Our commitments to the Inquiry: tracking progress

Our commitments

The council made 45 commitments in response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry going beyond the progress already made since 2017. We committed to producing an action plan and publishing updates on how the implementation of the commitments is progressing every 5 months. The first of these updates was published in May 2025 in a report to the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Our action plan has been reorganised into 4 overarching themes:

Summary update on recommendations

You can find detailed updates on all recommendations using the links to the pages in the table.

Safety of life

Commitments 1 to 4, 13 to 18

• contractors and products implicated in the Grenfell Tower fire have been successfully banned, and the ban on combustible materials in external walls has also been completed
• council departments are continuing to work on improving how information is shared between departments about vulnerable residents. A new protocol will be in place by March
• Housing Needs is working with residents through the bi-monthly Resident Reference Group to talk about their experiences and safety, and there is also the new disabled residents’ forum which focuses on safety. The Housing management Resident safety Panel was set up again in March 2025
• Housing Management are reviewing the feasibility of automating the process of ensuring that fire safety materials are available in multiple languages on the RBKC website
• emergency resilience responsibilities are now included in the contracts for senior officers, and the emergency planning function in the Council has been reviewed, with an action plan that will be implemented and monitored annually
• since 2017, engagement with community and faith groups has increased significantly, with over 30 emergency rest centres established and a new, dedicated community resilience post within the Resilience team

Being a better landlord

Commitments 5 to 8

• the Housing Management team has worked with tenants, those in temporary accommodation and those experiencing homelessness via a lived experiences interview project, which is set to conclude in early 2026 
• a review of the Housing complaints system is part of the wider council’s complaints review which began in January
• impacts on social housing tenants and those in temporary accommodation are considered in key council decision making
• Housing has worked to establish effective working relationships with teams across the council, for example the Warm and Well programme with Public Health to proactively identify mould and damp conditions

Relationships, trust and resident voice

Commitments 9 to 12, 19 to 23, 35 to 38 

• all council performance data is published quarterly on the RBKC website and reviewed by council scrutiny and leadership
• ward based meetings with lead members and senior officers were held across the borough, and the Oversight Team will take what has been learned through this programme to develop and embed a long term, continuous approach to this
• the council’s new Fairer Action plan sets out the cross-council approach to equalities, and is available on the RBKC website
• the council is working towards increasing the number of local residents employed by the council. A new corporate internship programme has launched for residents aged 18-24 in social housing, and we will continue to strengthen connections between local education providers. As part of the People Plan, HR is focusing on continuing to invest in apprenticeship programmes for local residents
• induction and training will be refreshed for councillors after the May elections, with a focus on resident experiences
• the council’s complaints process is being reviewed end to end, and we are involving residents who have submitted complaints in the last year as well as officers from across the council and Complaints Managers from other councils
• the new Charter for Public Participation commitments have been co-designed with local residents, following a consultation with over 500 people

Organisational leadership, workforce and oversight

Commitments 24 to 34, 39 to 45

• we have introduced a new Safety Impact Assessment tool for all key and executive decisions on contract management, and Strategic Procurement are exploring how to give residents a genuine voice in contractor selection and management
• the Recruitment Team has successfully expanded resident involvement in recruitment processes, and there is a dedicated pool of trained resident assessors
• the council will work with the newly appointed Independent Advisory Panel to develop the external review of council culture, with the lead person to be appointed in Spring 2026
• the Chief Executive’s team is developing a ‘Lessons Learnt Library’ that will capture examples of success and failure across the organisation