Establish water undertaker communication protocols
Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Report · Issued 4 September 2024 · Addressed to: National Fire Chiefs Council
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
That all fire and rescue services establish and periodically review an agreed protocol with the statutory water undertakers in their areas to enable effective communication between them in relation to the supply of water for firefighting purposes. (113.63)
Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Report · 4 Sep 2024 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- NFCC engaged Ofwat on mains compliance concerns and responded to an Ofwat consultation in October 2025 (Annual Report on Progress, MHCLG, February 2026).
- A revised National Guidance Document on water provision for firefighting was published (Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Recommendations Dashboard, MHCLG, updated March 2026).
- The government's dashboard states this recommendation is complete and has been fully discharged (Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Recommendations Dashboard, MHCLG, updated March 2026).
Response — verbatim from government
●National Fire Chiefs Council — initial response
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) accepts this recommendation on behalf of all fire and rescue services. NFCC and fire service lead officers for water are discussing with water undertakers how to strengthen existing arrangements and with Ofwat to identify potential improvements to the interactions between services and water undertakers. The NFCC will produce a delivery plan by the end of April 2025 to set out what actions it will take as a result.
National Fire Chiefs Council · 16 Jan 2025 Written response →
●NFCC — follow-up
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) accepts this recommendation on behalf of all fire and rescue services. NFCC and fire service lead officers for water are discussing with water undertakers how to strengthen existing arrangements and with Ofwat to identify potential improvements to the interactions between services and water undertakers. The NFCC will produce a delivery plan by the end of April 2025 to set out what actions it will take as a result.
NFCC · 26 Feb 2025 Written response →
●National Fire Chiefs Council — follow-up
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) accepts this recommendation on behalf of all fire and rescue services. NFCC and fire service lead officers for water are discussing with water undertakers how to strengthen existing arrangements and with Ofwat to identify potential improvements to the interactions between services and water undertakers. The NFCC will produce a delivery plan by the end of April 2025 to set out what actions it will take as a result.
National Fire Chiefs Council · 26 Feb 2025 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 1 Feb 2026 NFCC engaged Ofwat; mains compliance concerns raised with Environment Department. NFCC responded to Ofwat consultation October 2025. LFB maintains positive engagement with water companies; revised National Guidance Document published with clear incident support protocols. This recommendation is now complete and has been fully discharged. Source →
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.