Grenfell Tower advocate says ‘us and them’ mentality persists in council despite damning report

By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter

An advocate for Grenfell Tower fire victims has told Kensington and Chelsea council the last seven-and-a-half-years have been ‘gruelling’ for the community, as she doubled-down on calls for a new approach with residents.

Kimia Zabihyan, from the group Grenfell Next of Kin, claimed residents affected by the fire felt an ‘us and them’ mentality still existed among council staff and pleaded with councillors to reconsider how it engages residents from the Grenfell community.

At a meeting dedicated to reviewing the implications of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 2 report on Wednesday night, Kensington and Chelsea council leader Elizabeth Campbell said the local authority was ‘determined’ to see through change. 

Ms Zabihyan said: “I think given the extent of the failings that have been detailed in this report, taking seven years for us to hear in black and white what people knew, I think you really should think about a different approach now.”

She urged the council to use grassroots organisations to engage with the community, saying the current format of ‘drop-in sessions’ was losing its pull. 

Independent Cllr Mona Ahmed, who sat in the crowd, said the council should use external agencies to carry out scrutiny of its work saying many residents still did not believe the council could be held to account.

She said: “It’s not adequate anymore to rely on questions in generic overview and scrutiny meetings rather than new commitments. What we want is evidence of how previous commitments are being met and how the ones being made now are going to be met.”

Cllr Ahmed said the council’s senior management needed ‘culture change’. 

In response, Cllr Campbell said the council was keen to work with the bereaved, survivors and the local community to form a response to the tragedy. She also said the council was a signatory of the Hillborough Charter, and had trained more officers and improved how its resilience team deals with disasters. 

Cllr Campbell said the Grenfell Tower fire was “a wholly avoidable failure at every single level” and acknowledged the council failed residents leading up to, during and after the fire.

She added: “We can’t undo the harm that we’ve done but we owe it to people’s families, neighbours and our communities to ensure that this report drives through the change that this council is absolutely determined to see.” 

It comes as the council announced it was launching ‘drop-in’ sessions to seek the public’s support in drafting its formal response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

The council has a self-imposed deadline of November to submit a formal response to the Inquiry which found it ‘bears considerable responsibility’ for the dangerous conditions which led to Grenfell Tower fire. 

One-to-one sessions will take place on September 19, at the Kensington Leisure Centre and on September 2,4 at Chelsea Theatre between 4pm and 7pm.

Public meetings will also take place at Morley College between 6pm and 8pm on October 7, and November 7. 

These engagements are open to residents in a 500m radius of Grenfell tower as well as to all social housing tenants and anyone else in the community interested in participating.

Pictured top: Members of the public at the memorial at the base of Grenfell Tower in London (Picture: PA)