/Parent 2 0 R 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. /Contents 29 0 R (HRA 1998, s 6) It also requires domestic courts to interpret legislation so far as possible in a manner that is compliant with the ECHR, and empowers courts to award damages where Convention rights have been violated. Bob OToole, head of the residents association in the Chalcot Estate, said he had received about 40 calls from panicked residents since the fire in Grenfell. KCTMO is a tenant controlled TMO and the great ,majority of its board are resident members. Witness David Collins said the fire safety issues were a product of the culture and leadership at KCTMO. Image obtained from https://www.grenfellunited.org/. The fire was a foreseeable consequence of collective political inaction to regulate health and safety in tower blocks. endobj In addition, it provides a structured way to collaborate with stakeholders on specific issues with minimal risk of confusion and loss of productivity. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. /Kids [3 0 R 4 0 R 5 0 R 6 0 R 7 0 R] All power is a trust and people who are entrusted with power must be ready to use it to empower others, Size and scale of responsibilities make no difference to this principle. Going forward I get the impression that the community will not want the council to take back control as there is a complete lack of trust but the alternative would appear to be being managed by a Housing Association and Im not sure that would gain much traction in the community either. 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). I was woken that day by the smell of burning, he said. /F4 19 0 R This post originally appeared on the Oxford Human Rights Hub. The residents were also alarmed by the findings of a fire risk assessment which they obtained after repeated emails. >> The year before the fire, Mr Daffarn's blog, which he wrote with Francis O'Connor, said: "It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders.". /Length 3951 /Rotate 0 Critics of the public-private partnership, or PPP, management hand-off claim that the quasi-privatised TMO arrangement is rife with corruption, including sweetheart deals to [2] 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 tragic fire in June 2017, changes were made which ultimately led to the KCTMO handing back delivery of all day-to-day housing and related support services to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea at the end of February 2018. All queries about housing services should be directed to the Council. /MediaBox [0.0 0.0 595.2 857.28] /Im40 32 0 R /F8 11 0 R /Im49 35 0 R In sharp contrast to this model, TMOs are locally based, grassroots community groups that want to improve local conditions in their social housing estate or small area. Is climate change killing Australian wine? /F8 11 0 R Anne Power is Professor of Social Policy and Head of LSE Housing and Communities. /Type /Pages No, the correct lesson is twofold: (1) that a board of 8 tenants with 7 professionals will be dominated by the professionals and fail to represent the tenants. So according to James Lusk here, 8 out of 13 equals the great majority, and having that slight majority board constitutes it being tenant controlled. Rydon, the company involved in the upgrading of Grenfell, reclad four 22-storey blocks and one 18-storey block in the Swiss Cottage estate as part of a 18m revamp 11 years ago. But neither can we duck away from the problems of governance and accountability in TMOs, well understood by NFTMO. The handback took place on 1 March 2018. /F5 20 0 R Typically, a chain of events leading to the catastrophe is triggered by a breakdown within a structure that fails to address problems as they occur and mitigate risks as they arise. /Filter /FlateDecode /Contents 33 0 R /F10 10 0 R [The KCTMO] doesnt spend enough on safety. /Type /Page /Im31 26 0 R This changed in 1995 when Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) was established to manage 10,000 local council properties. /F6 21 0 R Artelia replied with three options including that fully cassette-fixed cladding would save 293,368. /Xi10 34 0 R The Kensington and Chelsea borough-wide TMO, formed in the 1990s, is known by tenants locally around Grenfell Tower as a fake TMO. Mr Daffarn disputed being disruptive but accepted he had a difficult relationship with the councillor. 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. /Xi7 31 0 R >> Kensington and Chelsea TMO has previously received a three-star status from the Audit Commission for its services. I have yet to see any rebuttal here. endobj 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. Witness: Kensington and Chelsea On the night of the fire, Mr Chapmans wife Dr Naomi Li was one of the last people to escape the building alive. Without this threat its doubtful KCTMO would ever have been established. Grenfell Tower Inquiry. /Type /Catalog Both products were certified according to the European fire resistance standard. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. /Rotate 0 Since the mid-1970s, over 200 of these TMOs have formed. In 2008 Juliet Rawlings, chair of the TMO's Board from 2003, was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for her work with the organisation. There are smoke alarms, but no fire alarms in the building, said one tenant, who did not want to be named. /Xi0 23 0 R Run by a board of 13 tenants, it was described at the time as "one of Britain's most ambitious property management schemes".[5]. Residents of other tower blocks in London have expressed concerns over cladding, smoke alarms and safety advice. /Count 5 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. /CropBox [0.0 0.0 595.2 857.28] I have a huge admiration for Anne and her lifelong passion for community control. Mr Daffarn told a public inquiry his description of the organisation was not "glib, shoot from the hip expressions". Sorry but that assertion that Anne Power was not fully correct sucks, sucks very badly. Fire notice in Adair Tower, featuring the stay put policy. /XObject << 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". 5 0 obj KCTMO declined to comment on the material swap. The KCTMO tenant involvement failure as I see it was a matter of the numbers. It is therefore possible, that the Council could be made liable in judicial review proceedings for its systemic regulatory failures, as the residents only discovered, post-Grenfell, that their homes were unsafe. >> When a catastrophic event occurs, it is generally too simplistic to attribute blame to a prime cause or specific event. /Resources << It needs to be more like the Housing Liaison Board we had in Ladywood until the council chose to get rid of it (on bogus excuse) because some people have other priorities than honest effective tenant involvement. /Parent 2 0 R 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. /Xi8 14 0 R [16], In August 2017, it was announced that KCTMO would no longer manage the Lancaster West Estate containing Grenfell Tower, which would come under direct council control. The document says there were issues which needed attention regarding planned maintenance. 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) Grenfell United formed after the tragedy, a group formed of survivors and the bereaved, campaigning for justice and representation. [6] Labour councillor and now MP, Emma Dent Coad was a council-appointed board member from 2008[7] to 31 October 2012. The TMO has a board comprising eight residents, four council-appointed members and three independent members. >> People need action to restore normal conditions on the estate and rebuild trust. Indeed, AVOIDANCE of tenant involvement. In 2012, Studio E Architects proposed zinc cladding with a mineral-rich fire-retardant polyethylene core, a decision approved by residents, according to planning papers. We use cookies on this site to understand how you use our content, and to give you the best browsing experience. A good article but it misses out that the Lancaster West Estate had their own TMO (an EMB) from 1993 until the larger organisation (KCTMO) closed them down in 2013. Contact. To be clear, if we cannot get out people will die or at best suffer serious injury.. 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. /Annots [] 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. The leaseholders association also repeatedly raised concerns about residents smoking in the stairwell and the fact that the exposed gas pipes were an easy target for vandalism. 72 people lost their lives, 70 were injured, and 223 people escaped the building. In a closing comment, Mr Daffarn said the building's management "didn't treat us with respect or humanity or empathy and if they had done, we wouldn't be here now". It also acted as quantity surveyor primarily to advise on the cost of the project, [and] prepare tender and contract documentation. It was first published on the Oxford Business Law Blog. You have to go up another level on the council to find out what happened. >> Among the 200 TMOs nationally, that particular organisation is a total anomaly not community-based, not cooperatively run, not representative. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. L6 Property Management is a full service, investor-focused property management solution that ensures homeowners the peace of mind that their valuable /F3 18 0 R 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. 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. 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. Camden council said it was conducting additional fire safety checks to reassure residents in its tower blocks. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) over-ruled the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) to have Leadbitter the original contractor lined up to refurbish Grenfell Tower replaced and the job re-procured, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has heard. Available at:https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/housing-after-grenfell/blog/2019/11/grenfell-tower-fire-breach-right-life (Accessed [date]). /ProcSet [/PDF /Text /ImageB /ImageC /ImageI] >> The public inquiry will take many months to reveal the truth; prosecutions may take even longer. 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. The husband and wife, who did not wish to be named, said they had been in their flat when fire broke out last October. However, the inquiry has previously found that the first fire engines called to the tower were able to park close to the main entrance and get access to water mains. It is important to remember that corporate responsibility encompasses the duties and responsibilities of corporations, but such duties are the responsibility of a variety of social actors and not merely focussed on codes and reporting procedures. Staff managing social housing for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea adopted an us vs Several homeless families were housed in ex-council flats in Grenfell Tower. The correct lesson is that user control of governance does not in itself secure user empowerment. >> (2019). /MediaBox [0.0 0.0 595.2 857.28] /F9 13 0 R How are we going to get down if there is a fire? He added that he was worried because the window-sills were plastic and in a fire could produce toxic fumes. 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. To replace the windows, they would have had to put up scaffolding, and they didnt want to spend the money., In nearby Hazelwood Tower, also run by KCTMO, Jean Dumas, an architect, works in a ground floor office of Trellik Design Studio. /Annots [] He said residents had tried to get KCTMO to engage with them on the noise from the upgrade works, poorly fitted windows and the placement of boilers. Like I am a member of an NHS Trust but that gives me (or even a hundred of me) no significant power. WebKensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) is inviting three organisations to submit a tender for the provision of site supervision and monitoring Article 2 therefore includes a positive substantive obligation on states to take appropriate steps to safeguard the lives of those within their jurisdiction. Theres no sprinklers, no fire alarms and the security cameras dont work. Additionally, the knowledge accumulated through the previous arrangements was not retained within the new corporate body: priorities changed, partly through the perception that tenant involvement conferred sufficient legitimacy on decision making, partly as the priorities of the management team changed and partly because of the increased scale of responsibility delegated to a small and inexperienced organisation. /F7 9 0 R Through austerity cuts, since 2015 financial support for tenant training has gone, and there has been little interest in TMOs. << When the Grenfell fire disaster happened, very few people had heard of Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs). However, KCTMO continues to exist as a legal entity so that it can be represented at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. It stated that there are only a handful of arrangements in the policy and many are missing such as pressure vessels, working at height and contractor management. >> /MediaBox [0.0 0.0 595.2 857.28] Both Kensington and Chelsea Council and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) have been told they may have committed manslughter. How to cite this blog post (Harvard style), Nadj, Daniela. Mr Chapman said in an earlier statement residents had been brushed off by KCTMO and the council. Anne Power here has made a solid case that it was only a TMO in the most superficial, misleading sense. The fire speaks to the failure of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, one of the wealthiest boroughs in the country, to adequately regulate social housing. A list of amendments to the 9.2m contract between Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) and Rydon, the builder for the Read about our approach to external linking. 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. The chief executive of KCTMO, Robert Black, stood down on Friday to concentrate on assisting with the investigation and inquiry. /ProcSet [/PDF /Text /ImageB /ImageC /ImageI] /Rotate 0 endobj 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. Grenfell was, at least in part, a consequence of the lack of local control; tenants of Grenfell Tower had warned months before of the risk of fire or other disasters because of the neglect of safety by the ALMO (KCTMO). /F3 18 0 R /F5 20 0 R The fact that all the tenants can become members amounts to little as all they can do is elect some of the Board. It cut capital spend hence the cheaper, less fire-resistant cladding on Grenfell Tower and the cheaper building contractor, the lack of fire sprinklers, and the meagre on-site supervision. 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 National Federation of TMOs, with several hundred members, is shaken to the core by the fire and its aftermath. The Council has confirmed that it will continue to fund the TMO to ensure it can continue to do so, and that answers to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry are obtained. /MediaBox [0.0 0.0 595.2 857.28] 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 aluminium cladding is suspected of having helped spread the fire that claimed at least 80 lives. 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 handback consisted of all the services to residents and those support functions required to enable these services to be provided. His son, Michael, pointed out that they had been attached with weak glue like the type your credit card is attached to the banks letter [with] and some were already falling off. The Grenfell Tower formed one part of the Lancaster West Estate envisioned in the 1960s and completed in the 1970s (MacLeod, 2018, p.467). The TMO was set up on 1 April 1996,[1] under the UK Government's Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 1994. They fear their lives could also be at risk if the cladding is found to be an issue in the Grenfell inferno, which has killed at least 17 people. 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. /F9 13 0 R 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.. Walking in silence has taken on a symbolic power; it is an expression of quiet defiance in the face of a tremendous amount of injustice and institutional indifference. Tenant Management Organisations such as KCTMO are founded when residents create a corporate body, which appoints a management committee to run the body, funded by management fees paid by the Council under the agreement. Your email address will not be published. /F10 10 0 R /F3 18 0 R /F5 20 0 R London. Edward Daffarn and another resident repeatedly attacked the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) in a blog. /F1 16 0 R /Im22 22 0 R As well as the recent fire in Adair Tower, he said, there had been another one two months ago in nearby Trellick Tower, which is run by the same landlord. 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. >> 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. << Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. I was chasing them for three and a half years. /F11 12 0 R Kensington and Chelsea is a rich area. /F4 19 0 R /F10 10 0 R The actual management agreement between the borough and effectively the Director of Housing, who became the CEO of the TMO, is still unclear. 6 0 obj 3 0 obj Publicity about the fake TMO puts their track record at risk. 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. They believe the stay put policy places lives at risk. Andrew Kinnier QC, for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, said that a document in 2013 viewed the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), Mr Kinnier said that a full review of the property policy arrangements was recommended in the 2013 document. /F4 19 0 R /F11 12 0 R /Contents 25 0 R By the time the blaze had been extinguished 72 residents were dead and an additional 70 others were injured. x\s6_kgX9zqD3=m'%=o?` RMg9oo X|YejwUSq|,~Z,^bj;,i"22|{dl[yo~U27KO 1s7U>\$*d,`_pW4 (H4_f,MP,)f. 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. Kensington and Chelsea, following budget cuts, was quick to close day care centres, local libraries, and direct services, including the repair budget of KCTMO. Tenants in the Lancaster West estate where Grenfell Tower is located and in other big estates in the Royal Borough wanted more say and better housing services. Tap above to watch video coverage of the Grenfell Inquiry. /Xi6 30 0 R And 8 tenants is far too few to deal sensibly with 10,000 properties. /Xi11 14 0 R /F5 20 0 R /CropBox [0.0 0.0 595.2 857.28] 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. Kensington and Chelsea council has said it will cooperate with any investigation into the fire. Monday 19 April 2021, 4:47pm. The lessons of Grenfell resonate across the entire social housing world. My point is this: it is a serious and dangerous error to draw the lesson that KCTMO was not really a TMO. The Grenfell Tower Fire as a Breach of the Right to Life. 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. /F4 19 0 R On the 14th of every month, the community around Grenfell gathers to remember those whose lives were lost on the night of the fire. Trellick Tower is a listed building and at least they cant put any cladding on it. In the early hours of the morning of 14th June 2017 a fire broke out in one of the fourth-floor flats at a recently renovated tower block at Grenfell Tower, London, a social housing complex of almost 1,000 homes. The correct lesson is that user control of governance does not in itself secure user empowerment.. And most significantly the Council signed off on a refurbishment contract with the contractor Rydon, which wrapped the tower in highly flammable ACM cladding in a drive to save cost. When conceptualised this way, a corporate governance framework can be perceived as a systematic approach to prevent failings by identifying inherent risks and addressing collective actions to mitigate these risks and foresee negative outcomes or potential threats. /F7 9 0 R 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 lifts are constantly breaking down, said Jose. The windows blew, flames were jumping out the window and there was some damage to the concrete, but the cladding and the insulation held, he said. There were no alarms and theres no sprinkler system in the building or panic buttons. [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]. However, it was replaced in 2014 with cheaper aluminium cladding with a polyethylene core which has since proved combustible in government tests. /F12 15 0 R WebProvide full-time tenant management; Schedule and oversee property repair and maintenance; Manage collection of all rent and enforce penalties for late payments; 1 Giltspur Street London. These requests were never complied with, the inquiry heard. /Xi13 38 0 R Setting up KCTMO allowed tenants to take on responsibility for housing management, but the scale of responsibility was immense and contentious. It is shocking if, as has been reported, this board then refused to listen to the concerns raised by Grenfell residents, or give them an independent fire safety inspection as they requested.
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