FBU makes submission to Grenfell inquiry

The demand is part of the union’s submission to the inquiry, which is currently consulting on its terms of reference. The FBU says the inquiry should cover:

• The reasons why a domestic fire should grow to such a devastating size;
• The capacity of fire and rescue services nationally to respond to fires of this scale;
• The defects, acts and omissions that resulted in Grenfell Tower being so vulnerable to fire; and
• Matters that have impacted on the fire safety regime over recent years and have created the environment where the aforementioned defects, acts and omissions could arise. 

In its submission, the FPU says a guiding principle of the inquiry must be to include the wide range of voices of those affected by this tragedy. It means first and foremost listening to those directly affected by the fire in North Kensington, the former residents and those living immediately surrounding the tower, as well as the families of those killed and injured by the fire. 

The union also believes the inquiry should urgently examine the resources available to fire and rescue services to respond to fires and other emergencies. The union has warned that the service has lost 11,000 frontline firefighters since 2010, almost one-in-five of the firefighting force across the UK. This inevitably has an impact on the provision of frontline.

You can read the submission in full at http://tiny.cc/8qopmy