survivors are being made to bid against each other. Homes fall through. People are demoralised and lose hope. |
| That may sound normal to people who have bought properties before – but this is not a case of individuals choosing to move. This is a case of citizens bereaved by the state. They have lost everything. Passports. Childhood photos. Degree certificates. Family records. Jewellery. Birth certificates. Babies’ hospital bracelets. Pets. All were lost in the fire. | That may sound normal to people who have bought properties before – but this is not a case of individuals choosing to move. This is a case of citizens bereaved by the state. They have lost everything. Passports. Childhood photos. Degree certificates. Family records. Jewellery. Birth certificates. Babies’ hospital bracelets. Pets. All were lost in the fire. |
| Think of the daily practical difficulties that come with living in a hotel room. It is hard to look after a baby in a hotel, without room for them to play, or crawl, living with boxes stacked up to the ceiling. Imagine coordinating the school run, or the daily washing of clothes. And who is there to help? | Think of the daily practical difficulties that come with living in a hotel room. It is hard to look after a baby in a hotel, without room for them to play, or crawl, living with boxes stacked up to the ceiling. Imagine coordinating the school run, or the daily washing of clothes. And who is there to help? |
| Key workers and housing officers appear to be under-resourced and undertrained. Some families have had nine key workers, some have had six or seven different housing officers. This means traumatised people having to tell their stories again and again.” This is why families rely on volunteers,” one of them told me. “Volunteers have been constant while everyone around them is constantly changing.” | Key workers and housing officers appear to be under-resourced and undertrained. Some families have had nine key workers, some have had six or seven different housing officers. This means traumatised people having to tell their stories again and again.” This is why families rely on volunteers,” one of them told me. “Volunteers have been constant while everyone around them is constantly changing.” |
| Think of those bereaved. Many have not received adequate counselling or support, and it’s unclear if the council or government have a full list of them six months on. “The saddest thing,” I was told by Ahmed Chellat, who lost five relatives in the fire at Grenfell, “is coming home at night. For years you’d see the lights and think, ‘Abdul is there in his house.’ I can’t look at it [the tower]. I just can’t.” | Think of those bereaved. Many have not received adequate counselling or support, and it’s unclear if the council or government have a full list of them six months on. “The saddest thing,” I was told by Ahmed Chellat, who lost five relatives in the fire at Grenfell, “is coming home at night. For years you’d see the lights and think, ‘Abdul is there in his house.’ I can’t look at it [the tower]. I just can’t.” |
| Where progress has been made, it has often been hard-won. It is commendable that the council has adopted the Hillsborough charter, which commits it to putting public interest above its own reputation, to a duty of candour and to being accountable and open. The council’s barrister mentioned this at length in his statement to the inquiry on Tuesday. And yet, the support group Grenfell United insists that this only happened after pressure from survivors. | Where progress has been made, it has often been hard-won. It is commendable that the council has adopted the Hillsborough charter, which commits it to putting public interest above its own reputation, to a duty of candour and to being accountable and open. The council’s barrister mentioned this at length in his statement to the inquiry on Tuesday. And yet, the support group Grenfell United insists that this only happened after pressure from survivors. |
| The new chief executive promised a culture change, but still Conservative councillors are accused by residents of falling asleep in meetings and of checking their phones as survivors give harrowing testimony. “It violates our dignity,” Samia Badani, a local resident from nearby Bramley House, told me. “They have to work on the relationship with us. We don’t see real engagement.” | The new chief executive promised a culture change, but still Conservative councillors are accused by residents of falling asleep in meetings and of checking their phones as survivors give harrowing testimony. “It violates our dignity,” Samia Badani, a local resident from nearby Bramley House, told me. “They have to work on the relationship with us. We don’t see real engagement.” |
| After six months, it is time to take stock. Grenfell is a unique national tragedy and everything we have seen re-emphasises the fact that it requires a national response. Kensington and Chelsea council has been massively restructured. But still, no one observing can truly believe that it can raise its performance enough to give suitable and timely help to children whose Christmas holidays will be spent in one room. The service at St Paul’s will be a milestone, but just as vital is to know what, in practical terms, comes next. | After six months, it is time to take stock. Grenfell is a unique national tragedy and everything we have seen re-emphasises the fact that it requires a national response. Kensington and Chelsea council has been massively restructured. But still, no one observing can truly believe that it can raise its performance enough to give suitable and timely help to children whose Christmas holidays will be spent in one room. The service at St Paul’s will be a milestone, but just as vital is to know what, in practical terms, comes next. |
| Grenfell is, in many respects, a tragedy about listening. In all the noise, we have learned that those affected are the experts on their own lives. Grenfell has taught us that authorities should listen to those involved when they say they are not being listened to. They aren’t being listened to, even now. We must rectify that. Isn’t that their right? | Grenfell is, in many respects, a tragedy about listening. In all the noise, we have learned that those affected are the experts on their own lives. Grenfell has taught us that authorities should listen to those involved when they say they are not being listened to. They aren’t being listened to, even now. We must rectify that. Isn’t that their right? |
| • Seraphima Kennedy is a writer and academic researcher. She is a former neighbourhood officer at Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation | • Seraphima Kennedy is a writer and academic researcher. She is a former neighbourhood officer at Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation |
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