The Fire Brigades Union has said that it “remains humbled” by the suffering of the bereaved, survivors and residents of the Grenfell community as Module 4 of Phase 2 of the inquiry starts.
Module 4, which began yesterday, is dealing with the aftermath of the disaster in terms of how the bereaved, survivors and residents were treated, and particularly the role of authorities.
The union has reiterated that it remains humbled by the community’s suffering in its opening submission for this module, and that “The resilience and dignity of the displaced residents survivors and bereaved throughout this torrid time is deserving of the highest praise”.
The union also recognises that “Central and local government failed to provide the support they needed”, and “Many of the problems in the immediate aftermath of the fire were the result of decades of under-resourcing in social housing and local government”, with deregulation also being a significant factor.
BSRs, in the union’s view, felt abandoned by authorities in the immediate aftermath, whose efforts were “too little and too slow”. The union further states that anguish was “heightened by the lack of information or better communication from those who could access the information they needed about their missing loved ones”.
The union’s opening submission to this module also encourages the Inquiry “to investigate why bereaved, survivors and residents were denied a simple lump sum emergency payment of £5,000 and were instead paid an initial instalment of £500”. In other parts of the UK similar payments, to those left bereft by incidents such as flooding, have been made as a lump sum.
Image credit: Jess Hurd
