1,149 unsafe buildings, £5,100,000,000 spent: Grenfell in numbers
Tomorrow will mark five years since the Grenfell Tower disaster, which claimed the lives of 72 people in 2017.
A small fridge fire became an inferno as flames climbed the exterior of the building.
An ongoing inquiry into the tragedy has since found the cladding on the 24-storey building was a key factor in the rapid spread of the blaze.
The fire burned for about 60 hours before finally being extinguished.
Survivors this week have branded the fire as ‘a tragedy in three acts’ as they still push for answers from the government.
The numbers into the Grenfell Tower disaster have now been broken down, highlighting the four housing secretaries, three evacuated families still awaiting permanent homes, and two phases of public inquiry into the tragedy.
The response since the fire
£5.1 billion – the amount spent comes in response to funding promised by the Government to replace unsafe cladding in all buildings over 18m in height in England. The figure is made up of £3.5 billion promised in 2021 and £1.6 billion promised in 2020.
201 – households needed rehoming after the fire. Three of these are still in temporary homes, according to the the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
1,826 – days in the five years since the fire took place.
486 – buildings over 18m tall that were identified as having Grenfell-style cladding on them. It was only this month that the cladding used on Grenfell Tower was banned. Metal composite panels with an unmodified polyethylene core can no longer be used on all new buildings of any height in England.
58 – buildings over 18m tall that have yet to have their cladding removed as of May 2022.
1,149 – buildings in London that require emergency measures such as waking watches due to fire safety issues.
Four – housing secretaries – which are now known as Levelling Up secretaries. They include Michael Gove (2021 to 2022), Robert Jenrick (2019 to 2021), James Brokenshire (2018 to 2019) and Sajid Javid in 2018.
This week, Mr Gove admitted ‘shortcuts were made’ and apologised for the sometimes ‘slow in acting’ response from the government.
He said: ‘We know that there were shortcuts when it came to safety, we know that there were unforgivable decisions that were made in the interests of financial engineering which put lives at risk, we also know again in my own department that there were individuals who sought to speak out and to raise concerns, and that those voices were not heeded.’
Mr Gove added: ‘That is something that must rest on my conscience and the consciences of Government colleagues.’
Rehousing of survivors:
Three – families in temporary homes as of June 8.
198 – households in permanent homes as of June 8.
£406 million – approximate amount spent by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on its response and recovery efforts as of May of last year.
Public inquiry
1,730 – days since the opening of the Grenfell inquiry.
644 – the total number of core participants in the inquiry, including civil servants, politicians and survivors.
£149 million – amount spent by the inquiry as of March 2022. According to figures obtained by The Guardian, the overall cost – including legal fees not covered by the inquiry – is on course to exceed a quarter of a billion pounds.
96 – the number of people who former Department for Communities and Local Government secretary Lord Pickles said died in the Grenfell fire during his testimony to the inquiry.
This week, a survivor of the Grenfell Tower fire blasted a ‘betrayal’ by the government’s housing department.
Ed Daffarn escaped through choking smoke from his 16th floor flat on June 14, 2017.
The 59-year-old social worker, who lived in the tower for 15 years, said residents were ‘just left on the street’ in the days following the fire – adding that they have felt ‘abandoned’ ever since.
He said: ‘We’re now five years into the saga and we’ve travelled so little distance up the road in terms of change that it feels almost like a betrayal.
‘Those people with the responsibility to bring us change have acted in such an incompetent and indifferent manner to us that we are where we are.
‘The fact that tonight, disabled people who live in high-rise buildings face the exact same danger as residents of Grenfell faced on the night of June 14, 2017, should bring shame on this Government.’
Grenfell Tower – 5 Years On https://t.co/N17zmBP5Xc via @YouTube
Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said: ‘On the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy, and always, our first and last thoughts are with those who lost their lives, their families and their friends.
‘The bereaved and survivors continue to show incredible strength, courage, and solidarity, as they search for truth and justice.
‘They have set us the challenge of being the best council – something I intend to strive towards,’ she added.
A spokesperson for the Department for Housing, Communities and Levelling Up said: ‘The Grenfell Tower tragedy must never be allowed to happen again and our thoughts are with the bereaved families, survivors and residents.’
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