Having read the Overview and some parts of the Grenfell Inquiry Report, is seems quite clear we have seen gross negligence by the Royal Borough and clear grounds to send Commissioners into the RBKC.
In the words of Martin Moore-Bick, the council leadership that they were part of in June 2017 contributed to every “entirely avoidable” death, and “failed in their duties, whether through incompetence or, in some cases, dishonesty and greed.”
The Inquiry Report further states that, under the same leadership, “certain aspects of the response demonstrated a marked lack of respect for human decency and dignity.” It was actually an adjoining borough of Hammersmith & Fulham that responded first to the needs of the resident immediately after the fire under the leadership of Cllr Stephen Cowan.
To the best of my knowledge, three current RBKC Councillors who held cabinet positions at the time of the fire – Elizabeth Campbell, Catherine Faulks and Gerard Hargreaves – are still members of the council.
The Local Government Act 1999 gives the Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities the power to send in commissioners to review and manage all or some council functions where evidence has emerged that a council is falling short of its duties. Commissioners are appointed by the government to intervene in a UK council for specific issues such as budgetary and organisational challenges. What can be better grounds than the safety of its resident in their housing accommodation?
If this had happened in an East London borough, the Commissioners would have been sent in some time ago, for sure.