Grenfell Tower Inquiry

All fire and rescue services ensure that their personnel at all levels understand the risk of fire taking hold in the external walls of high-rise buildings and know how to recognise it when it occurs.

In February 2025, the Home Office reported that delivery of the recommendation was complete, relaying National Fire Chiefs Council confirmation that all 43 fire and rescue services had reviewed training and trained all relevant staff using its products, while the London Fire Brigade had also trained all operational and control staff (Home Office, Feb 2025). In September 2024, the department had reported progress as ongoing, with Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service being the only service with the training still outstanding (Home Office, Sep 2024).

The LFB review, and revise as appropriate, Appendix 1 to PN633 to ensure that it fully reflects the principles in GRA 3.2.

The Home Office stated in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade had completed the recommendation (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department reported in that February 2025 update that guidance previously contained in the brigade's High-Rise Firefighting policy had been reviewed and incorporated into its Management of Operational Risk Information policy, with all operational staff completing mandatory training on the revision (Home Office, Feb 2025). It noted in February 2025 that this improved guidance assisted operational staff to understand risks within their station areas, alongside new National Operational Guidance maintained by the National Fire Chiefs Council (Home Office, Feb 2025).

The LFB ensure that all officers of the rank of Crew Manager and above are trained in carrying out the requirements of PN633 relating to the inspection of high-rise buildings.

The Home Office reported in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade considered the recommendation complete, noting that all operational staff had completed mandatory training on the revised Management of Operational Risk Information policy to better understand risks within London's built environment (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department had previously recorded the brigade's position that the recommendation was complete in February 2024 (Home Office, Feb 2024).

All fire and rescue services be equipped to receive and store electronic plans and to make them available to incident commanders and control room managers.

In February 2025, the Home Office reported that the National Fire Chiefs Council considered the recommendation complete, with every fire and rescue service in England equipped to receive and store electronic plans and share high-rise residential building risk data with control room managers and incident commanders (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department also recorded in February 2025 that London Fire Brigade treated the recommendation as complete, using an interim solution while procurement and outstanding requirements workstreams for its One Risk project continued (Home Office, Feb 2025).

The LFB review its policies on communications between the control room and the incident commander.

The Inquiry recommended that the London Fire Brigade (LFB) review control room communications policies. In February 2025, the Home Office reported that the brigade considered the recommendation complete (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department stated that the brigade published a revised fire survival guidance policy in March 2021 following an extensive training programme for operational and control staff (Home Office, Feb 2025). This update describes enhancements to exchanging fire survival guidance information between control and the incident ground, while communications with the incident commander are not mentioned (Home Office, Feb 2025).

All officers who may be expected to act as incident commanders (i.e. all those above the rank of Crew Manager) receive training directed to the specific requirements of communication with the control room.

The Home Office reported in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade had completed this recommendation (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department stated that a revised policy on fire survival guidance was published in March 2021 and 95 percent of watch officers and senior officers had received face-to-face training (Home Office, Feb 2025). It added that this learning was being embedded through exercises involving residential high-rise fire scenarios (Home Office, Feb 2025).

All CROs of Assistant Operations Manager rank and above receive training directed to the specific requirements of communication with the incident commander.

The Inquiry recommended training senior control room operators on communicating with incident commanders. The Home Office stated in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade (LFB) reported the recommendation had been completed (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department noted that all control staff had received training on a revised Fire Survival Guidance policy issued in March 2021 and were taking part in residential high-rise exercises to embed learning (Home Office, Feb 2025). That update did not mention training directed to communications with the incident commander or staff of Assistant Operations Manager rank (Home Office, Feb 2025).

A dedicated communication link be provided between the senior officer in the control room and the incident commander.

In February 2025, the Home Office reported that the London Fire Brigade considered this recommendation complete (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department stated in February 2025 that the brigade had published a revised fire survival guidance policy in March 2021, establishing procedures for a dedicated communication link between the control room and the bridgehead on the incident ground (Home Office, Feb 2025).

The LFB's policies be amended to draw a clearer distinction between callers seeking advice and callers who believe they are trapped and need rescuing.

The Home Office reported in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade considers this recommendation completed (Home Office, Feb 2025). According to the department, the brigade produced guidance to draw a clearer distinction between callers seeking advice and callers who believe they are trapped and need rescuing within Appendix 1 of Policy Number 790 on fire survival guidance (Home Office, Feb 2025). This guidance was published in March 2021 following a brigade-wide training programme (Home Office, Feb 2025).

The LFB provide regular and more effective refresher training to CROs at all levels, including supervisors.

The Inquiry recommended regular, effective refresher training for control room staff. In February 2025, the Home Office reported that the London Fire Brigade considered the recommendation completed (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department stated that control staff began training on revised Policy Number 790 on Fire Survival Guidance in December 2020 (Home Office, Feb 2025). It added that maintenance of competency requirements was set out within the control element of the brigade's Development and Maintenance of Operational Professionalism (DaMOP) framework established in July 2020 (Home Office, Feb 2025).

All fire and rescue services develop policies for handling a large number of FSG calls simultaneously.

The Inquiry asked fire services to create policies for handling multiple simultaneous survival guidance calls. In February 2025, the Home Office reported that all fire and rescue services in England had completed the recommendation, based on a survey by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department stated that services had reviewed their policies and training to manage multiple fire survival guidance calls, alongside adopting technological systems to share information simultaneously (Home Office, Feb 2025). It also recorded that London Fire Brigade (LFB) had completed the recommendation following the rollout of revised operational guidance and associated training (Home Office, Feb 2025).

Electronic systems be developed to record FSG information in the control room and display it simultaneously at the bridgehead and in any command units.

In February 2025, the Home Office reported that the recommendation was complete across fire and rescue services, relaying a National Fire Chiefs Council survey confirming that all 43 services in England had taken actions to effectively capture and share information, while the London Fire Brigade considered the measure complete following the launch of its application in March 2022 (Home Office, Feb 2025). Previously, in September 2024, the department had reported that Buckinghamshire and Royal Berkshire were the final two services completing assurance and testing of their new systems (Home Office, Sep 2024).

Policies be developed for managing a transition from 'stay put' to 'get out'.

In February 2025, the Home Office reported that action on the recommendation was complete across all fire and rescue services, citing a National Fire Chiefs Council survey confirming that every service in England had completed the necessary steps (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department also recorded that the London Fire Brigade had completed the recommendation, having published revised fire survival guidance and new evacuation and rescue policies in March 2021 and trained all operational and control staff (Home Office, Feb 2025).

Control room staff receive training directed specifically to handling such a change of advice and conveying it effectively to callers.

In February 2025, the Home Office reported that this recommendation had been completed across fire and rescue services (Home Office, Feb 2025). It recorded that a National Fire Chiefs Council survey found all 43 English services had completed the action, while the London Fire Brigade confirmed that training for control room staff was complete and embedded through exercises (Home Office, Feb 2025).

Steps be taken to investigate methods by which assisting control rooms can obtain access to the information available to the host control room.

Relaying assurances from the National Fire Chiefs Council, the Home Office reported in February 2025 that delivery across fire and rescue services was complete, with shared Airwave talk groups embedded across all 43 services (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department explained in the same February 2025 update that while the Multi Agency Incident Transfer electronic system was connected to 18 control rooms serving 26 services, ten further connections were anticipated by March 2025 and the final six would be connected "in slower time" due to local integration work (Home Office, Feb 2025).

The LAS and the MPS review their protocols and policies to ensure that their operators can identify FSG calls (as defined by the LFB) and pass them to the LFB as soon as possible.

The Inquiry asked ambulance and police services to review fire survival guidance call protocols. In February 2025, the Home Office reported that the London Ambulance Service (LAS) and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) had reviewed their protocols to ensure calls are passed to the London Fire Brigade (LFB), which shared its revised policy and briefing note, and the department considered the recommendation complete (Home Office, Feb 2025). Earlier, in October 2019, Paul Woodrow OBE, Director of Operations at the ambulance service, stated that it welcomed the findings and accepted the recommendations relating to it (Paul Woodrow OBE, Oct 2019).

The LFB develop policies and training to ensure better control of deployments and the use of resources.

The Home Office reported in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade had completed the recommendation through its revised High-Rise Firefighting policy introduced in June 2021 (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department noted in February 2025 that this policy included guidance on crew deployments and Fire Survival Guidance calls, and that initial training in the new procedures had concluded in March 2021 (Home Office, Feb 2025).

The LFB develop policies and training to ensure that better information is obtained from crews returning from deployments and that the information is recorded in a form that enables it to be made available immediately to the incident commander (and thereafter to the command units and the control room).

The Inquiry asked the London Fire Brigade to improve crew debriefing and information recording. In February 2025, the Home Office reported that the brigade considers the recommendation complete (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department stated that the brigade developed a structured briefing model to ensure information is consistently gathered and recorded during debriefings (Home Office, Feb 2025). It added that the model has been incorporated into incident command training as well as policies on high-rise firefighting, fire survival guidance, and evacuation (Home Office, Feb 2025). Making recorded information immediately available to command units and the control room is not mentioned in the update (Home Office, Feb 2025).

The LFB develop a communication system to enable direct communication between the control room and the incident commander and improve the means of communication between the incident commander and the bridgehead.

In February 2025, the Home Office reported that the London Fire Brigade considered this recommendation complete through its revised Fire Survival Guidance policy (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department also recorded in February 2025 that the brigade had issued guidance on effective communication at incidents, altered radio channels to allow for dedicated command channels, and introduced drones to livestream information to Brigade Control (Home Office, Feb 2025).

The LFB investigate the use of modern communication techniques to provide a direct line of communication between the control room and the bridgehead, allowing information to be transmitted directly between the control room and the bridgehead and providing an integrated system of recording FSG information and the results of deployments.

The Home Office reported in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade considered this recommendation complete, having addressed it through the rollout of a Fire Survival Guidance application that went live in March 2022 (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department stated that the application enables information from fire survival guidance calls to be displayed simultaneously at an incident and in the control room (Home Office, Feb 2025). An earlier update in February 2024 noted that the introduction of the application had previously faced technical delays before those issues were resolved (Home Office, Feb 2024).

The LFB urgently take steps to obtain equipment that enables firefighters wearing helmets and breathing apparatus to communicate with the bridgehead effectively, including when operating in high-rise buildings.

In February 2025, the Home Office reported that the recommendation was complete, stating that the London Fire Brigade launched new breathing apparatus sets on 11 March 2024 featuring integrated mask communications and higher power radios to improve contact between wearers and the bridgehead (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department had previously reported in February 2024 that the rollout had been delayed from January 2024 to resolve equipment quality assurance issues with the supplier and allow additional time for training (Home Office, Feb 2024).

Urgent steps be taken to ensure that the command support system is fully operative on all command units and that crews are trained in its use.

The Home Office stated in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade had completed the recommendation (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department explained in February 2025 that new hardware servers and 4G connectivity had been installed across all command units, two 4G-enabled laptops had been supplied to each unit to provide resilience, and all command unit staff had completed refresher training (Home Office, Feb 2025).

Fire and rescue services develop policies for partial and total evacuation of high-rise residential buildings and training to support them.

In February 2025, the Home Office reported that this recommendation had been completed across England (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department stated in the same February 2025 update that a survey by the National Fire Chiefs Council confirmed every service had completed the necessary action on evacuation policies and training (Home Office, Feb 2025). It also recorded in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade had completed the recommendation after establishing its evacuation and rescue policy and training all operational personnel (Home Office, Feb 2025).

All fire and rescue services be equipped with smoke hoods to assist in the evacuation of occupants through smoke-filled exit routes.

The Home Office reported in February 2025 that the recommendation was complete for both the London Fire Brigade and fire and rescue services across England (Home Office, Feb 2025). It relayed that an August 2022 National Fire Chiefs Council survey found all 43 responding services had acquired smoke hoods, made them operationally available, and trained staff, while the brigade reported introducing smoke hoods across all front-line appliances in November 2018 (Home Office, Feb 2025).

Steps be taken to investigate the compatibility of the LFB systems with those of the MPS and the LAS with a view to enabling all three emergency services' systems to read each other's messages.

The Home Office reported in February 2025 that the London Fire Brigade had closed off the recommendation as complete after fully investigating the compatibility of its systems with the Metropolitan Police Service and London Ambulance Service (Home Office, Feb 2025). It stated that the brigade's mobilising system was Multi Agency Incident Transfer enabled, while noting that the brigade had committed to continuing work with partner services to deliver full capability (Home Office, Feb 2025).

The LFB, the MPS, the LAS and the London local authorities all investigate ways of improving the collection of information about survivors and making it available more rapidly to those wishing to make contact with them.

The Home Office reported in February 2025 that this recommendation was complete, relaying progress from London's emergency services (Home Office, Feb 2025). The department noted in that February 2025 update that procedures for improving survivor information collection and sharing had been incorporated into London's Major Incidents Procedures Manual by the London Emergency Services Liaison Panel and the Humanitarian Assistance Working Group, with the revised manual published in November 2021 (Home Office, Feb 2025).