Report criticises Kensington and Chelsea council’s efforts to improve community relations following Grenfell

By Julia Gregory, Local Democracy Reporter

A panel brought in by the government to watch progress on improving community relations after the Grenfell tower disaster has said change is not happening quickly enough.

The task force said it was happy progress had been made but town hall reactions to requests for support were often “ill-considered or brusque”.

Its fifth report said: “We remain concerned about the pace of change, the culture across the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC) and the quality of the relationship with the bereaved and survivors, and the wider affected community.

“We remain unable to give you unequivocal assurance that RBKC is effectively delivering a recovery for the bereaved and survivors and the wider community in north Kensington.

“After two-and-a-half years the support and challenge we provide to RBKC is sometimes welcome and sometimes not.

“This issue has not been addressed with the urgency that we had hoped. The relationship with the wider community, by now, should be stronger than it appears to be.

“We continue to hear reports from community groups and individuals of cases where their reception by the council is either ill-considered or brusque.”

Their report found:

*An improvement in operational plans – but they vary in quality

*Progress in housing policy – 600 new homes are planned – was “painfully slow”. There was still one household in a hotel, with six households in temporary homes and 194 of the 201 families now in permanent new homes, according to the latest figures

*Better management of Grenfell recovery with “substantial improvement” since last summer

* “Growing self-awareness” of the council’s abilities – but called for more assurances that staff are supported. Leaders are looking at stability after “a lot of churn” recently

*The hostility and distrust some residents feel is being addressed

*It welcomed the new community assemblies, Grenfell project days and new community officers.

* It welcomed beefed up systems to “drive delivery” of services, with a monthly board meeting keeping an eye on progress and new senior posts in housing, communities, Grenfell partnerships, social investment, and planning and place.

But the task force said: “Too often we have seen milestones being put back or taking longer than planned to deliver and the council putting forward reasons why it cannot do something rather than what it will do.

“We would urge greater challenge from the senior leadership where a ‘can’t do’ attitude is expressed.”

Nabil Choucair, who lost six family members in the fire and begged the council not to scrap the dedicated committee, said: “One of the worst things they have ever done is getting rid of the scrutiny committee. That was something for everybody to look at and scrutinise everything.”

Mr Choucair has campaigned with other bereaved and survivors after his mother Sirria, sister Nadia,  brother-in-law Bassem and his three young nieces Mierna, Fatima and Zainab, died on the 22nd floor of Grenfell Tower.

Resident Joe Delaney, who sat on the Grenfell recovery scrutiny committee, said: “The council continues to demand being judged for intentions rather than actions.”

The council’s deputy leader Kim Taylor Smith, who is lead member for Grenfell and housing said: “We are pleased to see the progress against all recommendations has been recognised.

“It is important to stress the council is making progress right across the board. We are improving all services. Officers are doing a superb job, working with communities, on our response to the Covid 19 challenge.”