kensington and chelsea tenant management organisation grenfell

Such justice must encompass potential lawsuits under the Human Rights Act 1998, as well as criminal charges against those entities who manufactured the ACM cladding and were instrumental in the refurbishment of the tower. The police were not transparent about the Grenfell death toll: why does it matter now? I still suffer from PTSD. The Human Rights Act 1998 requires public authorities to act in a manner that is compatible with the Convention rights set out in section 1. Grenfell Tower Inquiry. /Parent 2 0 R I had a sense that the people in the TMO and RBKC looked down on the residents of Grenfell Tower and were brushing us off, he said. /Xi8 14 0 R They range from around 100 to 1500 rented properties in a single estate or area. And 8 tenants is far too few to deal sensibly with 10,000 properties. In 1996, the state authorities sub-contracted the management of social housing, including the Grenfell Towers, to the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) It said said: We need good costs for Cllr Feilding-Mellen and the planner tomorrow at 8.45am!. Through austerity cuts, since 2015 financial support for tenant training has gone, and there has been little interest in TMOs. WebThe management of Grenfell Tower, including how residents' complaints were handled Central and local government responses to the disaster The response of London Fire Brigade Building regulations and enforcement Remaining expert evidence Remaining evidence from bereaved, survivors and residents Module 1 [ edit] About the Author /F2 17 0 R /Xi3 27 0 R Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, Grenfell residents looked down on by housing chiefs, inquiry hears, Grenfell manager binned notes on refurbishment after fire, Grenfell contractor misrepresented cladding price to pocket savings, Firms in Grenfell Tower inquiry given immunity from prosecution, Grenfell report must criticise authorities, say survivors and bereaved, List of Grenfell's vulnerable tenants 'was 15 years out of date', Grenfell Tower manager confronted over 'cheap' refurbishment. How to cite this blogpost (Harvard style), Muzamil Khan N and Haynes P (2021) The Role of Corporate Governance Failure in the Grnfell Tower Fire Available at:https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/housing-after-grenfell/blog/2021/08/role-corporate-governance-failure-grenfell-tower-fire (Accessed [date]). /F6 21 0 R Central to this is the doctrine of effectiveness, which requires courts to give the fullest weight and effect to the underlying purpose of protecting human rights. The resident-led board has an ongoing role in scrutinising the delivery of services under the MMA, as well as ensuring ongoing assistance to the public inquiry and criminal investigation. My point is this: it is a serious and dangerous error to draw the lesson that KCTMO was not really a TMO.. He has called an emergency meeting next week for residents who have other concerns about fire that need to be addressed. An effective governance programme includes effective risk management providing clarity in defining roles, delineating duties, preventing duplicated efforts, identifying potential blind-spots, and assisting these efforts by providing structure to policies and tools. /Version /1.4 /CropBox [0.0 0.0 595.2 857.28] From 2015 the Birmingham City Council have closed down that Ladywood Housing Liaison Board, using an entirely false excuse (see my second comment, which has not yet appeared on this page). Grenfell Tower, the fire, and its aftermath, Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council, "The Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 1994", "Tenant management organisations the best-kept secret in housing", "Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation The Board", "Financial statements for year end 31st March 2013", "Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation Anti Social Behaviour Form", "London fire: Six killed as Grenfell Tower engulfed", "London high-rise fire leaves multiple people dead, dozens injured and others missing", "Fire safety concerns raised by Grenfell Tower residents in 2012", "People died thinking 'they didn't listen', says ex-Grenfell residents' group chair", "Private company responsible for Grenfell Tower maintenance asks public to donate money to help fire victims", "Grenfell management company stripped of responsibility for estate", "Grenfell Tower firm has housing contract terminated", "Grenfell firm to pass responsibility for homes to council", Criticism of the response to the Grenfell Tower fire, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kensington_and_Chelsea_TMO&oldid=1150172436, 1996 establishments in the United Kingdom, Tenant management organisations in England, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 16 April 2023, at 18:16. Available at:https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/housing-after-grenfell/blog/2019/11/grenfell-tower-fire-breach-right-life (Accessed [date]). The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. They negotiate a management agreement with their council landlord to take on limited, local responsibilities, paid for out of an allowance from their rents. Shirley Phillips, 72, who lives on the second floor in a neighbouring block, said: I am worried, but is worrying going to help? She had read on Facebook that one of the tenants wants everyone to rally around and call for the cladding to be removed. The lack of health and safety regulation is therefore a clear a failure on the part of the state to protect the right to life under Article 2 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) 1950. Article 2 therefore includes a positive substantive obligation on states to take appropriate steps to safeguard the lives of those within their jurisdiction. /Rotate 0 Mr Kinnier said that a full review of the property policy arrangements was recommended in the 2013 document. He was told the work would have no impact on emergency access, but he was not reassured because vehicles continued to take up the emergency bays - he felt, with management approval. It has now lost its role on the Publicity about the fake TMO puts their track record at risk. /F7 9 0 R /F10 10 0 R Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council, MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo dies, Trump mistrial request denied in NY rape lawsuit, Russia launches missile attacks on Ukraine, Street piano confiscated as public 'break rules', US rock band Aerosmith announce farewell tour, Father tells how gunman opened fire on Texas home, DeSantis-backed board votes to countersue Disney. This post originally appeared on the Oxford Human Rights Hub. In most cases, effective governance and management require a governance framework as a tool for providing structure for delivering appropriate decision making and oversight. In addition, it provides a structured way to collaborate with stakeholders on specific issues with minimal risk of confusion and loss of productivity. /Type /Catalog The Director of Housing proposed a borough-wide TMO that kept the housing department intact. [15] In the aftermath of the disaster, KCTMO has been further criticised for appealing to the public for donations to support the victims, despite giving no indication that it is donating to them itself. /F10 10 0 R /Font << They should have spent some of that money., Jose del Faria, 53, lives on the 11th floor of Adair Tower. Asked if she would have made any contribution in ensuring these deficiencies were fixed, she said: I am sure there was discussion in the monthly health and safety meetings. The Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, The Role of Corporate Governance Failure in the Grenfell Tower Fire. Looking at the blog of the Grenfell Action Group they made enquiries about reviving it in 2015 but it doesnt appear to have gone very far. Residents of other blocks run by Kensington and Chelsea Tenants Management Organisation raise concerns about the safety of their buildings. /Xi13 38 0 R Many small TMOs are based in similar high rise blocks to Grenfell. In an email to the KCTMO on March 20 2017, Mr Chapman said: Having seen these pipes numerous times, I am seriously concerned about how I will get out of the building alive in the event of a fire with this added risk., He added: At the 22nd floor it is a very long way down from the window in the event that after 30 minutes of fire our house is engulfed., In a second email three days later, Mr Chapman said: The potential risk to life and our common assets is without doubt very high given that this GAS MAIN is installed through our communal fire escape.. How to cite this blog post (Harvard style), Nadj, Daniela. The aluminium panels received a worse rating in terms of the amount of smoke they would emit. The handback took place on 1 March 2018. Run by a board of 13 tenants, it was described at the time as "one of Britain's most ambitious property management schemes".[5]. The husband and wife, who did not wish to be named, said they had been in their flat when fire broke out last October. /Type /Page /F3 18 0 R Witness: Kensington and Chelsea /Xi0 23 0 R A list of amendments to the 9.2m contract between Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) and Rydon, the builder for the refurbishment of the 24-storey tower, reveals that the saving was made after tender by fitting cassette fix aluminium cladding in lieu of zinc cladding. It emerged on Friday that 149 tower blocks in 45 local authority areas have failed tests on the flammability of their cladding. /F1 16 0 R The public inquiry will take many months to reveal the truth; prosecutions may take even longer. All rights reserved. Following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, the council terminated its contract with KCTMO. This changed in 1995 when Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) was established to manage 10,000 local council properties. /Im40 32 0 R [email protected] uiry.org.uk 0800 121 4282 /Annots [] This could form an ongoing violation of Article 2 of the ECHR, even in a domestic court of law. WebAt our core, GK Real Estate is an entrepreneurial, opportunity-driven organization. This blog post discusses the conditions of corporate governance failure within the network of stakeholders in the context of the management and refurbishment of Grenfell Tower. /F8 11 0 R /F4 19 0 R Concerned residents in the Chalcot Estate in Swiss Cottage asked Camden council on Thursday for a copy of the specifications for the rainfall cladding installed by housing contractor Rydon 11 years ago. Yet neither deemed it necessary to provide adequate health and safety regulations, such as sprinklers, and working fire alarms, which could have saved lives on the night, as stated in the recent Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 Report. [17] In September 2017 Kensington and Chelsea councillors voted unanimously to end the contract with KCTMO, stating that the firm "no longer has the trust of residents in the borough". The Guardian has also learned that representatives of the KCTMO and the councils planners were shown a mock-up of the cladding system on site in the summer of 2014. /F9 13 0 R Grenfell United formed after the tragedy, a group formed of survivors and the bereaved, campaigning for justice and representation. >> /Contents 29 0 R /F8 11 0 R Home News. It added that many of the fire arrangements have been bunched together and by doing so lack the detail in relation to what the planned preventative maintenance process should look like. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation opening statement. /Xi7 31 0 R /F12 15 0 R Lee Chapman said he had repeatedly been refused an independent fire assessment of the building by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) in spring 2017. There are also no sprinklers in the building, something residents also complained about in Grenfell. The government has established a Recovery Task Force to secure long-term recovery as the clear responsibility of the Council. With prudent Grenfell Tower fire: six victims provisionally identified, say police latest updates, High-rise towers are safe but tougher inspections needed, say experts, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. endobj << << Minutes of a progress meeting on 15 July 2014 attended by representatives of KCTMO, its project agent, Artelia, and Rydon, the contractor, suggest that the concerns they raised did not relate to safety but design issues, including the colour. Edward Daffarn and another resident repeatedly attacked the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) in a blog. The focus of our article is to examine corporate governance failure itself as a contributing factor in the fire, relying on evidence unearthed in the course of the investigation. /F1 16 0 R The document containing proposed cost cuts to bring the refurbishment budget down from 9.25m to 8.65m was issued by Artelia. She explains why the difference matters in light of the disaster at Grenfell. /Rotate 0 It was set up to cover the whole borough and simply took on the existing council housing department and stock. /F4 19 0 R It was not a TMO, because the tenants could not take on the complex task of running the whole of the boroughs near 10,000 unit housing stock. He emailed London Fire Brigade (LFB) in March 2014 warning that "if there was a major fire in Grenfell Tower and fire brigade access ever became an issue we would use the evidence recorded on our blog and in extensive email correspondence to ensure that those in charge at the TMO (Tenant Management Organisation) would face extremely serious consequences". A list of amendments to the 9.2m contract between Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) and Rydon, the builder for the Kensington and Chelsea TMO was the largest TMO in the UK [3] and unique in having been the only TMO that managed the entire housing stock for the local council. [4] Following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, the council terminated its contract with KCTMO. Since January 2018, the housing has been directly managed by the council. In terms of my technical input, I really do not have that technical background so it would not be for me to make comment on a ventilation system (as) I do not have that expertise.. My point is this: it is a serious and dangerous error to draw the lesson that KCTMO was not really a TMO. [6] Labour councillor and now MP, Emma Dent Coad was a council-appointed board member from 2008[7] to 31 October 2012. There were no alarms and theres no sprinkler system in the building or panic buttons. An ALMO is a government-approved public structure, wholly owned and controlled by the Council, which separates the Councils landlord services from other Council functions such as schools, libraries, and swimming pools. A plausible explanation for the careless attitude towards establishing effective oversight measures is that under the previous arrangements the Kensington and Chelsea Borough council was directly responsible for managing social housing. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. Like I am a member of an NHS Trust but that gives me (or even a hundred of me) no significant power. Considered one of the worst man-made disasters in post-World War II Britain, the Grenfell Tower fire of June 14th, 2017 is a breach of the right to life, an assault on human dignity and a manifestation of stark inequality in the UK. However the facts in her account are not fully correct. Grenfell Tower, covered up after the tragic fire in June 2017, Loz Pycock, shared under the CC BY-SA 2.0 licence. Police said they were considering manslaughter charges in relation to the fire as they revealed that the cladding tiles at the building had failed safety tests. The Oxford Conference: Holding the Government to Account, Faculty of law blogs / UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. /F3 18 0 R >> Mr Collins was one of a number of people who joined a residents group called Grenfell Community Unite, but staff at KCTMO refused to meet them. The KCTMO tenant involvement failure as I see it was a matter of the numbers. The one managing Grenfell Tower, however, was actually an Arms Length Management Organisation wholly owned by the council, writes Anne Power. /Annots [] I have been asking for two years for those to be changed, and nothing has happened, he said. This allows decision makers to focus on the relevant and appropriate issues and prioritize their time and resources. 4 0 obj /F4 19 0 R (modern). Its chief executive, Robert Bond, said he was shocked and devastated by the Grenfell disaster but said he would could not comment further beyond a statement issued on Thursday because of the proposed public inquiry. The number of companies and organisations that Scotland Yard detectives investigating the disaster know so far to have played a role in the refurbishment is more than 60. Governments of all parties have supported the development of TMOs since the 1980s, funding training and introducing the Right to Manage. 2 0 obj The 8 tenants in a board with 7 professionals will be easily subdued by those more capable professionals. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Both Kensington and Chelsea Council and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) have been told they may have committed manslughter. /F5 20 0 R Mr Daffarn told a public inquiry his description of the organisation was not "glib, shoot from the hip expressions". /F11 12 0 R To accept cookies, click continue. >> Witness David Collins said the fire safety issues were a product of the culture and leadership at KCTMO. One of them, Dan Browne, who lives on the 22 floor of Burnham House, said: There is going to be holy war here. Mr Chapman said in an earlier statement residents had been brushed off by KCTMO and the council. Ms Jevans said she did not recall the suggestion that there appeared to be a lack of detail in relation to the planned preventative programme at the time. [18] In late December 2017 KCTMO announced that it would be handing control of all of its housing stock back to the council by 31 January 2018 as an "interim measure".[19]. %PDF-1.4 They only put on fire doors after the fire in Adair Tower last October. 2023 BBC. /F7 9 0 R A blog entry posted on 20 November 2016[13] described KCTMO as "an evil, unprincipled, mini-mafia" and predicted that only a "catastrophic event" leading to "serious loss of life" such as "a serious fire in a tower block" would result in change. Kensington and Chelsea decided to keep the name Kensington and Chelsea TMO, in the hope that tenants would identify with it. Without this threat its doubtful KCTMO would ever have been established. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The Grenfell Tower fire has become an iconic symbol of the catastrophic events that can occur if there is a failure of corporate governance. The correct lesson is that user control of governance does not in itself secure user empowerment.. /Rotate 0 The TMO continues to exist as an independent corporate entity and the board will continue to be accountable to its members. Untangling responsibility for decisions on the project remains complex. For tenants to take on even part of their landlords role, to handle a budget, staff employment, service standards etc., they need proper training and dedicated time. (modern). /F8 11 0 R /Rotate 0 It stated: We do not see it necessary to instruct or fund an independent adjudicator at this time.. There were a handful of tenants on the board as there are in other ALMOs. The minutes also suggest that even though the design for the cladding was well under way, fire consultants had yet to be appointed. Seventy-two people died in the Grenfell fire on 14 June 2017. (There was) nothing addressing the individual parts of it, it was just very generic.. And (2) that a board of 8 tenants is wholly inadequate for managing or even just supervising such a large number of 10,000 properties. However, he said he could not be wholly confident of safety until he the council reassured them that the situationw was different to that in Grenfell. [The KCTMO] responded they sent up surveyors, but nothing was ever done. Rock Feilding-Mellen is chairman of Kensington and Chelseas housing committee. You are quite right Robin a key problem (maybe the key problem) was a lack of tenant involvement. /F3 18 0 R The leaders of Kensington and Chelsea council have been accused of shameful behaviour after shutting down the first cabinet meeting since the disaster after attempts to block the media from the meeting failed. WebWelcome to DARA. Andrew Kinnier QC, for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, said that a document in 2013 viewed the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), /F9 13 0 R Other admissions included that the number of RBKC officers devoted to monitoring Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), which managed Grenfell on behalf of the council, was insufficient and that the council was wrong to oppose the introduction of a fire door inspection programme. Lees comment gives some of the background. /ProcSet [/PDF /Text /ImageB /ImageC /ImageI] In the case of Grenfell Tower, a faulty fridge/freezer was the ignition source. John Kieran, a resident of Bray House, said his concern was not the cause of the fire in Grenfell or Rydons standards. /CropBox [0.0 0.0 595.2 857.28] The fire started in a faulty fridge freezer on the 4th floor of the 24-storey, 120-flat residential block in West London, rapidly spreading throughout most of the building and engulfing the outside cladding within 45 minutes. The document says there were issues which needed attention regarding planned maintenance. Of the description in 2013 of the TMO as having a reactive approach to maintenance, Ms Jevans said she thought the organisation understood about planned preventative maintenance and that it was working to pick up this gap. Giving evidence at the inquiry into the disaster, Mr Daffarn said he had "spent a long, long time thinking how to describe this organisation" but he "wouldn't change a single word of it. /Type /Page Under its long-term public remit it had developed a suitably established system for managing properties, employing dedicated individuals with a clear understanding of their roles, with little scope for compromising on safety and largely free of political influence. Edward Daffarn and another resident repeatedly attacked the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) in a blog. Where a violation of the substantive positive obligation namely, the state being obliged to institute and maintain an effective system of deterrence against the threat to life in Article 2 is established, compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage are in principle possible as part of the range of redress available. << These breakdowns relate to a wide variety of governance failure sources, not least due to the tenant management organisations focus on a series of cost reductions rather than more precautionary measures, a lack of engagement or apparent concern with other stakeholder groups, and decision making by the local council likely to be motivated by negative racial and social class stereotypes about tenants. Staff managing social housing for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea adopted an us vs them mentality towards residents of the Grenfell Tower in the months before the fire that killed 72 people, an inquiry has heard. << Kensington and Chelsea TMO (KCTMO) was the largest tenant management organisation (TMO) in England, managing nearly 10,000 properties on behalf of Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council the entire council housing stock in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It also acted as quantity surveyor primarily to advise on the cost of the project, [and] prepare tender and contract documentation. 1 0 obj London. The actual management agreement between the borough and effectively the Director of Housing, who became the CEO of the TMO, is still unclear. There is no clear mechanism to respond to the urgent needs of the 2000-3000 residents living on Lancaster West estate, under the shadow of Grenfell since the recent suspension of the ALMOs operations there. 8 0 obj List of Grenfell's On Monday, the inquiry saw chains of email between Mr Chapman and KCTMO, in which residents were refused an independent fire safety inspection of the building. >> Often Buy-To-Let landlords owning former council flats now let to homeless families, paid for by the borough through housing benefit, at vast public expense. 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In April 1996 it had sub-contracted the management of its entire social housing stock to a private entity, the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO). The council, whose leader Nick Paget-Brown also quit on Friday, wanted the meeting held behind closed doors but a group of media organisations including the Guardian obtained a high court order preventing the council from banning journalists at about 6pm on Thursday, half an hour before the meeting was scheduled to start. Is climate change killing Australian wine? WebKensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) is inviting three organisations to submit a tender for the provision of site supervision and monitoring On the night of the fire, Mr Chapmans wife Dr Naomi Li was one of the last people to escape the building alive. /F11 12 0 R The correct lesson is that user control of governance does not in itself secure user empowerment. Frustrated with remote council landlords who seem not to care, tenants often form a local group that fights for local control over local tasks to make their estate work day-to-day repairs, caretaking, empty property, nuisance, rubbish, environmental and social problems. /ProcSet [/PDF /Text /ImageB /ImageC /ImageI] Theres no sprinklers, no fire alarms and the security cameras dont work.
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