London Fire Brigade is seeking more than £900,000 from Whitehall to pay lawyers’ bills for the Grenfell Tower public inquiry and expected legal action arising from the blaze.
The formal request, seen by The Times, says the brigade faces huge legal costs for the inquiry and in “managing subsequent litigation”. It adds: “Resourcing this to a high standard is essential to protect the brigade, the [fire] authority and their reputations.”
It is expected that the service will face legal claims over its “stay put” advice to Grenfell residents. At least 80 people died in last month’s blaze and survivors have complained that the death toll would have been lower had people been urged to evacuate at an early stage.
Lawyers’ fees feature on a shopping list of demands to the Home Office drawn up by Dany Cotton, the London fire commissioner, at the request of Sadiq Khan, the London mayor. The £12 million list includes three extended-length ladders, at a cost of £2.4 million, after the brigade faced questions over why its longest ladder, at 32 metres, was dispatched late and could not reach the top of the 70-metre building.
Also listed are 1,200 new breathing apparatus kits, which would allow firefighters to remain inside a building for 45 minutes instead of 31 minutes. New drones, search-and-rescue equipment, extra fire safety inspectors and four counsellors to meet “the welfare needs of brigade staff” are also requested.
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Larger-ladder vehicles had previously been ruled out because they were too big for the capital’s streets and too heavy to cross many of its bridges. Documents for a fire authority meeting today state, however, that new-style ladders “could be effectively used at certain incidents within London”.
Scotland Yard revealed that it was being advised by investigators from the 9/11 terrorist attack in the victim identification process at the tower. Craig Mackey, Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner, said that the heat of the fire and the resulting scale of the damage was in comparison with the attack on New York’s twin towers in 2001.
Mr Mackey said police were confident that the final death toll would remain at about 80. He also said that it was likely to be autumn before anyone was interviewed under caution in relation to the fire. His comments came as No 10 responded to the official appointment of Elizabeth Campbell as the leader of Kensington and Chelsea council on Wednesday. The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “It is important the council works hard to regain the trust of the local community.”
Last night it emerged that Kensington and Chelsea council raised more money from the sale of two council houses in the borough than it spent on the new cladding on Grenfell Tower, which has been blamed for spreading the fire. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea made £4.5 million from the houses, according to documents seen by The Guardian, compared to £3.5 million spent on the cladding.