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P2-44

Consolidate and update emergency preparedness guidance

Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Report · Issued 4 September 2024 · Addressed to: UK Government

Government responseUK Government: Accepted (Feb 2025)

DeliveryMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says completed (Sep 2026)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

The current guidance on preparing for emergencies is contained in several documents, all of which are unduly long and in some respects out of date. We recommend that the guidance be revised, reduced in length and consolidated in one document which lays greater emphasis on the need for those leading the response to consider the requirements for recovery, the need to identify vulnerable people, the importance of identifying and ensuring co-operation with voluntary, community and faith groups and is consistent with the Equality Act 2010. (113.69)

Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Report · 4 Sep 2024 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government reported in September 2026 that this recommendation was complete, having concluded a guidance review and set out a programme to refresh and consolidate resilience guidance (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sep 2026; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sep 2026). The department stated that it had established a guidance management framework, with immediate priorities including updating the National Resilience Standards for Local Resilience Forums by the fourth quarter of 2026 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sep 2026). In February 2026, it had recorded earlier progress including revised guidance on supporting vulnerable people and an updated concept of operations (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Feb 2026).

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026.

Government response

●UK Government · Accepted · 26 Feb 2025

Words of: HM Government, Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report: Government response (CP 1248), presented to Parliament by the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, 26 February 2025

The government accepts this recommendation. We will fully factor it into the outcomes of the resilience review. As a first step, we will publish the revised local responder guidance on ‘Identifying and Supporting Vulnerable People’ in spring 2025.

Extract from: Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report: Government response (HTML version)

Site note: This is the government's response to the Phase 2 report (CP 1248, published 26 February 2025). It prints each recommendation and then the response to it. Where the recommendation is addressed to a body outside government, the response prints that body's own acceptance (the Architects Registration Board and RIBA, HMICFRS, London Fire Brigade, the National Fire Chiefs Council, the British Standards Institution, the National Police Chiefs' Council), and the row is filed under that body.

Delivery

●Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says completed · 10 Sep 2026

Timeline for delivery
2026
- Government will conclude a guidance review and set out the programme for a complete refresh. – Complete

From: Progress report September 2026: implementation timeline for Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations (part of Grenfell Tower Inquiry Government Progress Report: September 2026)

Site note: This is the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's progress report of September 2026 on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations. Where the passage describes work by another body, such as the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade, fire and rescue services, the British Standards Institution or the Cabinet Office, it is the Ministry's account of that body's progress, and the row is filed under the Ministry.

Earlier statements on delivery (0)

●Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · 10 Sep 2026

Based on the guidance review, we have written out to local responders setting out the government’s programme to refresh existing resilience guidance. This programme of work has covered core guidance that the government is looking to maintain to support resilience practitioners, as well as when they are due to be updated. Immediate priorities include completing the updates of the National Resilience Standards for Local Resilience Forums and the Lead Government Department Expectation Set by Q4 (October to December) 2026.

Alongside this, we have also set out what guidance the government will look to consolidate as part of the refresh, to reduce duplication and withdraw given that it has now been superseded. We have invited local responders to feed back on the programme of updates, to ensure it is informed by the needs of the resilience community. We have established a new guidance management framework to oversee the production and maintenance of UK government’s guidance to ensure that it remains up-to-date and reflective of the needs of the resilience community.

This recommendation is now complete and has been fully discharged.

From: Progress report September 2026: response and recovery (part of Grenfell Tower Inquiry Government Progress Report: September 2026)

Site note: This is the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's progress report of September 2026 on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations. Where the passage describes work by another body, such as the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade, fire and rescue services, the British Standards Institution or the Cabinet Office, it is the Ministry's account of that body's progress, and the row is filed under the Ministry.

●Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · 25 Feb 2026

As the first steps in modernising critical guidance, the Cabinet Office published:

- Revised guidance on identifying and supporting vulnerable people. The new publication included feedback from local responders, voluntary, charity and faith sector representative groups.

- An updated Central Government Concept of Operations for Emergency Response and Recovery (HMG CONOPs), which is called the Amber Book – Managing crises in central government. As part of this update, the guidance specifically recognises the need for humanitarian considerations.

To make the government’s resilience guidance more accessible for practitioners, we have launched a new GOV.UK page to collate all relevant guidance, aiming to make the information simpler to find and use.

Alongside these publications, Cabinet Office has undertaken an initial review of government’s existing resilience guidance to determine what information can be withdrawn, as it has been superseded, or be consolidated into other existing guidance. This review has also looked to identify what guidance should be updated as a priority, as well defining what the future catalogue of guidance should look like.

As a next step, in 2026 we will be working to engage stakeholders on the outcomes of this review and set out a programme of updates.

From: Annual Report February 2026: response and recovery (part of Grenfell Tower Inquiry Government Annual Report: February 2026)

Site note: This is the annex of the government's Phase 2 annual report (CP 1512, published 25 February 2026) as GOV.UK publishes it, one page per theme: the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's account. Where the passage describes work by another body, such as the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade, the British Standards Institution, the Health and Safety Executive or the Cabinet Office, it is the report's account of that body's progress, and the row is filed under the Ministry. The status is what the passage says: completed only where it says the recommendation is complete or closed.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.