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\u201cFaulty and ambiguous\u201d Government guidance allowed the Grenfell Tower tragedy to occur, the Housing Secretary has acknowledged as he placed a new deadline on unsafe blocks.<\/p>\n
The fire at the residential tower block in North Kensington, west London, in June 2017 killed 72 people and triggered a public inquiry, chaired by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, which is yet to deliver its final report.<\/p>\n
Evidence to the inquiry showed official guidance was widely seen to allow highly flammable cladding on tall building, prompting The Sunday Times to ask Michael Gove if he accepted the rules were wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a system of regulation that was faulty. The Government did not think hard enough, or police effectively enough, the whole system of building safety. Undoubtedly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that (the guidance) was so faulty and ambiguous that it allowed unscrupulous people to exploit a broken system in a way that led to tragedy,\u201d Mr Gove added.<\/p>\n
It comes after the inquiry\u2019s final hearing in November heard that firms appeared to have used the inquiry to \u201cposition themselves for any legal proceedings\u201d that may follow it, instead of showing remorse.<\/p>\n
In closing submissions, lead counsel Richard Millett KC accused companies of a \u201cmerry go round of buck-passing\u201d in order to protect their own interests.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the Housing Secretary will announce a six-week deadline for developers to sign a Government contract to fix their unsafe towers \u2013 or be banned from the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who haven\u2019t (signed) will face consequences. They will not be able to build new homes.\u201d Mr Gove told the Times.<\/p>\n
The minister will use the so-called \u201cresponsible actor scheme\u201d, to be established in the spring, to block such companies from getting planning or building control approval, the newspaper said.<\/p>\n
The inquiry heard many of those involved have failed to accept blame for their role in the events prior to the disaster, showing what Mr Millett called a \u201clack of respect\u201d for the victims and their families.<\/p>\n
The inquiry also heard from Jason Beer KC, for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, who said the department \u201capologises unreservedly\u201d for its failure to recognise weaknesses in the regulatory system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe department recognises that it failed to appreciate it held an important stewardship role over the regime and that as a result it failed to grasp the opportunities to assess whether the system was working as intended.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the department\u2019s failure to realise that the regulatory system was broken and that it might lead to a catastrophe such as this, the department is truly sorry and apologises unreservedly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Concluding the hearing, inquiry chairman Sir Martin said the panel had already started working on its final report and promised to produce it \u201cas soon as we can\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails \u201cFaulty and ambiguous\u201d Government guidance allowed the Grenfell Tower tragedy to occur, the Housing Secretary has acknowledged as he placed a new deadline on unsafe blocks. The fire at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n