Camden Council has committed to an independent review into the circumstances that required the evacuation of four tower blocks on Chalcots Estate.
It will also adopt a rigorous approach to ensuring fire safety in council housing in the borough.
At the meeting of full Council on Monday (3 July 2017), Leader of Camden Council Georgia Gould also confirmed plans to:
- Appoint a new director responsible for resident safety.
- Carry out enhanced fire safety checks on every council-owned tower block in Camden and publish all future fire risk assessments.
- Set up a borough-wide Camden Fire Safety Advisory Panel led by tenants and leaseholders.
- Advise and provide training opportunities for tenants in every block in Camden on fire safety.
Councillor Gould said: “This has been an extremely challenging time for Chalcots residents and now is the time to set a new course and develop more stringent measures, at a local and national level, to ensure this can never happen again. Grenfell has changed everything and it is clear that there needs to be a national focus on safety, with no compromises.
“There are clearly national and systemic issues at play and I want Camden to lead the way in introducing a new era of resident safety. I’m committing to an independent investigation into the Chalcots situation and a more thorough and transparent approach to fire safety that fully involves our residents.”
