Grenfell Tower Fire: UK Gov’t Sends in Taskforce

Local Editor

In the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, UK government will send a taskforce to take over parts of Kensington and Chelsea Council.

The council has been heavily criticized for its handling of the disaster on 14 June that killed at least 80 people.

Both the council leader and chief executive have resigned as a result.

Now the government has ordered a taskforce to take over the housing department, as well as other council operations.

Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid said: "The scale of the recovery effort needed on the Lancaster West estate in the months to come cannot be underestimated.

"The challenge of providing that support is and will continue to be significant. I want to help the council meet that challenge. "

Councillor Elizabeth Campbell, who was chosen as Kensington and Chelsea Council's new leader on Monday, welcomed the announcement.

"The unprecedented scale of this incident makes it impossible for one organization to cope on its own," she said. "That's why my first action as leader was to ask the Department for Communities and Local Government [DCLG] for help, and I'm delighted they have been so swift to respond.

"I look forward to working with their staff as we all concentrate our efforts on healing the wounds in the north of our borough and to regain the trust of a community traumatized by disaster."

The news comes after a tense three-hour meeting on Tuesday between survivors, Met Police Commander Stuart Cundy and Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox.

Survivors were reportedly angry as they asked for information about people who were still missing.

However, they were told the "recovery phase" could last until the end of the year, as Dr Wilcox described the inside of the tower as "apocalyptic".

Police also faced questions as to why there had not been any arrests.

The taskforce announcement also comes on the same day as the government-set deadline to find temporary accommodation for all those made homeless by the fire.

The Grenfell Response Team says 139 formal offers of housing have been made to survivors, after the prime minister promised housing would be offered to those in need by Wednesday.

However, only 14 offers had been accepted and many are still in hotels.

uk | grenfell tower | grenfell tower fire | grenfell fire | london

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team