When it became an ALMO in 2002, the government was at first insisting on its losing its tenant majority on the board. How to cite this blog post (Harvard style), Nadj, Daniela. I still suffer from PTSD. This could form an ongoing violation of Article 2 of the ECHR, even in a domestic court of law. Publicity about the fake TMO puts their track record at risk. Staff managing social housing for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea adopted an us vs /F6 21 0 R /Xi4 28 0 R A new Interim Director of Housing should take over, to work with the boroughs Interim CEO to develop a decent housing service. Trellick Tower is a listed building and at least they cant put any cladding on it. No, the correct lesson is twofold: (1) that a board of 8 tenants with 7 professionals will be dominated by the professionals and fail to represent the tenants. endobj /MediaBox [0.0 0.0 595.2 857.28] Like I am a member of an NHS Trust but that gives me (or even a hundred of me) no significant power. /Xi14 14 0 R Staff managing social housing for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea adopted an us vs them mentality towards residents of the Grenfell Tower in the months before the fire that killed 72 people, an inquiry has heard. A key problem in the causation of Grenfell was LACK OF TENANT INVOLVEMENT AND OVERSIGHT. Ultimately, in the case of Grenfell Tower, the overriding objective of the (corporate bodys) governance framework should have been to keep residents safe. /Resources << We possess the insight and flexibility to adjust to a changing real estate market. The year before the fire, Mr Daffarn's blog, which he wrote with Francis O'Connor, said: "It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders.". The windows blew, flames were jumping out the window and there was some damage to the concrete, but the cladding and the insulation held, he said. Image obtained from https://www.grenfellunited.org/. He added felt like residents of the tower were being "abused" by the KCTMO. The minutes, seen by the Guardian, recorded: Rydon have completed the mock-up for the cladding and it was confirmed that the planners are viewing the colours and fixing detail on 17 July The initial feedback on the cladding, following a walk around prior to the meeting, is that the vertical sections need design work., It added in a post-meeting note: The initial feedback from the planners is that they would probably prefer the champagne to brushed aluminium and they were not that keen on the face fix.. 8 0 obj We tried every way we could possibly find to get a voice and be heard, he said. Staff managing social housing for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea adopted an us vs them mentality towards residents of the Grenfell Tower in the months before the fire that killed 72 people, an inquiry has heard. It became an ALMO in 2002 in response to the (Labour) governments funding of Decent Homes and the fact that they wouldnt give the funding to local authorities (or TMOs). >> In sharp contrast to this model, TMOs are locally based, grassroots community groups that want to improve local conditions in their social housing estate or small area. /Font << A plausible explanation for the careless attitude towards establishing effective oversight measures is that under the previous arrangements the Kensington and Chelsea Borough council was directly responsible for managing social housing. Asked if she would have made any contribution in ensuring these deficiencies were fixed, she said: I am sure there was discussion in the monthly health and safety meetings. >> It was impossible to go out because of the smoke, they said. The public inquiry into the June 2017 disaster is now looking at issues surrounding social housing management, including risk assessment and handling of tenants complaints. KCTMO is a tenant controlled TMO and the great ,majority of its board are resident members. WebKensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) is inviting three organisations to submit a tender for the provision of site supervision and monitoring The number of companies and organisations that Scotland Yard detectives investigating the disaster know so far to have played a role in the refurbishment is more than 60. So the Council must act to close down the fake TMO and take responsibility directly, both for what happened and what should happen next. It is shocking if, as has been reported, this board then refused to listen to the concerns raised by Grenfell residents, or give them an independent fire safety inspection as they requested. /F10 10 0 R Among the 200 TMOs nationally, that particular organisation is a total anomaly not community-based, not cooperatively run, not representative. The Oxford Conference: Holding the Government to Account, Faculty of law blogs / UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. It needs to be more like the Housing Liaison Board we had in Ladywood until the council chose to get rid of it (on bogus excuse) because some people have other priorities than honest effective tenant involvement. >> But neither can we duck away from the problems of governance and accountability in TMOs, well understood by NFTMO. One of them, Dan Browne, who lives on the 22 floor of Burnham House, said: There is going to be holy war here. He decided to ignore the advice to remain inside his apartment. /Xi13 38 0 R << Andrew Kinnier QC, for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, said that a document in 2013 viewed the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), as having a reactive approach to maintenance built more on compliance rather than breakdown. Grenfell was, at least in part, a consequence of the lack of local control; tenants of Grenfell Tower had warned months before of the risk of fire or other disasters because of the neglect of safety by the ALMO (KCTMO). It was not a TMO, because the tenants could not take on the complex task of running the whole of the boroughs near 10,000 unit housing stock. Documents show contractors were asked to fit aluminium instead of more fire-resistant zinc, saving 300,000. He showed new notices stuck up in the hallways after last Octobers fire stating: There is a stay put policy for residents unless the fire is in it affecting your flat.. /F7 9 0 R Typically, a chain of events leading to the catastrophe is triggered by a breakdown within a structure that fails to address problems as they occur and mitigate risks as they arise. endobj The first step is to put in place a neighbourhood manager on Lancaster West, someone who can pull together the core housing services, now so desperately needed, with residents directly involved, to restore the confidence of a deeply shaken community. It is nevertheless understood that fires are statistically calculable occurrences and the extent of the fire that followed the initial source and the difficulty in accessing the building and saving lives can be attributed to failures to properly manage the safety of the building. Green party councillor Sin Berry has demanded a block by block breakdown of the materials and structural plans for cladding used on every single block in Camden, highlighting heightened concern for safety in council high rises across the country. The police were not transparent about the Grenfell death toll: why does it matter now? /Rotate 0 London's high-rise tenants cite concerns in wake of Grenfell Tower fire Residents of other blocks run by Kensington and Chelsea Tenants Management In terms of my technical input, I really do not have that technical background so it would not be for me to make comment on a ventilation system (as) I do not have that expertise.. WebKensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation. /XObject << Artelia, a French-owned company, fulfilled several roles for KCTMO. Its chief executive, Robert Bond, said he was shocked and devastated by the Grenfell disaster but said he would could not comment further beyond a statement issued on Thursday because of the proposed public inquiry. The lessons of Grenfell resonate across the entire social housing world. /Im40 32 0 R /Pages 2 0 R Lees comment gives some of the background. /F3 18 0 R Going forward I get the impression that the community will not want the council to take back control as there is a complete lack of trust but the alternative would appear to be being managed by a Housing Association and Im not sure that would gain much traction in the community either. << /Im31 26 0 R /XObject << Indeed, AVOIDANCE of tenant involvement. They have no good reason for doing so but so what they can get away with not bothering to answer for their actions, even the judicial review court doesnt give a d that they breach their TIAES obligations without honest excuse. /Contents 8 0 R /F7 9 0 R /Type /Catalog /ProcSet [/PDF /Text /ImageB /ImageC /ImageI] /Im58 40 0 R In 1996, the state authorities sub-contracted the management of social housing, including the Grenfell Towers, to the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) >> Read about our approach to external linking. Artelia said on Friday none of its roles involved the design of the project, or specification and/or approval of materials. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) over-ruled the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) to have Leadbitter the original contractor lined up to refurbish Grenfell Tower replaced and the job re-procured, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has heard. The ECHR must be interpreted in the light of its object and purpose. They negotiate a management agreement with their council landlord to take on limited, local responsibilities, paid for out of an allowance from their rents. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. /F12 15 0 R And 8 tenants is far too few to deal sensibly with 10,000 properties. Bob OToole, head of the residents association in the Chalcot Estate, said he had received about 40 calls from panicked residents since the fire in Grenfell. They told us to put wet clothes on the floor. In a closing comment, Mr Daffarn said the building's management "didn't treat us with respect or humanity or empathy and if they had done, we wouldn't be here now". /F11 12 0 R It is therefore possible, that the Council could be made liable in judicial review proceedings for its systemic regulatory failures, as the residents only discovered, post-Grenfell, that their homes were unsafe. The DeKalb Area Rental Association is a nonprofit, educational organization representing rental housing units in DeKalb, Illinois, and its immediate /F8 11 0 R WebKENSINGTON AND CHELSEA TENANT MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION Grenfell Review Scoping Meetin~ Wednesday 24u~ February 2016 at 5pm Board Room, 346 These requests were never complied with, the inquiry heard. They range from around 100 to 1500 rented properties in a single estate or area. I was woken that day by the smell of burning, he said. 7 0 obj Mr Daffarn told a /Xi7 31 0 R I was struggling down through the smoke and was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation afterwards. Mr Chapman said in an earlier statement residents had been brushed off by KCTMO and the council. When a catastrophic event occurs, it is generally too simplistic to attribute blame to a prime cause or specific event. A blog entry posted on 20 November 2016[13] described KCTMO as "an evil, unprincipled, mini-mafia" and predicted that only a "catastrophic event" leading to "serious loss of life" such as "a serious fire in a tower block" would result in change. Opinion: Grenfell not one but multiple stories of displacement, Faculty of law blogs / UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 3 0 obj [6] Labour councillor and now MP, Emma Dent Coad was a council-appointed board member from 2008[7] to 31 October 2012. The TMO was the organisation appointed by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to run its entire council housing stock. Mr Daffarn wrote to project managers and the KCTMO that the planned closure of a car park for work on the tower would make the problem worse. It also acted as quantity surveyor primarily to advise on the cost of the project, [and] prepare tender and contract documentation. This would have been done in conjunction with the contract management team and any other advice that was needed, she added. It has now lost its role on the estate and may soon be disbanded. Mr Daffarn disputed being disruptive but accepted he had a difficult relationship with the councillor. Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation opening statement. He was told the work would have no impact on emergency access, but he was not reassured because vehicles continued to take up the emergency bays - he felt, with management approval. There was further evidence of the drive to cut costs in an urgent nudge email KCTMOs project manager sent to Artelia, its cost consultant, about cladding prices. Through austerity cuts, since 2015 financial support for tenant training has gone, and there has been little interest in TMOs. Seventy-two people died in the Grenfell fire on 14 June 2017. Giving evidence to the inquiry on Monday, Sacha Jevans, of the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, said she believed that work would have been done to address the situation by a colleague called Anthony Parkes. /F2 17 0 R In July 2014, KCTMO asked it to provide costings for the three different types of cheaper cladding. >> Of the description in 2013 of the TMO as having a reactive approach to maintenance, Ms Jevans said she thought the organisation understood about planned preventative maintenance and that it was working to pick up this gap. /CropBox [0.0 0.0 595.2 857.28] He emailed London Fire Brigade (LFB) in March 2014 warning that "if there was a major fire in Grenfell Tower and fire brigade access ever became an issue we would use the evidence recorded on our blog and in extensive email correspondence to ensure that those in charge at the TMO (Tenant Management Organisation) would face extremely serious consequences". >> /Kids [3 0 R 4 0 R 5 0 R 6 0 R 7 0 R] Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? (modern). The TMO continues to exist as an independent corporate entity and the board will continue to be accountable to its members. The aluminium cladding is suspected of having helped spread the fire that claimed at least 80 lives. The government has established a Recovery Task Force to secure long-term recovery as the clear responsibility of the Council. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? /F1 16 0 R These breakdowns relate to a wide variety of governance failure sources, not least due to the tenant management organisations focus on a series of cost reductions rather than more precautionary measures, a lack of engagement or apparent concern with other stakeholder groups, and decision making by the local council likely to be motivated by negative racial and social class stereotypes about tenants. He said residents had tried to get KCTMO to engage with them on the noise from the upgrade works, poorly fitted windows and the placement of boilers. /Contents 33 0 R The residents who have formed the umbrella group Grenfell United, have vowed not to give up their fight for justice until they get it. [8], Membership is open to any named tenant or leaseholder of a property owned by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea who is over the age of eighteen.[9]. In the email to LFB he said: "We believe that the TMO and the council have never acknowledged the possible consequences of this catastrophic power surge and its associated fire risk. Most of the residents were working class and of BAME background. Several homeless families were housed in ex-council flats in Grenfell Tower.
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