Lors de l’enquête sur l’incendie de Grenfell, Jason Beer, QC, s’exprimant au nom du ministère du gouvernement Johnson pour le nivellement, le logement et les communautés (DLUHC), a présenté des excuses officielles pour un manque de surveillance qui, selon lui, a permis aux acteurs locaux de violer les réglementations conduisant à 72 morts dans l’incendie de la tour Grenfell en 2017.

Sa présentation était essentiellement la défense du gouvernement conservateur alors que l’enquête Grenfell entre dans sa dernière section en se concentrant sur les actions du gouvernement. Beer a cherché à dépeindre les ministres du Logement comme des victimes innocentes de l’industrie de la construction et des responsables locaux :

« Le ministère est profondément désolé pour ses échecs passés en ce qui concerne sa surveillance du système qui réglemente la sécurité dans la construction et la rénovation des immeubles de grande hauteur. Il regrette également profondément les échecs passés en ce qui concerne la surveillance des organismes de contrôle des bâtiments. »

Il ajouta, « [Had there been a functional enforcement system with efficient assurance built in, non-compliance to the extent that gave rise to the Grenfell Tower tragedy may not have been possible.”

The regulatory system, he admitted, was “unfit for purpose,” and the department had assumed “that compliance was being monitored by qualified experts at the local level, and that non-compliance with the regulations would be identified by building control inspectors.” That trust had been “misplaced and abused.”

With the formalities out of the way, Beer quickly shifted the blame for the fire onto the construction industry. “No competent professional, acting in good faith, should have misunderstood or misapplied the statutory requirements”, as set down in the Building Regulations and British Standards. If these had been followed, he argued, “a large-scale cladding fire could not have happened.”

It was an astounding and brazen argument from the government, which under political parties of three different stripes—Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat—spent decades deregulating building construction and fire safety measures. The bereaved and survivors group Grenfell United responded, “It is a disingenuous attempt to carry on their masquerade of innocence. We know government knew about the deadly materials and the consequences, but covered up the risks… Government enforced a system of de-regulation for financial gain.”

End Our Cladding Scandal, representing leaseholders trapped in their homes with Grenfell-style ACM (aluminium composite material) cladding they cannot afford to fix, said Beer’s testimony “confirmed what we have known for years: that residents have been betrayed by successive governments and civil servants for decades… Today, in one breath, the government has admitted that it presided over the unfit-for-purpose building safety system but, in the next, tried to avoid responsibility by blaming the construction and building control sectors for a lack of honesty and competence.”

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