The final report into the Grenfell Tower fire will not be published by the seventh anniversary of the disaster, in June, because more people than expected must be notified about potential criticisms.
In its latest newsletter, published in April, the inquiry team says it is in the ‘final stages’ of notifying those who may be subject to criticism in its report and considering their responses, as required under rule 13 of the probe’s rules.
About 250 people have been written to and the process has been ‘significantly larger and more complex’ than the inquiry team had expected. Although the notification process is now reaching its end, the team admits it will not be in a position to publish the report before the next anniversary of the fire, as originally hoped.
However, it remains ‘determined’ to publish the report ’as soon as possible’ and is working ‘as hard as it can’ to ensure that no time is lost.
The inquiry is following the Maxwellisation legal practice, which allows those criticised in an official report to respond before its publication. Some of those mentioned in the report, and their lawyers, are likely to challenge its conclusions.
The inquiry was instigated by former Prime Minister Theresa May in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster, which resulted in 72 deaths on 14 June 2017.
The second and final phase of the inquiry heard 85 weeks of evidence over three years.
