By Danielle Aumord

PEEPs are a key theme in the legal summaries from lawyers for Grenfell bereaved and survivors (7-10 November 2022)

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and their arm’s length management organisation (ALMO), the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), were named this week in legal summaries by lawyers for the Grenfell bereaved and survivors in a “rogues gallery” of the parties culpable for the 72 deaths at the west London tower block nearly five and a half years ago.

The inquiry heard that Laura Johnson, Head of Housing for the Borough at the time of the fire, rejected an annual door-closer inspection on the grounds of costs despite the London Fire Brigade (LFB) requiring it.

The council’s ALMO was also cited as being responsible for not making good holes caused by pipes at Grenfell Tower for a new gas safety supply by Stephanie Barwise KC – lawyer for one group of bereaved families – survivors and former residents. She added that the smoke ventilation contractor PSB were responsible for not ensuring that smoke didn’t leak out of a new ventilation system it installed at Grenfell Tower in 2016.

Ms Barwise told the inquiry that fire safety consultant Exova and Studio E Architects failed to apply “principles of inclusive design” to the refurbishment and, consequently, cited them as responsible for the lack of a means of escape for the disabled residents.

Lawyers for Grenfell bereaved and survivors shared evidence exposing RBKC and KCTMO’s failures to prepare plans for disabled residents and stated that central government also failed to ensure that its guidance on evacuating disabled residents was sufficient enough.

The failure of government to implement the recommendations of the inquiry’s first phrase was a key theme in hearings this month, in particular the lack of provision of personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPS) by landlords for tenants with disabilities – despite former prime minister Boris Johnson expressing his commitment to deliver the inquiry recommendations.

Danny Friedman KC – also representing bereaved families, survivors and former Grenfell residents – told the inquiry: “The high number of deaths amongst disabled residents of Grenfell is a landmark fact of this disaster. But it’s yet to be acted on.”

Lord Greenhalgh, who resigned from the post of Minister for Fire Safety earlier this year, said that “practicality”, “proportionality” and “safety” are some of the reasons why PEEPs
couldn’t be implemented within statutory law.

He also suggested that the implementation of PEEPs could bring “excessive costs” to the taxpayer, hinder able-bodied people in evacuating in the case of a fire and even prevent the fire service from fighting fires.

The government’s decision not only fails to uphold the inquiry’s recommendations but also fails to uphold several legal obligations – including the Fire Safety Order 2005, the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998.

The Fire Safety Order sets out the responsibility that building managers must protect all residents during fires and support them in their escape, while the Equality Act makes clear the illegality of discriminatory policies. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) response to the Grenfell Inquiry also highlights how a refusal to protect residents in their escape from a fire is a breach of all residents’ Right to Life, enshrined in the Human
Rights Act.

Ms Barwise expressed her frustration with the current state of affairs: “The inquiry must issue an urgent interim report to leave the government in no doubt as to why the intransigent donothing status quo is dangerous and in violation of current law.”

Labour-run Hammersmith and Fulham council have managed to create 90 PEEPs since the beginning of 2020 despite the costs entailed. The council has contacted residents of all blocks of six storeys or more via letters, phone calls and personal visits within the same time frame, sending out over 3,000 letters to residents.

Residents have been offered a person-centred fire risk assessment, which has helped to identify tenants at higher risk from fire in their homes – whether this is due to their behaviours or their ability to respond and escape from a fire.

Residents identified as needing more help to evacuate if there was a fire were then offered the opportunity to create a PEEP.

A spokesperson for the west London borough told Housing Quality Network: “Keeping our residents safe in their homes is our number one priority.”

Emma O’Connor, disabled survivor from Grenfell Tower, told Housing Quality Network that she’s hoping for personal evacuation emergency evacuation plans (PEEPS) to be recommended again in the next inquiry report. “If I didn’t escape in the lift just after the fire started, I probably wouldn’t have made it out alive down 20 flights of stairs,” said the 33-year-old. “I can’t believe that Lord Greenhalgh said that the implementation of PEEPs would
hinder able-bodied people evacuating fires. That’s basically the government saying ‘stuff you’ to disabled people but I will constantly keep pushing for PEEPs to become statutory law.”