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The Grenfell Tower management organisation has refused to provide fire risk assessments (FRAs) for all its tower blocks and other documents, despite several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation said the release of the documents could prejudice the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire.
Inside Housing sent several FOIA requests to Kensington and Chelsea Council asking for the most recent FRAs for all residential tower blocks it owns, all fire risk assessments carried out at Grenfell Tower from 2010 onwards and documents relating to the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.
The council said it had requested these documents but had not received them from Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), which manages all the council housing in the borough.
The council also cited the ongoing criminal investigation into the fire as a reason not to release the FRAs for Grenfell Tower.
The council said the TMO has documents relating to the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower, which includes details of a meeting between the contractor and firefighters in which the contractor demonstrated the fire safety features of the building, but had not provided the documents.
A spokesperson for KCTMO said: “Disclosure of the fire risk assessments at this stage would or could prejudice the forthcoming public inquiry. For that reason, we have taken the view that they should not be disclosed. We will of course keep this decision under review as matters progress.”
A spokesperson for Kensington and Chelsea Council said: “Our residents deserve answers about the Grenfell Tower fire and the police investigation and public inquiry will help provide these. We fully support the Metropolitan Police investigation and public inquiry and we will co-operate in every way we can.
“The council is in communication with the tenant management organisation, the fire brigade and the TMO’s fire risk assessors and has requested that the TMO supply the information requested.”
Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham recently said councils should not wait for FOIA requests before publishing fire risk assessments.
Additional reporting by Luke Barratt
Inside Housing is calling for immediate action to implement the learning from the Lakanal House fire, and a commitment to act – without delay – on learning from the Grenfell Tower tragedy as it becomes available.
We will submit evidence from our research to the Grenfell public inquiry.
The inquiry should look at why opportunities to implement learning that could have prevented the fire were missed, in order to ensure similar opportunities are acted on in the future.