Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report published

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry today published its Phase 2 report into the fire at Grenfell Tower on the night of 14 June 2017 which led to the deaths of 72 people.

The Inquiry was set up in 2017, chaired by Sir Martin Moore-Bick. The Inquiry’s Phase 1 report, which examined the events on the night of the fire, was published on 30 October 2019.

Phase 2 of the Inquiry addressed the circumstances leading up to the fire, including how and why the fire happened. It heard evidence across 8 different modules, sitting for over 300 days of evidence and disclosed over 320,000 documents during the course of both phases. The Inquiry also acted as an inquest for the purpose of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.

The Inquiry concluded:

“We conclude that the fire at Grenfell Tower was the culmination of decades of failure by central government and other bodies in positions of responsibility in the construction industry to look carefully into the danger of incorporating combustible materials into the external walls of high-rise residential buildings and to act on the information available to them” (paragraph 2.4 of the Phase 2 Report Overview).

The Report was critical of many bodies involved – including the Government, which it found had many opportunities to identify the risks of combustible cladding (2.5).

Members of 5 Essex Chambers have been involved throughout the Inquiry in a range of roles, both as part of the Inquiry’s legal team and for various Core Participants.

• Bilal Rawat, Alex Ustych, Molly Joyce and David Messling acted as Junior Counsel to the Inquiry.
• Jason Beer KC represented the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
• Samantha Leek KC and Peter Laverack acted on behalf of the Building Research Establishment (BRE).
• Anne Studd KC, John Goss and Conor Monighan were instructed by the Mayor of London.
• Charlotte Ventham KC and Emma Price were instructed on behalf of City of London.
• Amy Clarke represented the Metropolitan Police Service.
• Jonathan Dixey and Robert Harland acted on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Home Department.

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Related barristers

Jason Beer KC

Call 1992 | Silk 2011

Anne Studd KC

Call 1988 | Silk 2012

Samantha Leek KC

Call 1993 | Silk 2012

Charlotte Ventham KC

Call 2001 | Silk 2024

Bilal Rawat

Call 1995

Rob Harland

Call 2006

Jonathan Dixey

Call 2007

Emma Price

Call 2007

Alex Ustych

Call 2010

Amy Clarke

Call 2010

John Goss

Call 2015

Peter Laverack

Call 2015

Molly Joyce

Call 2016

David Messling

Call 2017

Conor Monighan

Call 2019

Related areas

Inquests

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Public Inquiries

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