THE HOME Office has dismissed recommendations by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry to legally introduce evacuation measures in high-rise buildings in favour of the current “stay put” advice, four years on from the tragic fire. 

The inquiry found that “many more lives” could have been saved after a blaze erupted through the tower complex in 2017 and took the lives of 72 people who were mainly from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.

Fifteen of the residents to die in the tragedy were disabled which made evacuation measures even harder.

The inquiry laid out new measures for an evacuation plan, including for less-abled bodied people to have access to “personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs),” but the proposals were thrown out by the government who labelled them as not “proportionate.”

In the recently published White Paper for “improving fire safety,” the Home Office said it would instead share the location of disabled residents with fire services, but the plans will only come into effect with buildings to have known fire safety risks. 

Grenfell United, a campaign group set up to ensure justice for victims and their bereaved families, accused the government of “cutting costs” at the expense of human life in the wake of the proposals.

“For five years we’ve had to endure Government’s games. We’ve been forced to hold them to account to create a legacy of meaningful change for our loved ones. To prevent another Grenfell. Today’s news has left us speechless. Outraged,” the group said in a statement.

“72 people died at Grenfell. 15 people had disabilities. They had no personal evacuation plans and no means of escape. Our loved ones did not stand a chance. Government failed them in every way.

“The report from Phase 1 of the Grenfell Inquiry was published in 2019. It concluded that the Government must drop its reliance on stay put and provide personal evacuation plans for disabled residents.

“Today – three years on – the Government has announced it will not implement this core recommendation. They have decided that cutting costs is more important than the value of human life. We will not let this be brushed under the carpet.”

The statement continued: “The government failed us & continues to fail us 5 years on. Disabled people must have the right to leave their homes safely. We will not stop fighting this injustice. We will not let our loved ones be remembered for what happened, but for what changed.”

The campaign group are now urging people to write to the government’s fire safety unity in an effort to resist the government plans claiming more lives.

The Home Office weighed in on the backlash, arguing that supplying PEEPs would cost a single staff member an estimated £8,800 to £21,900 for each building and that building-owners would have “no practical choice but to respond by ‘staffing up’ their building with a 24/7 presence”.

They also went onto to dismiss suggestions that disabled residents could be aided by carers and neighbours in the event of a fire, because it risked the building owner not making an “objective assessment of their suitability and reliability.”

Evacuating disabled residents in places like stairwells was also mentioned as creating a potential risk for others trying to escape a fire.

In response to the White Paper, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said: “The government’s priority is keeping the public safe and the reforms we’ve set out today will strengthen and support our hard-working fire and rescue services.

“The White Paper will be transformative in how firefighters are trained and will enable fire and rescue services to build on their strengths and leadership.

“The Grenfell tragedy must never happen again and we are continuing to drive forward progress on putting the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.”