The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Podcast

“Professionally reckless behaviour”. Expert witness Barbara Lane gave evidence on the fire risk assessments carried out at Grenfell Tower. She described the fire risk assessor’s behaviour as ‘reckless’ for signing off the building’s cladding as safe without evidence. She also deemed it ‘not acceptable’ that residents with disabilities weren’t identified. Presenter / Producer: Kate Lamble Producers...

“An necessary tragedy”. The inquiry revealed the Local Government Association was warned in 2011 that its failure to recommend evacuation plans for residents with disabilities could lead to an ‘unnecessary tragedy’. Expert witness Colin Todd gave evidence on the work of fire risk assessor Carl Stokes and answered questions about guidance he helped draw up. The inquiry’s expert witness on building...

Expert witness Roger Howkins concluded the inquiry’s examination into the lifts at Grenfell Tower. Contractors who worked on the lifts and a former engineer from the Tenant Management Organisation also gave evidence. Presenter / Producer: Kate Lamble Producer: Sharon Hemans Researcher: May Cameron Studio Mix: Gareth Jones

“That culture possibly needs to change”. Gas safety expert Rodney Hancox concluded the design of the gas pipes installed on Grenfell Tower did not comply with building regulations. Staff from the contractor involved in installing the gas pipes accepted the company failed to identify safety hazards. The inquiry also heard evidence from lift consultants Butler & Young. Presenter / Producer: Kate...

The smoke ventilation system installed at Grenfell Tower as part of the refurbishment did not comply with building regulation guidance. The designer of the system, Hugh Mahoney, told the inquiry he did not think any system could be compliant. Presenter & Producer: Kate Lamble Producer: Sharon Hemans Researcher: Luke Radcliff Studio Mix: Gareth Jones

The smoke ventilation system was “another story of incompetence and indifference” according to a lawyer representing a group of bereaved, survivors and residents. Building Control fire regulations expert Paul Hanson from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was asked whether he’d given proper scrutiny to plans for the smoke ventilation system in Grenfell Tower. Legal representatives for som...

“An exercise in concealment and half-truth”. Senior management at the Tenant Management Organisation answered questions about the TMO’s fire safety management systems in the lead up to the fire at Grenfell Tower. The Chief Executive Robert Black said he understood why some residents had reason to lose trust in the organisation. An LFB officer said he thought the TMO was “economical with the truth”...

“He may not be competent for his role”. The LFB raised concerns with the TMO’s Health and Safety and Facilities Manager about the competency of the fire risk assessor at Grenfell Tower. Witnesses from the LFB told the inquiry why they had concerns about Carl Stokes. Two caretakers at the TMO also gave evidence. Presenter / Producer: Sharon Hemans Producer: Luke Radcliff Researcher: May Cameron Stu...

Today marks four years since the fire at Grenfell Tower. We spoke to former resident Antonio Roncolato. Presenter: Kate Lamble Producer: May Cameron Studio Mix: James Beard

“It was clearly a major oversight. I can’t give you any other explanation, I’m sorry.” The Health and Safety and Facilities Manager at the Tenant Management Organisation admitted it was a ‘major oversight’ not sharing information of vulnerable residents with the fire risk assessor at Grenfell Tower. She described feeling ‘spread thin’ in her role at the TMO, lacking resources and staff. Presenter...

“I believe that I undertook the risk assessments to the best of my ability”. The fire risk assessor Carl Stokes gave his final day of evidence at the inquiry. It emerged he had told the organisation which ran Grenfell Tower that the cladding installed on the building met regulations – despite doing no investigations of his own. Presenter / Producer: Kate Lamble Producer: Sharon Hemans Researcher:...

“Is that not a very incurious approach for a fire risk assessor?”. Carl Stokes was the fire risk assessor responsible for carrying out checks on Grenfell Tower from 2009 to 2017. Part of his job was to check doors; many flat entrance doors did not have self-closing mechanisms at the time of the fire. The inquiry heard how Carl Stokes copied and pasted information across different fire risk assessm...

“I think we lacked a little humanity”. The inquiry heard from elected councillors at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Councillor Quentin Marshall said the council “could have done better” after it emerged he sent an email saying he was “not massively sympathetic to general ‘it’s all terrible’ complaints” about the refurbishment works at Grenfell tower. Leader of RBKC Nick Paget-Brown a...

“Getting out of this building by the stairs is extremely difficult”. The Director of Housing, the Executive Director of Operations and the Head of Housing Commissioning at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea gave evidence. The inquiry heard how some recommendations after another high rise cladding fire weren’t implemented, and that the council did not collect data on how the Tenant Managem...

‘Stay put’ was relied on despite evacuations after fires in other TMO properties. The TMO’s Peter Maddison and Teresa Brown were questioned about the organisation’s relationship with residents and why no personal emergency evacuation plans were drawn up for residents with disabilities. Expert witness Jonathan Sakula told the inquiry the dangers of using combustible cladding on high rise buildings...

‘Let’s hope our luck holds out and there are no fires in the meantime’. Staff from the Tenant Management Organisation, which managed Grenfell Tower, returned to give evidence at the inquiry. The TMO’s Peter Maddison and Claire Williams were asked why important fire safety measures, such as smoke vents and self-closing fire doors, were left broken or non-compliant for significant periods of time. T...

‘They didn’t treat us with respect or humanity or empathy and if they had done, we wouldn’t be sitting here now’. Former residents of Grenfell Tower described how the Tenant Management Organisation ran the building. One of the main campaigners for safety at Grenfell Tower, Edward Daffarn, repeatedly questioned fire safety matters within the building and residents with disabilities described being...

This week the inquiry will hear evidence from residents, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Tenant Management Organisation. Groups affiliated to the bereaved, survivors and residents have called for the inquiry to investigate the role race and class played at Grenfell. In this episode relatives of residents who lived in the tower explain why they think it's important for the inqui...

Grenfell Tower ‘a landmark act of discrimination against disabled and vulnerable people’. The inquiry was presented with opening statements for Module 3 of the inquiry. This section will examine the management of Grenfell Tower, including the fire risk assessments carried out and how residents’ complaints were dealt with. Legal representatives for the bereaved, survivors and residents of Grenfell...

‘Would it be fair… to say that you were set up by others …as Kingspan’s useful idiot’? Kingspan Insulation’s Managing Director Richard Burnley gave evidence this week. Questioned about Kingspan’s conduct after the fire at Grenfell Tower when it held a private meeting to lobby MPs, Richard Burnley denied the company accessed political power for its own commercial gain. The British Board of Agrement...

A safety certificate for insulation installed on Grenfell Tower contained a ‘very basic failure of due diligence’. In 2008 the independent organisation, the British Board of Agrement produced a certificate for a combustible plastic foam insulation made by the company Kingspan. The product - Kooltherm K15 - was later installed on Grenfell Tower. The inquiry heard from staff at the BBA involved in c...

“What will happen if only one building made out [of] PE core is on fire and will kill 60 to 70 persons”. Arconic, the company which made the combustible cladding installed on Grenfell Tower was warned of the risk of a building fire that could kill “60 to 70” people, a decade before the tragedy. Three of Arconic’s witnesses have refused to give evidence at the inquiry. Lead Counsel to the inquiry R...

A manager at the BRE accepted he made a fundamental omission when analysing test data. Tony Baker told the inquiry he failed to notice non-combustible magnesium oxide boards used in a test by the insulation manufacturer Celotex. The inquiry also heard from David Jones of Herefordshire Building Control who produced a certificate which incorrectly stated Kingspan insulation was a material of ‘limite...

A manager at the BRE denied deliberately concealing test evidence. Phil Clark managed the burn hall where fire safety tests were carried out. He told the inquiry he failed to notice that a test rig for an insulation product used on Grenfell Tower had been altered to increase its chances of passing. Non-combustible magnesium oxide boards had been added to the test but were not mentioned in the BRE’...

The cladding manufacturer admitted it had been ‘deliberately and dishonestly misleading’. Claude Schmidt, the President of Arconic Architectural Products, answered questions about the testing, classification and performance of the cladding panels used on Grenfell Tower – which the inquiry has established was the main cause of the spread of the 2017 fire. The cladding panels came in two different s...