CHANNEL 1 LOS ANGELES
LONDON 6/17/2017
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:
“Today I attended the Government’s Taskforce on the tragic fire at Grenfell House this week, chaired by the Prime Minister.
This week I witnessed first-hand in Kensington the justifiable anger of the local community, and spent time talking with and listening to local residents affected. Today was a crucial opportunity for me to make clear to the Government what the community have told me they need, both right now and in the longer term as they recover from this devastating fire.
I made a number of points at the meeting and have highlighted below the five main points:
Firstly – at the meeting I raised the need for clearer direction on the ground for those affected of how and where they can access support services, ranging from housing and financial support to counselling. This means highly visibly expert people in the community helping local residents access help. There must be better outreach work.
Secondly, I stressed just how crucial it is the rehousing efforts are speeded up and all residents who lost their homes are found somewhere else to live locally. We cannot afford to wait weeks. Residents must be rehoused as locally as possible – either in the same borough, or if residents want to live somewhere else, then this be provided.
Thirdly, I raised the concerns of people across our city and up and down the country who live in similar towers who are rightly worried for their safety. I sought clear public statements from ministers on when the information being gathered by government on this will be made public and what advice will be given. This reassurance is crucial.
Fourthly, the forthcoming Public Inquiry will be the opportunity to get to the truth. I made clear to the Government that the Terms of Reference must be drawn as widely as possible, be as transparent and accessible as possible and must involve genuine consultation and input from the community at every stage of the process. There also needs to be an interim response this summer.
Finally, a London-wide local authority recovery operation was established yesterday, led by a number of local authority Chief Executives. I assured the Prime Minister that all agencies under my control as Mayor support this effort, and will provide any help we can to improve the support for affected residents. The Government must ensure the recovery operation receives all resources and expertise they need.
There are a number of matters which have been agreed and I have been assured will be announced later today. I have stressed to the Taskforce the need for local residents and the wider public to be provided with as much information as possible and for there to be maximum transparency.”