Grenfell Tower Inquiry Report

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Excerpts

Friday 22nd November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare an interest in that my wife was, before she retired, a construction lawyer, and I have discussed the Grenfell disaster with several of her former colleagues and clients.

I thank my noble friend the Minister for his introduction to this debate and, as so often in this House, it has become a debate of high quality. We may be few in number, but we have certainly covered most of the issues in some depth and with great concern and care for the events that they led to. I am sure I am not the only one who would have liked to hear the noble Lord, Lord Porter of Spalding, vent his spleen a bit more about some of the issues that he was touching on. He was too shy; perhaps on another occasion we can learn a little more of what he can bring from his ground-level knowledge of some of the issues that we are talking about.

I have read most of the reports and commentaries on the fire, and we are certainly not short of material to read about it. They may in some cases be otiose and in some too detailed, but they certainly give us the material that we want to form future policy. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Report, published in September, made 58 recommendations, and they are certainly very punchy and worth a lot of consideration. I am sure the department will be working very hard on making sure that they are implemented.

There are also, of course, two other reports. Dame Judith Hackitt’s report, concentrating on the building regulations and fire safety, was published in May 2018, and the Government indicated that they would accept all her recommendations. As far as the design and construction process is concerned, the Building Safety Act 2022 has provided powers for secondary legislation to bring forward new duties of care, competence and compliance, and these duties were indeed brought into force in October 2023.

However, in the meantime, evidence emerging in the public inquiry exposed apparently widespread malpractice in the marketing of construction products, including some that were found to be a principal reason for the spread of the fire within the building—many speakers have referred to this. Unfortunately, the secondary legislation in respect of construction products, which, under the original timetable, was due to be implemented by October 2023 alongside the other secondary legislation, has still not appeared. This may be related to the lack of response so far to the recommendations of the third report, the Morrell Day report, which maps out the complexity and opacity of the current construction product regime, sets out proposals for reform, and proposes principles by which decisions on alternative proposals might be made.

Dame Judith Hackitt says in her foreword to the Morrell Day report:

“We must move from a state where: up to two-thirds of products are unregulated, there is lack of clarity around purpose of testing, the fitness for purpose of current standards is questioned and there is no enforcement to implement a process that delivers quality and confidence”.


That is rather a damning indictment of where we currently stand. It is this package of reforms that is missing. It seems to me that the Government need to come forward quickly with secondary legislation on this important set of proposals. If that is still in process and there is time to look at them, I hope that they will bring into their thinking the Morrell Day report recommendations of principles, which I think are very appropriate for this discussion and future thinking about how we do this. The report says that

“it is for product manufacturers to develop products that do the job expected of them, and to market them honestly, making no false claims … it is for Conformity Assessment Bodies to test and assess those products against defined specifications, impartially and independently, so that those who must rely upon performance claims can do so with confidence … it is for designers to choose products with the performance that is fit for purpose, and then design them into the works so that the performance can be achieved … it is for constructors to bring everything together with the same objective in mind”.

These are not matters which are always followed. The report goes on to say that

“it is not for regulators or enforcement authorities to act as the industry’s quality assurance department and take responsibility for every infraction, but it is … vital … to keep a watchful eye out for non-compliance, and to aid compliance … it is also for regulators and enforcement authorities to see that regulations are enforced where necessary—and particularly where they are wilfully ignored or carelessly disregarded; and … that all of the above depends upon clear regulatory requirements and standards that deliver the desired outcome”.

These are the ones that we are awaiting.

As we have heard, this year alone there have been several tower block fires, and we have also been told that no building is really safe. It has also been reported that more than 4,000 buildings across the country remain partially or wholly covered with unsafe cladding. Is this a situation that can continue? I do hope not. I end by asking my noble friend the Minister: given the critical role that inappropriate or mis-sold products played in the rapid spread of fire in the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and noting that the original intention was to bring in new regulations by October 2023, when do the Government intend to make proposals for reform along the lines I have outlined?