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Gavin Barwell expects to appear before Grenfell Inquiry
Former housing minister Gavin Barwell expects to be called to give evidence before the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, Inside Housing can reveal.
Mr Barwell, who held the post in the year leading up to the deadly blaze, was heavily criticised after Inside Housing revealed that MPs had sent him seven letters asking him to review fire safety rules which were not acted upon during that time.
He later became the prime minister’s chief of staff under Theresa May, having lost his seat at the general election in 2017.
Responding to a question from Inside Housing during a session at the Northern Housing Summit yesterday, Mr Barwell said: “We’ve now had part one of the inquiry which has obviously looked at the events on the night itself, but we’re going to have part two.
“I will be very surprised if I don’t end up being asked to go and give evidence to part two.”
Phase two, which is set to start hearing evidence early next year, will focus on decisions made surrounding the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.
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A total of 21 letters calling for changes were sent to ministers Eric Pickles, James Wharton, Stephen Williams and Mr Barwell by the All-Party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group between 2014 and 2017.
The letters particularly pushed for a review of the requirement that the external surfaces of buildings have a ‘Class 0’ fire safety rating.
Grenfell Tower was eventually clad with a material certified at Class 0, but the public inquiry has already concluded that the building’s cladding system did not comply with this standard.
Mr Barwell said yesterday he was “very concerned about the issue of fire safety in high-rise buildings” while he was housing minister, partly because of the large number of tower blocks in his then-constituency Croydon Central.
However, referring to the inquiry’s phase one findings about Grenfell’s cladding system, he added: “So there is absolutely a debate to be had about whether policy is right or not.
“But I think that misses the fundamental point, that what I know now that I did not know when I was the minister, was that there were not just that building but a number of buildings in the country that had materials on them that were not consistent with what the department believed was legitimate to be used.
“And so there was, to my mind, a clear failure in the building control system and we need to understand how that happened, as well as then asking the question about whether standards need to be raised.”
Grenfell Inquiry: what will be investigated in phase two
Picture: Rex Features
The deceased
Sir Martin originally hoped he would be able to publish findings on the circumstances in which the deceased met their deaths as part of phase one. This has now been pushed to phase two as it requires “more detailed examination of the evidence that has been yet been possible”.
The London Fire Brigade
A further investigation will be made into the London Fire Brigade (LFB) as an organisation, following the failures of response identified in phase one of the report. This will include questions over training and a greater scrutiny of those at the top.
Testing and certification of materials
Questions over how Grenfell came to be covered in highly combustible materials will “lie at the heart” of phase two. This will involve looking into the adequacy of regulations, the effectiveness of the tests currently in use and the manner in which materials are marketed.
Design and choice of materials
The 2016 refurbishment of the Grenfell Tower will be under the spotlight in phase two, with questions being asked about why aluminium composite material (ACM) panels and combustible insulations was chosen. This will include an examination of the government’s building regulations.
Fire doors
Following the concerns raised over fire doors as part of phase one, phase two will look further into whether these doors complied with regulations, whether they were able to provide appropriate protections against fire and smoke and if not, how that situation came about and why.
Window arrangements
Phase one found the use of uPVC window jambs in close proximity to combustible insulation allowed the fire to initially escape the flat in which it began. Decisions made over windows as part of the 2016 refurbishment will also be explored in phase two.
Lifts
It appears that the ‘fireman’s switches’, which should allow firefighters to take control of a lift, were not working on the night of Grenfell, leading to fatal consequences. Phase two will investigate whether the lifts in Grenfell were properly maintained.
Smoke extraction system
An investigation will be carried out into suggestions, made as part of phase one, that the smoke extraction system failed to operate in accordance with its design and potentially contributed to the spread of smoke between different floors.
Local community warnings and the authorities’ response to Grenfell
Phase two will delve more into accusations that local community warnings over fire safety and the refurbishment were ignored by the tenant management organisation. It will also scrutinise the authorities response to the disaster in the immediate aftermath.
