Investigations into seven Grenfell suppliers put on hold to prevent impact on criminal proceedings

Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and housing secretary, will write to the bereaved, survivors and residents in the immediate community around Grenfell to “reaffirm the government’s commitment to holding organisations to account”.

The Metropolitan Police launched a criminal investigation following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

Last year, the police said that criminal trials relating to the Grenfell Tower fire would not begin until at least the middle of 2027.

Police revealed that they were investigating offences including misconduct in public office, corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, perverting the course of justice, health and safety offences, fraud, and offences under fire safety and building regulations.

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.

Under the debarment investigation, the government is looking into whether the firms “engaged in professional misconduct” according to the new legislation.

If they are found to have done so, they could be added to a public debarment list of suppliers and contractors that are not allowed to win public contracts.

Grenfell United, the group representing the bereaved and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire, said: "The government’s decision to pause the debarment of the seven companies responsible for Grenfell is a disgrace and an insult to the bereaved and survivors.

"Whilst we will always put the criminal investigation first, it is abhorrent to hear - yet again - that the government failed to do its basic due diligence.

"Whether through incompetence or outright indifference, this latest U-turn is yet another glaring example of a government that abandons its duty and shamelessly betrays those it vowed to protect."

Last month, a thinktank report called for companies to face harsher penalties for negligence in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy.

The delay to the debarment investigations comes in the same week as charities have warned that new post-Grenfell laws on evacuation plans for disabled people will create a two-tier safety system where only those who can afford it get protection.