Second stage of the Chalcots Independent Review begins
Part two of the Chalcots independent review will begin this month to look at the refurbishment of the buildings by the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) company and their management.
This second phase was commissioned to review the broader and more technical aspects of the events leading up to the evacuation of residents on the estate, including the original refurbishment of the blocks by the PFI company, the decisions around which cladding system was used and the overall management of blocks.
The review will be informed by the findings of the Grenfell Inquiry in relation to regulations and products, and how they were applied at the time of the works.
The second stage of the review will be carried out by an independent Chairperson. Bart Kavanagh has been appointed as the independent chair and will carry out the review over approximately three months.
Following the evacuation of Chalcots, we promised to deliver the highest level of safety for residents living on the estate. We have worked with residents to design and fully fire test an industry leading, A1-rated cladding system on the estate and our focus is on completing these major works, making no compromise on safety. We are pleased to see works substantially complete at Taplow and Bray, we have reached the top of Blashford, and have made significant progress at Burnham and Dorney.
Through this second stage of the independent review, we will look at the refurbishment of the Chalcots by the PFI Company and the blocks’ management to understand and learn from what went wrong. We have now appointed a Chairperson for the second part of the review who has the required expertise and availability for us to be able to make a start on the second stage of the review.
We couldn’t have got this far in the process without the support and patience of our Chalcots residents and I am incredibly grateful for their help so far. We care deeply about what residents have been through at the Chalcots and we will continue to do everything we can to work as openly as possible throughout this review, keeping residents informed at every step of this process.
The first part of the independent review started in December 2017 and was published in June 2018. This part of the review examined the evacuation of the Chalcots and the remedial fire safety works carried out in July 2017. The review is available to read here.
The second part of the review will look at the scope of the original cladding project, which was delivered under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), the decisions related to the original cladding system and the management of the PFI company and the blocks in the period prior to evacuation.
Before the second stage of the review could begin, the Council concluded legal proceedings against the original contractor. As this process took place, the Council followed the progress of the Grenfell Inquiry and its examination of the building industry and regulations at the time the original Chalcots cladding was installed.
As part of the review the Council will also arrange focus groups with residents and the independent chair will be able to speak to Camden staff, councillors and residents.
The report will be published in full once complete.