Grenfell Inquiry hearings schedule announced

Phase one will focus on the factual narrative of the events of the night of 14 June 2017. This will include the existing fire safety and prevention measures at Grenfell Tower; where and how the fire started; the development of the fire and smoke; how the fire and smoke spread from its original seat to other parts of the building; the chain of events before the decision was made that there was no further savable life in the building; and the evacuation of residents.

The hearings for Phase 1 are expected to take the following order:

• Commemoration hearings – Start 21 May (expected to last nine days);
• Opening statements – Start 4 June (expected to last five days);
• Expert witness statements – Start 18 June (expected to last three days);
• Examining the outbreak of the fire – Start 21 June (expected to last six to seven days);
• Remaining firefighter evidence – Start 2 July (expected to last four weeks);
• Evidence from bereved and survivors – Start 3 September (expected to last for four weeks);
• Other witness evidence – Dates to be confirmed;
• Expert witness evidence – Start 1 October (expected to last eight to ten weeks); and
• Closing statements – Start 29 October (expected to last five days)

There will be no hearings in the week commencing 11 June 2018 and also no hearings from 3 August 2018 to 3 September 2018.

The Inquiry currently has 547 core participants made up of 519 individuals and 28 organisations. The Inquiry plans to update the published list of core participants on a monthly basis.

The Chairman will prepare an interim report following the end of the Phase One oral evidence hearings. The programme for Phase Two hearings will be issued nearer the time.

Phase two will address the remainder of the issues identified in the List of Issues which was published last September.