Grenfell Tower replace as ‘painful’ police wait triggers demand from MPs
MPs have demanded police speed up their probe into the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire – as ministers unveiled a major crackdown on dangerous construction products
Nearly nine years have passed since the deadly 2017 blaze killed 72 people (Image: PA)
MPs have demanded police speed up their probe into the Grenfell Tower fire – as ministers unveiled a major crackdown on dangerous construction products.
Nearly nine years have passed since the deadly 2017 blaze killed 72 people at a west London block of flats. Housing Secretary Steve Reed admitted the pace of the Metropolitan Police’s probe into the blaze is “painful” for survivors who have already waited too long for justice.
But he told MPs the investigation is “one of the largest and most complex in the force’s history”. He said: “Nine years is a painfully long time to wait for justice. It’s important that in such a complex investigation, the police are given the time and resources they need to properly investigate.
“But, of course, we will be encouraging them to do that work as quickly as they reasonably can be expected to do it and we all expect them to bring to justice those who bear culpability for the deaths on that night.”
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His comments came in response to several MPs, including Conservative Sir Julian Lewis asking why it was taking “so long” and Labour’s Dawn Butler calling on Mr Reed to “push the Met to move quicker”. Police and prosecutors have previously said final decisions on potential criminal charges could come by the end of 2026.
Under the Construction Products Reform White Paper, unveiled today, all products must be properly assessed before being used in the building process. Currently, only around a third of construction products are regulated.
Ministers also published their first annual report on the implementation of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations. The inquiry, which concluded in 2024, said the fire was the result of “decades of failure” by those in power, with Government complacency and industry greed leading to the tragedy.
In a statement to the Commons, Mr Reed said the Government is on target to complete 70% of the inquiry’s recommendations by the end of this year and that work to remove and replace dangerous flammable cladding had been completed on 91% of high-rise residential and public buildings so far.
Hundreds of thousands of people could still be living in homes with dangerous cladding like the Grenfell tower, with many buildings estimated to be unidentified. The report admits “there is no justification for any building to remain unsafe” this long after the Grenfell tragedy.
It said the Government plans to introduce its Remediation bill as soon as parliamentary time allows to speed up the remediation of unsafe buildings. Mr Reed also announced a consultation on reforms including measures to strengthen construction products regulation.
But Grenfell survivor Edward Daffarn voiced his frustration at what he described as the slow pace of change. He added: “The fact that we’re still here discussing a timeline for recommendations is simply not good enough.”
Labour MP Joe Powell, whose Kensington and Bayswater constituency is home to the site of Grenfell Tower, said the process of implementing the inquiry’s recommendations “has not been transparent and accountable”, and asked for an update on demands for a national oversight mechanism to ensure they are enacted.
Mr Reed replied: “Work is continuing across Government, including my department, on setting up a national oversight mechanism to make sure that the recommendations of this and indeed other inquiries do not just sit on shelves but get implemented and inform improvement in the way that we deliver public services, including, in this important case, fire safety.”
