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Tmo00900047 Tmo THE GRENFELL TOWER INQUIRY OPENING STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA TENANT MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION ("TMO") Introduction 1. Topic 1 of Module 3 is primarily concerned with the TMO's systems for communication with residents; consultation concerning the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower; residents' complaints regarding fire safety risks; doors and the quality of workmanship during the refurbishment; and the response and "degree of engagement" of the TMO and RBKC to those complaints. The Inquiry will hear first from former residents of Grente 11 Tower and then from witnesses from the TMO and RBKC, regarding the systems, policies and procedures each body had implemented to deal with residents' complaints and their response to those complaints, as well as management of the building. 2. The Inquiry will also consider the governance arrangements between RBKC and the TMO and in particular how they worked during the course of the refurbishment of the building. To that end, senior representatives from the TMO and RBKC (among others) will be called to give evidence. 3. When considering the issue of complaints and concerns, the TMO acknowledges that the Inquiry's primary focus will be on matters causally connected with the fire, but the Inquiry will also consider the way in which complaints more broadly were managed. This being the case, the TMO intends to briefly address some of the wider issues here. 4. At the outset, the TMO acknowledges that the relationship with some residents was strained and often difficult before and during the refurbishment period and the reasons for this should be scrutinised by the Inquiry. 1 TMO00900047/1 TMO00900047 0001 5. However, certainly not all residents were at odds with the TMO, and the Inquiry may consider whether views expressed by some more vociferous residents were representative of the views of a majority of residents1. 6. When examining the nature of the relationship between the TMO and residents during the relevant period, the TMO submits that the Inquiry should have particular regard to the following three factors. 7. First, there had been vehement opposition from some residents at Grenfell Tower to the Kensington Academy and Leisure Centre (KALC) project from its very inception, and strong criticism of RBKC, in particular. Much of this criticism was voiced in the Grenfell Action Group Blog. The Inquiry may consider whether this soured the relationship between some tenants and the TMO/RBKC and also whether the strong opposition was representative of the Lancaster West community as a whol e, given that the project was to build a much-needed school and leisure facilities for children in the Borough. 8. Second, the TMO finally took over in 2014 from the Estate Management Board (EMB) for the Lancaster West Estate, which was a tenant-led organisation separate to and pre­ dating the TMO. It had first been registered in 1993. 9. By around 2010, the EMB was not functioning well and there was a strongly held view that members of the EMB were unaware of what was expected of thenr. Although residents voted at one point to retain the EMB, concerns remained about its performance and RBKC worked on an improvement plan, a step prescribed by the MM A. This failed to result in progress, and RBKC eventually terminated the 1 See for example RBK00003386- email from Councillor Blakeman dated 11 December 2013 " I can confirm that Mr. Daffarn does not represent the general opinion on the Estate...Unfortunately Mr. Daffarn continues to claim that he and his colleagues represent the Estate. They speak very loudly indeed and their views do influence people.. .My personal view is that continuing to give these people so much access to put their views is unhelpful as it gives them greater legitimacy, which they then use in discussions with residents. Mr. Daffam keeps shouting that this is "democracy" and any attempt to silence him is "undemocratic" -1 would call it more bullying than "democracy". At the moment Mr. Daffam ^^^^^^^^^^^^I^^B. but he has been so disruptive during the Grenfell Tower consultations that Peter Maddison has suggested and I have agreed that wc do not hold any more open meetings... At his last very aggressive face- to-facc confrontation with me (after the last Grenfell Tower consultation) Mr. Daffam said "we will re-form the Grenfell Action Group and we will fight" — but when I asked him what they were going to fight, he became completely confused and moved away!" The TMO makes no judgment on whether these words are correct but this is how it was reported by the Councillor at the time. 2 See for example RBK00003386 email from Cllr Blakeman in 10 December 2013: "While none of the members of the Estate Management Board appear to have the faintest idea, what is required of them as Board members and there is clearly complete confusion between the role of the EMB and the Residents' Association, I do not doubt the goodwill and commitment of those who were present... they are genuinely committed to trying to increase EMB membership and to work for the benefit of the Estate and its residents. They reported that the EME has over 400 members, which is a higher membership percentage than the TMO itself. I think one challenge is how to address the deficiencies of the EMB - and probably dissolve it - while retaining the goodwill of the Estate residents - and I think this will be very difficult. There has been a recent meeting with the Leader and Cllr. Fielding-Mellen, from which the Estate's representatives seem to have taken away the belief that the Council is going to demolish the finger blocks and get rid of all the tenants - and also that there is no intention to honour the undertaking to carry out the improvements to GT. I have no doubt that some of this ill will derives from the activities and pronouncements of the Grenfell Action Group, which I am afraid are given far more credence than the Council, or the TMO or indeed the ward councillors. Kind regards. Cllr. Judith Blakeman" 2 TMO00900047/2 TMO00900047 0002 contractual relationship in 2014. Despite a widespread perception of mismanagement, some residents thought it had been shut down in an 'underhand and duplicitous manner '3 by RBKC. This undoubtedly created a breakdown in trust between the TMO/RBKC and some residents; and impaired TMO achieving a good relationship with tenants going forward. 10. Third, when considering the nature and volume of complaints made by residents during the refurbishment project, it must be kept in mind thai for residents, continuing to live in situ during a major refurbishment, with internal and external works, both in the common parts and within individual flats, must have been extremely difficult. The construction work to refurbish Grenfell Tower was intrusive and noisy and one lift was often unavailable to residents because it was being used by builders. 11. Building work on one's home is always challenging and it would be unusual if such a large refurbishment project, conducted with residents in situ, had not given rise to an increased number of complaints and expressions of dissatisfaction from residents. 12. Consideration was given to the re-housing of residents during the refurbishment, but this was not thought practicable or desirable. Some residents also had concerns that if they left the area, they would be rehoused in an unfamiliar location and not be able to return.4 While such concerns were baseless, they are indicative of the level of mistrust that existed between some residents and the TMO/RBKC. 13. The Inquiry will also consider whether there was a strained relationship between the contractors and the tenants; and whether this created dissatisfaction around the refurbishment project. 14. As the Inquiry will be focussing on fire related complaints, the TMO will address the contents of the Grenfell Action Group (GAG) blog dated 20 November 2016. In fact, the language used there was indicative of the levels of mistrust that had built up in the minds of some residents about the TMO. Having said this, the Inquiry may be cautious about the contents of GAG blog, in part because it is a highly personal account and contains a number of ad hominem attacks on employees; but also, because its authors never identified themselves. The blog uses the word 'we' in connection with the residents of Grenfell Tower when, so far as the TMO is concerned, it appeared to be the work of at most a handful of authors. 3 rWS0OOO2203, GAG 23.11.15 'Is it time to resurrect the EMB? 4 RBK0O0O3663 3 TMO00900047/3 TMO00900047 0003 15. In summary the blog said5 ... We believe that the KCTMO are an evil, unprincipled, mini-mafia ....and that their sordid collusion with the RBKC Council is a recipe for a future major disaster ....only an incident that results in serious loss of life of KCTMO residents will allow the external scrutiny to occur that will shine a light on the practices that characterise the malign governance of this non-functioning organisation...It is our conviction that a serious fire in a tower block or similar high density residential property is the most likely reason that those who wield power at the KCTMO will be found out and brought to justice! 16. Despite the appearance of prophecy, the writers were certainly not predicting a cladding fire of the type that occurred on 14 June 2017. In fact, during the refurbishment the fact that the l ower was being clad and insulated was generally seen by residents as a good thing, as it was to improve the thermal efficiency of the building.
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