The Grenfell Tower Inquiry sits for two days this week (11th and 12th December) to set out the terms under which evidence from all of the various participants and witnesses to the enquiry, including survivors and firefighters, will be heard.
The Inquiry, which is being chaired by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, has granted the FBU core participant status. The union is however extremely disappointed that former Greater Manchester and also Cheshire Chief Fire Officer Steve McGuirk has been appointed as an assessor/expert on to the inquiry’s panel, as he is too closely associated with the running of the fire service. He was also a member of the (then) Chief Fire Officers' Association's Presidential team, which advised Government on safety issues that are now being scrutinized. As a result of a complaint issued by the FBU, the inquiry has pledged that the union will be given an opportunity to robustly challenge Steve McGuirk’s evidence.
The FBU has also sought permission to instruct an operational firefighting expert to provide additional evidence, and to give in addition an independent peer review of the evidence to be supplied by Steve McGuirk. The concerns surrounding the appointment of Steve McGuirk, and of a Ms Joyce Redfearn who was appointed to the inquiry’s panel before him and who is a retired Clerk to the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, could together it is feared have too great an influence over the outcome of the inquiry. Of additional concern is that they were both formerly Deputy Lieutenants for Greater Manchester. None of these links were disclosed when the Grenfell Tower Inquiry (GTI) panel was announced.
The FBU will be seeking assurances from the GTI team that all of the appointed assessors and experts have been asked to declare any involvement or association with companies that may have installed cladding or insulation windows to high rise residential blocks.
The union is also asking for the opportunity to make submissions on how to help firefighters and control operators to give their best evidence, after reading their witness statements, during Phase 2 of the Inquiry.
The FBU asks that Phase I proceeds without further delay, and that it happens in tandem with the police investigation instead of awaiting its outcome. Phase 2 should commence as soon as possible after Phase I is complete.
The FBU also asks that a venue for the inquiry is found to be as close to Grenfell Tower as possible in order that as many survivors can attend as is possible.
A Live Stream of the event can be found on Youtube
A Live Stream of the event can be found on Youtube
