Government to investigate seven Grenfell suppliers under new Procurement Act

The inquiry report found that “systematic dishonesty” among product manufacturers was a “very significant reason” for the dangerous cladding that was installed on Grenfell Tower.

Ms Gould said the companies would be notified when an investigation is launched.

The announcement was made as part of the government’s final reforms and response to the report, published on Wednesday. 

“We will never forget the 72 lives lost as a result of the Grenfell tragedy and we are grateful to Sir Martin Moore-Bick and the Grenfell Inquiry team for publishing the hugely important phase two Report into the tragedy,” Ms Gould said.

“In line with the prime minister’s statement in response to the publication of that report, we have reviewed the report to identify where the inquiry found failings by specific named organisations,” she explained.

“We will make early use of the new powers in this act that enable us to take stronger and broader action in relation to supplier misconduct, which we will, where appropriate, utilise to effectively hold organisations to account.”

A spokesperson for Arconic said: “Our thoughts remain with the families, friends and all of those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. Arconic Architectural Products SAS (AAP) has co-operated with all investigations into the tragedy and supports all efforts to better regulate the construction industry. 

“We acknowledge the recent announcement by the government, we fully support tightening the building regulations in the UK, and we will respect the government’s decision to investigate how to allocate procurement contracts. 

“In the event AAP is restricted from selling to the government, we hope that once the investigatory process is concluded, AAP can be reinstated as a supplier based on the merits of its case.”

A spokesperson for Saint-Gobain said the firm would continue to co-operate “fully and openly with all official investigations” to play its part in “ensuring that no such tragedy occurs again”.

The new legislation, which was delayed by four months to allow the government to rewrite the National Procurement Policy Statement, will see the creation of a procurement review unit that is tasked with investigating, adding and removing suppliers to the list.

Grounds for mandatory exclusion from public contracts include corporate manslaughter, fraud, competition law infringement or being a threat to national security.

Alexi Markham, a partner at law firm Gowling WLG, called the legislation “the biggest shake-up of our procurement laws for over 30 years”.

“We want to act swiftly and decisively, and are committed, where appropriate, to pursuing meaningful action in respect of failings related to the Grenfell tragedy,” Ms Gould added.

The government has also published a green paper on reforms to the construction products regime as part of its response.

It aims to address gaps in regulatory coverage and make all manufacturers responsible for assessing the safety risks associated with their products before they are marketed.