Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Home Office

The Government has run two public consultations on supporting the evacuation and fire safety of vulnerable residents (which includes disabled residents) in light of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations concerning Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs).

The first consultation found substantial difficulties in mandating PEEPs in high-rise residential buildings, focussed on practicality, proportionality and safety.

The Government consulted upon a different package of measures during Summer 2022 – the Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing Plus consultation – and is now considering the responses to this, alongside the responses to its accompanying calls for evidence, and will publish a response in due course.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government is committed to delivering against the recommendations made in the Grenfell Tower Phase 1 report.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, delivering the majority of the recommendations to Government, have now come into force, and most recently we have published guidelines to the Fire and Rescue Service to support their role in evacuation, meeting a further Inquiry recommendation.

The remaining four recommendations to Government concern evacuation. Three of these are addressed in the proposals in the Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing Plus consultation, and for the fourth, concerning evacuation alert systems, this has been met for new high rise residential buildings, and the Home Office is undertaking further work regarding existing buildings, including developing an evidence base of existing evacuation alert systems.

Answering body: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

The Government supports the independent Grenfell Tower Inquiry, through which we may understand the truth about the circumstances leading to the tragedy.

We remain committed to ensuring bereaved, survivors and residents get the support they need for the long term, including throughout the Inquiry process. My department continues to work closely with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and health partners to ensure there are services available to support the evolving needs of the community; this includes physical and emotional wellbeing services.

In addition, the government has funded legal representation for all bereaved, survivors and residents who are core participants to the Inquiry to ensure they are not disadvantaged. Those who attended the Inquiry hearings have had their daily travel and subsistence costs covered. These costs are government funded and administered by the Inquiry.

The department has a dedicated community engagement team who are also available to meet families individually or in a small groups with other families – however they feel most comfortable - and will continue to support the recovery of those affected.