Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase 2 report: Scottish Government response

Ministerial Foreword

The Grenfell Tower tragedy was the worst fire in a residential property in living memory. It resulted in the deaths of 72 people, all of which were avoidable. Our thoughts remain with the bereaved, survivors, the Grenfell community and all those affected.

The final report into the Grenfell Tower tragedy is a substantial undertaking. It contains a detailed and forensic analysis of both what happened on the night and how the Tower came to be as it was when the fire broke out. It analyses the wider background of government regulation, policy, and actions. It is a thorough, detailed, and accurate analysis of all that went on, underpinned by an immense amount of evidence and testimony.

The final report makes fifty-eight recommendations. Fifty-six are new, whilst two have been brought back from the Phase 1 Report. There is nothing in the report that is surprising to anyone who has followed the work of the inquiry over its lifetime. The recommendations are straightforward and clear. Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the chair of the Inquiry, and his whole team are to be commended for their hard work and service.

Whilst the legislation and regulatory frameworks that applied to the refurbishment of Grenfell differ from those in place in Scotland, it was always incumbent on the Scottish Government to learn all we can from the Inquiry. Changes have been made to building regulations, housing legislation, and fire safety guidance since June 2017, but we are committed to addressing the Inquiry’s recommendations.

In Scotland, positive steps have been taken to strengthen building safety in new high-rise buildings. There is also strong stakeholder support for maintaining and enhancing the building standards system, and we are able to build on the ongoing work of the Building Standards Futures Board.

We will commit to a review of the building standards focussing on fire safety provisions, new requirements on compliance, and enhanced enforcement powers. We will consult on the introduction of mandatory fire risk assessments in specified multi-occupancy buildings, and work with institutional landlords to support the safety and evacuation of vulnerable and disabled persons. We will bring forward new legislation, where necessary, in the next Parliament. We are also launching a Plan of Action for Cladding Remediation designed to further increase the pace and breadth of assessment and remediation activity taking place across Scotland. We have already taken action to bring partners together and will continue to work with homeowners, developers, local authority partners and the broader public sector to ensure that action on cladding is a collective national endeavour and that all actors are addressing risk by assessing and remediating relevant buildings as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety that has been in place since 2017 will continue with a reset role. The Group will coordinate our work arising from this response report. It will act as a forum to coordinate activity on building and fire safety, with enhanced external representation. It will also ensure that we have a forum to consider systemic building and fire safety issues and how these should be managed.

Our response report sets out how the recommendations impact the processes and procedures that we already have in place and provides detail on how we will take forward the recommendations.

We recognise a number of these fall to reserved matters, but equally there are a considerable number in relation to systems and processes that are devolved. We are committed to working with colleagues across the UK Administrations to bring forward change while at the same time making change to strengthen our own systems. We will look to work with local authorities, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the academic community and industry bodies on building safety and ensure that we share good practice where applicable.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to Scotland’s response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Paul McLennan MSP, Minister for Housing