Grenfell councillors face no confidence vote over housing failings

Councillors in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) are facing a vote of no confidence over the way they are managing housing in the borough after the Grenfell Tower fire.

At a meeting of the council’s Grenfell recovery scrutiny committee on Thursday night, Joe Delaney – a local campaigner and coopted member of the committee – will propose a vote on the conduct of another council committee that has overseen the management of housing stock since the tenants’ management organisation handed back responsibility last month, saying it could not meet expected standards.

Delaney said the vote was necessary because of the council’s previous failings. “This is the council that couldn’t organise hotel accommodation in the immediate aftermath of the fire leading to some people having to sleep rough,” he said. “I don’t believe they have the capacity to manage all of the housing stock. I am calling for a new model of housing management with the community deciding what they need and the council working with us on this.”

The council is also under fire from 23 community, faith and business leaders in the borough who have accused council leaders and government of multiple failures in the aftermath of the disaster and are demanding “RBKC must change now”.

They have signed an open letter, addressed to the council leader, Elizabeth Campbell, and Sajid Javid, the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government. It is the first time such a large coalition of different organisations have come together to voice concerns about the council’s failures following the fire.

The document expresses concern about RBKC’s lack of direct engagement with residents and its failure to involve them in decision-making, especially in Notting Dale ward, the area most affected by the fire. Residents say the council has been slow to green-light community-led initiatives to support residents.

The signatories to the letter say there are no formal mechanisms for resident associations and other groups to raise issues of concern or to fully participate at strategic and operational levels with the council.

It says: “It is not satisfactory for RBKC to come to us residents after decisions are made. Our voice should matter and should be heard.”

Separately, a group of councillors in Notting Dale ward submitted a report to tonight’s council meeting accusing the RBKC of multiple failings including a failure to understand the community and being “overly bureaucratic and inflexible”.

In response to the criticisms, the council’s deputy leader, Kim Taylor-Smith, said: “We know and understand that the council needs to change the way it works, the way it listens, and the way it acts. This will not happen overnight, but we are making significant progress and we hope we can build trust with our communities in the long term.

“We’re doing all that we can, working around the clock to help everyone affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. Our number one priority has always been to help the families that lost everything. We’ve already spent all our reserves, including £235m on buying 300 new homes. We have an expanded community engagement team and are in constant communication with residents, listening and acting to support them. Our designated community centre works closely with the NHS and other organisations, to provide emotional support, but we stress that things are constantly under review.”

RBKC also said officials had worked with the NHS and voluntary organisations to provide a comprehensive package of counselling and mental health support.