Angela Rayner: Removing dangerous cladding on buildings not happening 'quickly enough'

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the Met Police and Crown Prosecution Service must act "as quickly as possible" over the Grenfell Tower disaster, as ITV News' Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker reports

The government is examining the recommendations of the seven-year probe into the Grenfell Tower fire, following its damning conclusion.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said that dangerous cladding needs to be removed at a faster rate, with "change not happening quickly enough."

Rayner told broadcasters she wants the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service to act "as quickly as possible" over the Grenfell findings.

Speaking to ITV News, she wouldn't commit to a time frame for governent action, but insisted "I will take whatever more powers and whatever more legal action we need to take as a government to speed up this process."

The housing secretary has been facing questions from broadcasters about the next steps ministers will take following the end of the inquiry into the 2017 tower block fire.

The prime minister's official spokesman confirmed on Thursday that none of the firms named in the inquiry report currently hold government contracts.

“Following a review of all central government and arm’s length-body contracts, no contracts are held with companies involved in the tragedy.

“But we will undertake a full review of the inquiry’s findings, and we will also identify if companies involved in the tragedy are still in our supply chains as subcontractors", he said.

It comes after Sir Keir Starmer issued a state apology for a disaster he said should "never have happened".

The prime minister said the government will look at all 58 of the inquiry’s recommendations “in detail”.

Ministers will respond in full within six months, and will provide regular updates to Parliament on any commitments made, Starmer added.

The deaths of all 72 people in the 2017 blaze in west London were avoidable and had been preceded by “decades of failure” by government, other authorities and the building industry, inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s report concluded.

The tower block was covered in combustible products because of the “systematic dishonesty” of firms who made and sold the cladding and insulation, he added, with cladding company Arconic and insulation firms Kingspan and Celotex coming in for particularly heavy criticism.

Though he acknowledged failures stretching back to the 1990s, Sir Martin took aim at the drive for deregulation by the coalition and Conservative governments since 2010, which meant concerns about the safety of life had been “ignored, delayed or disregarded” despite the deadly Lakanal House fire which killed six people in 2009.

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Grenfell United, a group which represents some bereaved and survivors, called for a ban on government contracts for some of the companies involved.

The PM told Parliament all firms found by the inquiry to be part of the “horrific failings” will be written to “as the first step” to stopping them being awarded such contracts.

The prime minister has also said it is “imperative that there is full accountability” for what happened “including through the criminal justice process”.

The Metropolitan Police has said it will need an estimated 12 to 18 months to pore over the report “line by line” before any criminal charges are brought.

The force has previously said a total of 19 companies and organisations were under investigation for potential criminal offences, along with 58 individuals.

Potential offences under consideration included corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, perverting the course of justice, misconduct in public office, health and safety offences, fraud, and offences under the fire safety and building regulations.

Sir Martin’s report recommended creating a new single regulator for the construction industry, which has become “too complex and fragmented”.

The prime minister said the inquiry’s conclusion should be a “moment of change” and vowed to take measures to step up remediation of buildings still covered in dangerous cladding.

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