The Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s latest annual financial statement reveals it spent £20.7m in the year to the end of March 2023, taking its total spend to £170m.
Some £69.7 million, or 41%, of its spending went to fees for lawyers representing the main participants in the inquiry.
The main participants include victims and bereaved people, as well as other people who the panel’s chairman, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, believes would be “disadvantaged if they are not provided with legal support”. These include the Firefighters Union, cladding installers Osborne Berry and freelance design subcontractor Kevin Lamb.
During the financial year, hearings were only held until the end of July 2022, with phase 2 closing statements made in November 2022.
Remuneration and legal costs for the tribunal of inquiry have cost £28.2m so far, including £4.8m in 2022/23.
The investigation, ordered the day after the fire that killed 72 people in June 2017, is being paid for with taxpayer funds. The financial statement relates to consultation costs only, so it does not include other taxpayers’ money spent on participation, for example by London Fire Brigade and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
It also does not include the costs paid by private companies such as Kingspan, Celotex and Rydon Construction for their legal representation.
In May it was announced that the publication of the second and final report of the inquiry would not occur until next year.
An inquiry statement at the time said: “We recognize that everyone involved in the inquiry wants the report to be published as soon as possible and we fully understand the importance it has to them and to the wider public.
“However, it is also important that, as what we hope will be considered the definitive version of events, the report is complete and accurate.”
In April, more than 900 people affected by the fire, including those bereaved and forced to leave their homes, agreed a £150m settlement with companies including contractor Rydon and public sector bodies .
Decisions on possible criminal action in relation to the fire are expected to come after the release of the second investigation report.
National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) chairman Martin Hewitt said the guardian in March that the six years the victims of the fire had suffered without knowing if anyone would face criminal charges was “disturbing and wrong”. An NPCC spokesperson later clarified Construction news which referred to the public investigation delaying the criminal investigation.
despite this CN recently highlighted that the length of time victims and sufferers have had to wait is far from unique in health and safety-related investigations, with several others that do not have attached public consultations dragging on as long or longer get answers
